It’s a Battleground! (Jude 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.         .

               

THE STUDY:

          Jude calls his readers beloved (agapētoi: loved ones, beloved). Jude uses a derivative of agapē (love) in each of the first three verses of this letter. He does not merely talk about love; he displays it, both in the repeated affectionate address of “beloved” and also in the serious warning and stern rebuke he administers throughout the Epistle.”^[1]

The name Jude (Judah) means “praise,” and he was anxious to praise God and rejoice in the salvation God gives in Jesus Christ. But the Spirit of God changed his mind and led Jude to write about the battle against the forces of evil in the world. Why? Because it was “needful” for the church.

WHAT WE CAN WALK AWAY WITH ….

• We walk away with the understanding that as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ we will rejoice in the fact of those who are of the same faith. Just as we will be disappointed with those who will abandon this same faith to which they once claimed.

CONCLUSION:

          I must confess that I sympathize with Jude. In my own ministry, I would much rather encourage the saints than declare war on the defectors. But when the enemy is in the field, the watchmen dare not go to sleep. The Christian life is a battleground, not a playground. ^[2]

          I could recite many passages of scripture that would give us encouragement to the fact that, just like Jude, we will face difficulties. Matt. 5:9-12 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

          My encouragement for us this morning would be this: Let us not follow the path that many have gone which leads away from Christ. Let us be the one found faithful to the Lord: in our walk and our talk. No matter what the cost!

Blessings my friends

Pastor Rod

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^[1] Powers, D. G. (2010). 1 & 2 Peter/Jude: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition. New Beacon Bible Commentary (266). Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press.

^[2] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Jud 3). Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.