THE BOOK OF JUDE
“Earnestly Contending for the Faith”
INTRODUCTION to the Weekly SERMONS for 2025: We will begin this year with TWELVE messages from the Book of Jude, the vestibule to the Book of Revelation. Then we will close this year with THIRTEEN messages on Bible PROPHECY. In between will be TWENTY-TWO messages on various topics.
INTRODUCTION to the BOOK OF JUDE: There are 27 books in the New Testament. Four of these books are only one chapter in length, they being the books of Philemon, I John, II John and Jude. Of these four, Jude has suffered neglect by Bible students and preachers in spite of its wealth of revelation and the tremendous sweep of its subject matter.
Why should such a rich storehouse of Bible truth have been so seriously neglected? The answer may lie in the fact that Jude deals largely with conditions in the last days. The rising of the present high tide of apostasy within the professing church has been necessary to call attention to the importance of the epistle as a whole.
The possibility that the denial of our holy faith, so wide spread in our own generation, should quicken our interest in the final epistle during these momentous times. A fresh study on the terrible words and warnings of Jude should awaken us to a solemn realization that it is later than we think. Therefore, in view of this, let us pray and work as never before, with the confident expectation of revival within the body of Christ and an ingathering of many souls before the great and terrible day of the Lord shall come.
The beginning of the age of the church is described in the Acts of the Apostles. The end of the church Age is set forth in the Epistles of Jude, which might well be called the Acts of the Apostates. The last epistle of the New Testament relates the deeds and teaching of evil men who will be living upon the earth as the history of the professing church comes to an end.
An APOSTATE is one who has never trusted Christ as personal Savior ,but has looked at revealed truth and turned from it.
An APOSTATE has received light, but not life. He may have received, in some degree, the written Word; but he has not received the living WORD, the Son of God.
APOSTASY is a subtle rejection of Biblical TRUTH while maintaining the outward form of belief. The “form of godliness but denying the power thereof,” spoken of in II Timothy 3:5.
Jude is the only book in all God’s Word entirely devoted to the great apostasy which is to come upon Christendom before the Lord Jesus Christ returns. This brief message of 25 verses, the vestibule to the Book of Revelation, brings the entire Bible about apostasy to a tremendous climax.
A. The author of Jude: The author identifies himself in verse 1 as “Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James.” The name Judas (Greek) for Jude was a common name in New Testament times. There are (6) six men in the New Testament who bear the name.
However, the key as to the writer is found in “brother of James”. For no other New Testament writer thus identifies himself by his family connection. This phrase seems to lend itself to the common view that Jude and James were brothers. And both were half brothers of our Lord,
In Matthew 13:55 we read, “And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence. And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished , and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James and Joses, and Simon, and Judas…” Matthew 13:55.
In Mark 6:3 we read, “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with is? And they were offended at Him”.
This James was the leader of the Jerusalem Church (Galatians 1:19; Acts 12:17, 15:13-21, 21:18) and the most famous James in the middle of the first century among Christians.
B. The purpose of Jude: The purposes of Jude’s epistle are all clearly stated for the readers in verse 3-4. Jude in verse 3 is going to relate how he began to write on the Doctrine of Salvation (Soteriology) and had to change because of verse 4 and write a practical epistle, warning concerning Apostasy.
As we read through the twenty-five verses of Jude, we find that God deals with DUTY and DANGER. The DUTY we learn about in verse 3, “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. It is our DUTY to “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”
Verse 3 contains the THREE purposes of the epistle: All the words are in the Greek infinitive, which states purpose.
1. The original purpose: Write about Salvation
2. The present purpose: Write to Exhort
3. The reader’s purpose: Earnestly contend
The great DANGER we face is found in verse 4, “For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.”
We are living in days of darkness, saturated with doctrines of demons. This is a time of apostasy. May God help us to proclaim the truth! There is coming a great falling away. We read of this in I Timothy 4:1, “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;…”
The Bible says in II Timothy 4:1-4,
“I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; (2) Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. (3) For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; (4) And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”
God said that there is coming a time when people would rather hear a lie than hear the truth. In II Peter 2:1-2 we read,
“But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. (2) And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.”
The Word of God teaches that many people will follow the damnable heresies taught by these false teachers. In II Peter 3:1-3 we read,
“This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: (2) That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: (3) Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,…”
What was a little cloud the size of a man’s hand in Jude’s day is, in our day, a storm of hurricane proportions, because we are in the apostasy of which he foretold. It is a question now of how much worse it can become before genuine believers are taken in the rapture.
C. General features from the Book of Jude: The general characteristics of Jude are given with sufficient evidence in this sentence. “Jude wrote an epistle consisting of few lines, indeed, but filled with the vigorous words of heavenly grace.”
1. Relation to II Peter: A comparison of the epistle of Jude with the second chapter of II Peter will reveal that some connection exists between them. This relation is confirmed in II Peter 2 and Jude vs. 4-18. Peter speaks of apostasy as undeveloped, while Jude finds it actually present.
2. Fondness of Tirades: One of the striking features of the epistle is its fondness for triplet of thought. The author misses scarcely an opportunity to give his material a fold arrangement. For example:
a. verse 1: Jude, servant, brother
b. verse 1: called, beloved, kept
c. verse 2: mercy, peace, love
d. verses 5-8: Israel, Angels, Cities of the plains
e. verses 8: defile the flesh, despise dominions, speak evil of
f. verse 11: Cain, Balaam, Korah
3. The Use of the Old Testament: For example,
a. Historical Examples, verse 5-7
Israel – Unbelief
Angels – Rebellion
Cities – Immorality
b. 3 Rebels, verse 11
Cain – Self-righteousness
Balaam - Greed
Korah – Presumption
4. The Use of Apocryphal Literature: Jude used these extra biblical writings not because they were inspired or authoritative in the realm of theology, but, as Paul did in Acts 17:28 to substantiate a point of his address because he knew that it would carry weight with his audience. For example,
a. Enoch, verse 14 from “Book of Enoch”
b. Moses v. 9 from “The Assumption of Moses”
5. Notice the Pronoun Usage: Jude marks out the Apostates with the pronoun “these” in verses 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 19. Then with the last section of Jude the pronoun changes from “these” to “Ye”, and the great antidote to apostasy is presented to the readers, verses 17-25.
6. Doxology: The concluding doxology in verses 24-25 is one of the fullest and most beautiful of all the doxologies of scripture. Its emphasis on the Lordship of Christ and upon His ability to keep His servants from falling into errors is singularly appropriate to the theme of Jude.
C. The False Teachers of Jude: Jude introduces the false teachers in verse 4 with the phrase “Certain men” a technical word for personalities. These were real people; who in the New Testament had 5 characteristics:
1. Taught false doctrine I Timothy 4:1, II Timothy 3:3-7
2. Passed themselves off as apostles II Corinthians 11:13-15
3. Motivated by demons I Corinthians 10:20-21
4. Deceptive personality II Timothy 3:1-7
5. Guilty of hypocrisy: Guilty of putting on religion which is the practice of hypocrisy Matthew 23:27-28.
Jude further describes them as “Ungodly men” a phrase which indicates they were unbelievers. The primary form of apostasy in Jude’s day was the great cult of the ancient world known as Gnosticism. This was Satan’s counterattack to Christianity and it is the basis of all modern cults.
D. Outline of the Epistle:
Jude begins with a salutation containing a threefold blessing; it ends with a doxology on the threefold heritage of the Lord’s people.
Salvation is mentioned in the third verse from the beginning and in the third verse from the end.
We are exhorted to contend for the faith in verse 3, and to build ourselves up on our faith in verse 20.
There is a clear orderliness of thought running through the Epistle. Its purpose is that of Contending for the Faith, in accord with verse 3. The first 16 verses tell us WHY to contend, because of the PATTERN of APOSTASY. The remaining verses 17-25 tell us HOW to contend – showing us the PREVENTION OF APOSTASY.
The GREETINGS: verses 1-4
A. The assurance of the believer, verse 1-2
B. The believer and his faith, verse 3
WHY CONTEND: “The Pattern of Apostasy” verses 4-19
A. Apostates described verses 4, 17-19
B. Apostasy in Old Testament History, verses 5-8
C. Apostasy in Supernatural Realm verses 9-10
D. Ancient Trio of Apostates verse 11
E. Apostasy in the natural realm, verses 12-13
F. Apostasy in Old Testament Prophecy verses 14-16
G. Apostates described verses 17-19
HOW TO CONTEND, “The Preventives of Apostasy” verses 20-25
A. The believer and his faith, verses 20-23
B. The assurance of the believer, verse 24-25
This epistle presents one of the most fearful pictures of apostasy in all Scriptures and as such does not give any reasoned refutation of the tenets held by the false teachers, as Paul did when dealing with the Gnostic heresy. Their moral lapses were too obvious now to need such refutation. They deserved only unconditional denunciation.
That the epistle has not lost its value for our day is evident to those who are seeking to live separated lives while surrounded by the growing apostasy and licentiousness of much of present-day professing Christianity.
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If God has spoken to your heart after reading the sermon "The Introduction to the Book of Jude" right now talk to God about what He has spoken to you.
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Romans 10:13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
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