In a world of such uncertainty, the only thing we know for sure is that everything changes. Things that seem permanent and unshakable, tremble and fall. Empires may last a thousand years, but in time every empire that has ever existed met its demise at the hands of fallen and corrupt humanity. There is only one kingdom that shall never pass away.
If you could ask God for one, and only one thing, in your life, what would you ask for—more money, health, a long life? What would you ask? In fact, there’s an account in the Old Testament where God actually gave a man the opportunity to ask for anything he wanted, and this man asked for wisdom. You probably know the story from 2 Chronicles chapter 1—Solomon became king of Israel following his father David, and he became a great king because the Lord was him. One day Solomon went up to the tabernacle his father David set up for the ark of the covenant, and he offered a sacrifice on the bronze altar. That night, God appeared to Solomon and said, “Ask! What shall I give you?”
Jude opens his epistle making it clear that his intention is to sound the alarm about “certain men” who have “crept in unnoticed.” Jude intends to expose these people and to warn the church not to let these men to seduce the church with their twisted message. These people taught that it is possible to be a believer while also engaging in sexual behavior that violates the very precepts of God’s Word, including the teaching and example of Jesus Christ. Indeed, these people even denied “the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.” So why were these people in the church, how did they get into the church, and why should these people be forced out of the church unless, of course, they repent and observe whatsoever Jesus commanded? In verses 12 and 13 Jude provides a compact but powerful answer to these questions.
Like Israel, the history of the church shows that when things go from bad to worse in society, if a remnant will humble themselves, pray, repent, and seek God’s face, God can turn it around. Some of the greatest revivals in church history were sparked by some of the most unlikely people who simply fell on their faces before God. For example, in the late 1940s Christianity in the New Hebrides Islands (located off the coast of Scotland), was complacent and declining, with the young people turned off by a spirit of legalism and empty ritualistic religion. Alcoholism and despondency were serious problems plaguing the local communities. However, two sisters, Peggy Smith and Christine Smith, were not ready to surrender their island to Satan, so they began to pray fervently for revival. Who were these two women? Peggy was 84-years-old and blind, and her 82-year-old sister, Christine, suffered from severe arthritis, but they were committed prayer warriors and together their prayers and petitions sparked a revival.
A common misconception of Christians is we must always be non-confrontational and passive … no matter what. Even within the Christian community there is a rather pervasive view that believers should always be smiling and agreeable while conceding to others in our attempt to keep the peace. It is true that we are called be peacemakers, ministers of reconciliation and ambassadors of Christ (2 Co 5:19-20), yet the example of Jesus clearing the temple with a whip, along with various militant metaphors employed in the epistles, demonstrate that there are, in fact, times when we must fight for what we believe. Jesus Himself said that “from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force” (Mt 11:12).
Your life will indeed impact the lives of others, your life will make a difference, but not all lives have a positive impact, not all lives sow seeds of goodwill or produce a harvest of positive outcomes. Hitler’s life mattered, but most believe the world would have been a better place if he had never been born. There is no question that our life matters, the only question is what kind of life we will live and what kind of legacy we will leave behind.
This letter from the Elder is short and comes to the point quickly; the point being that we must not allow the poison of false teaching to infect our lives, our home, or the local fellowship of believers. He had already seen the damage done by the false doctrines of those denying that Jesus Christ had come in the flesh, and he was determined to do all he could to protect other churches and Christian fellowships from falling prey to these charlatans who were spreading deception and error. So being perhaps the last living apostle at that time, John stepped-up and stepped-in to send a warning to the church.
The Barna Research Group reports that 84% of Americans claim to pray, yet we still see suffering, social disparities, racial hatred and hostility. The population of the United States is around 330 million people and if 84% are praying that means in the U.S. alone there almost 280 million people calling out to a god of some sort … yet, here we are. Why are we in the mess we are in if that many people are praying? How many people have to pray before God answers? According to the research, a lot of people are praying, but according to the Bible all prayers are not created equal. Anyone can pray, but does that mean God is listening to or answering every prayer the people are flinging toward heaven.
John is telling the believers in Ephesus, they can be sure that the word they received and believed concerning Jesus Christ is the gospel truth. They can be confident that they have put their faith in the truth and know that they are walking in the light. The false teachers who left the church to promote their own distorted doctrines, were claiming that the message of John and the apostles was wrong. So, John appeals to the Jewish standard that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word is established (Deut. 17:6; Matt. 18:16).
John opened this epistle by affirming that he and the other apostles had seen Jesus, heard Jesus, touched and examined Jesus, and their testimony was true. But as John brings the letter to a close, he emphasizes the truth of the message by again appealing to witnesses, but it’s not the witness of man, it is the historical witness of the life of Christ, the testimony of the Spirit, and the witness of God concerning His Son.
