We have gone over what those who creep into the church are like lately. We have seen that their beliefs are based on feelings and emotions and what they want.
These people will twist and turn truth to fit the mold they want. They do this through slow movements and some through abrupt and bold movements.
What we see is that Satan and his minions are working hard in this world.
Some hold a view that Satan was bound at the resurrection and that he is not as forceful now. That the evil is from our own sinful hearts more than anything.
Yes we are sinners and yes we do sinful things on our own, but Satan is working still.
We see this through many other Scriptures that he is.
In 1 Peter 5:8 we see that satan is prowling around like a roaring lion seeking who to devour.
In 1 John 5:19 we see that the whole world is under the power of the evil one.
In 2 Cor. 11:14 we see that satan disguises himself as an angel of light and goes about deceiving people.
We also see that he is the prince and power of the air in Eph. 2:2 and that he is the god of this world in 2 Cor. 4:4 and as such he blinds the eyes of people and deceives them.
That is what we have seen in these last weeks of study. People have been corrupted and they are coming in to corrupt others.
Satan is working overtime with the world today and many are being deceived. But the mission is not impossible to reach many. No, we can do this and the text today tells us how to do this.
In Jude 22-25 we read:
22 And have mercy on those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. 24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
Jude 22–25 ESV
We see in this text that we are to be patient in the mission, we are protected to fulfill the mission, and we have power to perform the mission.
Let us look at the patience for the mission.
Patience in Carrying out the Mission (22-23)
Have mercy on those who doubt, or it could say convince those who doubt.
If we are to convince them would it not be better to do it through gentle persuasion than forceful assaults?
Yes, gentleness and loving guidance is what we do. If someone is doubting something we do not force them to do it but we try and guide them rightly. If they doubt the truth because they have been deceived by people who seem loving, we had better be loving and gentle with them.
Doubts will arise for many. They come. Some may doubt the truth of Scripture or Christianity in general.
Satan loves his. He will start talking in their ear and have others do the same. He will abuse their doubt and turn them away.
What we do is be gentle and have mercy on them. We do not need to insult them or belittle them, that will not work.
We ask them what it is they doubt and discuss what is going on.
Also, we spend long hours of patient instruction with them, prayerful interactions, and lengthy dialogues discussing theology with them. This is not to be feared it can simply be discussing biblical facts and how nature aligns with what Scripture says.
We serve them and care for them and we do not have strings attached. We provide servant evangelism with them. That is doing for them without regard of what we get.
This through requires much prayer and patience but for us to have that we must have love for people.
Some will be close to the fire or in the fire already. Those we must act quickly with. We must snatch them out of it like we would a hundred dollar bill.
We must act quickly because they are already in the fire and losing ground quickly.
Then there are those who are polluted already. They are into it deeply and living in rebellion. We need to have mercy again with them and act with caution.
This is what Jesus was speaking about when he told the disciples in Matt. 10:16
16 “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
Matthew 10:16 ESV
Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
We must be wise and take caution with those who are entrenched in the false ideologies of the world and are against the Lord, but we must go and be patient and loving with them too.
Much like a scene in the Rambo movie from 2008. In it Rambo is in the Burma region and is a boat guide and fisherman.
He is approached by missionaries that want him to take them into war torn Burma. Genocide is occuring and they are medical missionaries wanting to help.
On the way they get accosted by river pirates and in normal Rambo fashion all are slain.
He is about to take them back instead of in when the lone woman with the missionaries says that they must go and reach these people. It is their life and their decision to go. Whether they die or not they are going in.
That is the way we need to be. We need to go and do regardless what happens. We need to be wise and loving and patient but go we must.
If we do not hen the world will take more and more and satan will wreck more of God’s image bearers. We can help stop this and we must do that. We need to know that we are
Protected to Fulfill the Mission (24-25a)
We see that Jesus is protecting us. He is keeping us from stumbling and falling.
We may slip and stumble along the way but He has us and we cannot fall out from Him. He has us and He will keep us.
Much like when He said in Matt. 10:28
28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Matthew 10:28 ESV
We need not fear those we are seeking to reach and help. We have the one who can destroy body and soul on our side. We have the guarantor of victory on our side. Even if we die, as was the fear Rambo had with the missionaries, we are secure in the Lord.
Nothing can remove us from Him and that should give us courage to fight the good fight.
The text further states that He will present us blameless before the presence of his glory. We will be guarded and protected. We will be kept and this proves that.
If we are presented before the presence of his glory that means we will be kept in Him. We will not stumble out or be removed from Him. We are His and as such, we will be guarded through all the battles of today and those to come.
Now, that does not mean we will not face ridicule or danger, nor does it mean we will not face persecution.
What it means is we have Him with us holding us through all the turmoil. He is in our corner and we can face all that comes because of Him.
Our strength comes from this. Our passion comes from this. Our argument comes from this.
The world does not have this argument. It only offers something for now. We have something that guarantees not to lose us or forsake us. He will guard and keep you if you are His.
The world does not give anyone any of this. It only offers things that will fade and that do not give joy or peace at all.
Jesus offers peace and comfort and joy to all that are His. We have strength to face any situation that arises because of Him. We have the strength to stand and take what comes because it is Jesus holding us.
Jesus is like that sure footed horse that you may have. I had one and I had absolutely no fear running through anything or over anything or across anything when I rode Him. I knew that we would make it through and across anything because he would stand strong and stand firm under it all. i also knew he would stand and hold anything I roped. I knew he would do all that and more.
But he was only a good horse, Jesus is far superior to any horse I have ever had. Even those sure footed horses can fall with you, Jesus never will.
You can trust Him to guide and strengthen and protect you in all of this.
We have the patience to love and have mercy and the protection in the mission because there is
Power Behind the Mission (25b)
We have the only God. The all-powerful God. The glorious majestic God and the only savior with us.
He has dominion over everything and as such He is sovereign over everything.
Knowing that He is the power and sovereign–supreme ruler, over this creation and satan too, we can be bold to go and take the world by the horns.
His power is why we can trust Him to protect us through this mission and to keep us as His through everything.
He is supreme above all things. Whatever the world has is nothing compared to Him. It is weak and a poor pitiful substitute to the all-powerful, majestic, glorious God we have working in and through us.
His power goes with us and because of this we can be bold. He has not sent us out without the power and ability to be His witnesses.
No we have the Holy Spirit in us and that means we have 2 Tim. 1:7 “a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”
We can reach and change those who have twisted off. We can help those who doubt. We can snatch some from the fire before it is too late.
We are protected in Christ and cannot lose Him or the amazing gift of salvation He has given us.
But we should fear for those who only have the world and their feelings as their guide and strength.
Those people are standing with a building that was built by someone who does not understand what a foundation is. They are living life in a way that is glorifying nothing and receiving glory from no one. Yes, they may have all the world behind them saying you do you
you live how you want to live
you live your truth
you be whoever you want to be
you have whoever you want
do whatever you want
no one can tell you to do different.
Then the world shifts and those people are left out in the cold with no one. No one that is but us who will come alongside them and share what true love is with them.
Who will share what true power is and comfort. Who truly loves them so much He died for them and promises to never leave or forsake them.
This is the one true God who has the power to do what He wants and what He wants is to give us love and grace.
He wants us to know Him and love Him and forsake the world not love the world.
Satan loves deceiving people and twisting them up and making them fall and fall some more.
Christ will keep them from stumbling and falling. Christ wants them to know love and salvation.
Satan wants them to hate God like he does and for them to see death and destruction.
Will we have mercy on those who doubt?
Will we snatch some out of the fire?
Will we go into the danger zone and hate the wickedness that is cloaking the person and strive to pull them from the filth?
Or will we sit back and think someone else will do this?
Jude began this brief writing with these words, Jude 3
3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.
Jude 3 ESV
Will we contend for the faith and stand with the Lord and seek to reach as many as possible, or will we allow evil to run rampant and just complain about it?
I pray that we will seek to
Everyday Evangelism: Sharing the Christian FaithOpen Your Eyes, Meet Needs, and Share Christ
1. Being the change you wish to see in the world.
2. Opening your eyes to the needs of others.
3. Serving Jesus by feeding the hungry, clothing the needy, caring for the sick, and visiting the prisoners.
The prisoners are those who are bound to the ways of the world as well as actual prisoners.
If we would look at the people who are living for this world as prisoners, I think we would start to act differently.
So, go and seek to help people by being merciful, caring, and patient knowing that you are protected and can offer that same amazing love and care to them because the power of the sovereign God is with you.
Conclusion
I read this week about a guy who dreamed that a woman was clutching a little girl, struggling to hold her child’s head above the water. Nearby, a wave plunged a man into its salty depths. He choked for air as he thrashed his arms against a ceiling of water. All around, the ocean churned with drowning people, gasping for air and desperately trying to push their heads above the surface. Their screams were doused by the roar of the relentless waves. Their cries caught the wind, but only in vain. They were alone in their terror, with no help in sight.
Then a huge rock appeared, and a voice called into the darkness. People began crawling up the rock’s craggy sides to safety.
But when they got to safety, something happened that drove me almost goofy. The people who emerged from the waves got busy. They got involved in building rock gardens, rock lives, rock jobs, listening to their rock music, and going to rock meetings where they talked about the people who were still drowning in the ocean. But nobody went back to the water’s edge to help.
As I watched the “saved” scurry about their rock work and as I listened to their rock talk, I realized the rock was the cross of Calvary. The voice they heard was Jesus, calling by the power of the Holy Spirit, inviting them to come join him. He’s never high up on the rock where it’s safe; he’s calling from the ocean’s edge, where the dead, the diseased, and the lost are found, and as you might recall, that’s where he found you.
Too Often we are blind. We act as if those around us were not really people like us. If we see them bleed, we pretend they aren’t really hurting. If we see them alone, we tell ourselves that they like it that way…” (Rebecca Manley Pippert, Out of the Salt Shaker and into the World: Evangelism as a Way of Life (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1979), 114.)
They may like it that way, but that does not mean we do not try and help. It does not mean we ignore them.
This has been done to the harm of the church and the world far too long. We must contend and we must be the light on the hill for those lost in the darkness of this world.
We must love those in the world as much as Jesus has loved us. He died, was buried, and rose again for His enemies so that they may become the righteousness of God in Him. That is love and we have received that Love.
We just need to take that love with the powerful protection in Him we have and share it with as many as we can.
Being loving and patient and willing to help people is the best method for us to do this.
Will you take the love of Christ to a dying world this week?
