Redeemer Lutheran Church

But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And pity those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.
Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you without blemish before the presence of his glory with great joy, 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.

Dear friends in Christ Jesus,

With these words, Jude exhorts his hearers, who were soon to be scattered throughout the lands, to be steadfast in the Lord Jesus. For the Christians who first heard these words were soon to become the saints of the diaspora, or the dispersion.

Scholars believe that the short letter of Jude was written in the year AD 68 – the same year that saints Peter and Paul were martyred. When the city of Jerusalem fell two years later, the early Christians fled the armies of the Romans as the city was being destroyed. This is the destruction of which Jesus spoke when he said that not one stone would remain upon another at the temple or any other place in the city. His disciples had been admiring the great stones and beautiful buildings, but their Lord prophesied that such things would not last. The destruction of the temple in the city of Jerusalem would be clearest declaration from God that his people should no longer seek him in that particular place, but rather where Jesus said— in the Word of the apostles and prophets.

The recipients of Jude’s epistle would soon see these things come to pass, and they would surely remember the words of Jesus concerning the end times. And they no doubt would think that they themselves were in it. But for the people who originally received this letter of Jude, and today for the people of God here in Edmonton, the message is the same.

Jude admonishes you to be prepared for that final day and to endure the trials of living in this sinful, ruined world.

Build yourselves up in your most holy faith, he says, pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. The New Testament, through the words of Jesus, St John, and St Paul, is constantly exhorting God’s people to be ready. For no one knows the last day; it will come as a thief in the night and not a soul on this earth will have prior knowledge. Jude has the same message for his hearers, that they would keep themselves in the love of God and wait for the mercy of Christ that leads to life eternal.

As Lutherans, we’ve been taught to be suspicious of any teaching that appears to place even a tiny part of our salvation in our hands. And at first glance, these words seem to say that we have to do our part—that there is something that we have to do to earn God’s love—build yourselves up; keep yourselves in the love of God. This has a tendency to raise eyebrows in those who have studied the Scriptures and know that salvation comes by grace through faith alone, without the works of the Law.

But, as is the case with all Scripture readings that we hear in church, it often helps to know the greater context of the passage. And with Jude, building yourself up in your most holy faith does not mean that you make your personal faith holy and perfect. Back in verse 3 of the epistle, he tells the Christians to contend earnestly for the Faith—the Christian Faith—the entire teaching of Christianity. In other words, we are to defend the teachings of Scripture, because false teachers creep in and corrupt the church. So when you build yourself up in your most holy faith, you are being built up by God himself through the Word he has already given! Jude admonishes you to be continually strengthened in the Christian Faith, so that your own personal faith and trust would not waver.

The first way this is done is through clinging to the pure Word and shunning falsehood. You must discern and make judgments concerning teaching and doctrine, dear Christians, for the devil knows his time is short. He will continue going on the offensive, and like any leader of armies, he doesn’t go first against the strong, but the weak. When an army captures a city, it doesn’t take the hard way through the fortifications. It looks for the weak spot or the opportunity for stealth. So also, will Satan not start by attacking the saints who are well armed with God’s word, but with those who are not as well equipped. We see this all the time with other religious groups trying to proselytize and steal sheep from the Christian church. Those who don’t know the Scriptures are the ones who are deceived by the wolves in sheep’s clothing who come knocking on their door with a different Gospel.

The devil also has received a helping hand from the world and culture in which we find ourselves. You are told that right and wrong, good and evil, are relative. That there is no absolute truth, so what is evil to you isn’t necessarily evil for me, and so who are you to judge me? You will be encouraged and perhaps even required to hide your beliefs, or at least leave them at the door. Tolerance is today’s chief virtue—you can’t possibly have the whole truth because that would mean that not everyone does. And if what you say is the truth, then those that say otherwise are wrong! If there is anything that our culture is drilling into the heads of our young people, it’s the so called absolute truth of tolerance. You have no business telling others about Jesus because that means that you’re not tolerant of another’s beliefs, and if you don’t agree with and accept what they believe, then that means you hate them as a person, you’re bigoted, and you have committed the cardinal sin of intolerance.

But dear Christians, the false teaching of tolerance is really nothing but intolerance for God’s saving truth. And it’s not just the young people who have been conditioned not to discuss religion or politics. Society itself has done its best to discourage, if not prohibit, you from earnestly contending for the Faith that was once delivered to the saints.

But you are to build yourselves up in the most holy Faith that was delivered to you through God’s word, and contend for it, defend it, and not waver from it. God forgive us our weak confession of him and our reluctance to let our light shine before men!

The other necessary means of being built up in the Faith is to avail yourself of God’s means of grace every Lord’s Day. In these last days, Christians must cling to the pure Word of God! Read it, study it, sing it, and most of all, hear it! Because whether the Lord will return this afternoon, tomorrow, or a thousand years from now, only he knows. And your faith in Christ Jesus must be fed and continually strengthened, lest it wither and die. Think about a houseplant -- if you don’t water it, it won’t last. Well, it’s the same with your faith! If you’re not continually built up in the Christian Faith through God’s chosen means of nourishment – His Word and Sacrament – your personal faith will suffer.

Remember, the soul that is armed with God’s Word and has been fed with the body and blood of Christ for the forgiveness of sins is better protected against the spiritual attacks of the devil. Such a soul is also best equipped to test the spirits, as the Scriptures command, to see whether they are of God. Paul exhorts you to test all things and hold fast to that which is good. The Apostle John warns you against those who have not the spirit of God in them and would lead you away from the Faith.

Be so protected and equipped, dear Christians. Hear continually the Word of God. Confess your sins and return to your Lord with penitent hearts, firmly believing that Christ Jesus forgives you your sins. For thereby you are kept in the love of God and wait for the mercy of Christ unto life everlasting. For the baptized people of God have this great gift and comfort, that they may continually return to their baptism and what God has done for them, as an aid against their Old Adam, who still clings to them and will remain until they die.

You are the baptized and the redeemed, but you still have that sinful nature that does not want God’s will to be done or have his name hallowed among us. For this reason we receive the admonition in the Scriptures to be on guard, to test all things, to keep ourselves in the love of God. When Jude tells you to keep yourselves in the love of God, it doesn’t mean that you strive to earn God’s love and favor. Rather, it means that you are to avail yourselves of his love where he has promised to deliver it—in the gifts of his Word and in his Sacraments. God first imparted his love to you and made you his own in the waters of your baptism. There you were marked with his name. And God keeps you in his love when he graciously forgives you all your sins in the absolution, when you hear about your Savior Jesus in the readings and the preached Word, and in the Supper. There he equips you to strive against the devil, the world, and your sinful nature, that will be ever present until death.

But Jude didn’t conclude with this Word of exhortation to fight against evil. He closed with the comforting Gospel truth, that it is Jesus who is able to keep you from stumbling and falling. To be sure, we sin daily and we sin much. Indeed, when we take an honest look at our lives, we see nothing but sin against our Lord. But it is Jesus who lived the God-pleasing life in our stead and who promises that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life.

Your Lord Jesus Christ comes to you continually with his gifts. He draws to you to the well, where your sin-parched lips receive the life-saving gift of the forgiveness of all of your sins. When you keep yourselves in the love of God by receiving his gift of forgiveness, you may be confident that it is not you who does the keeping, but Christ Jesus who keeps you in the one true Faith unto life everlasting. It is Christ Jesus who is able to keep you from stumbling and falling away, for it is Christ Jesus who is there to cleanse you from all iniquity and forgive you. It is Christ Jesus who will present you holy and blameless before the judgment seat of God on the final day. Receive with great joy and with thanksgiving this precious and life-giving gift and be strengthened in the most holy Faith.

Now to him who is able and who has promised to do these things, be all honor and glory, all dominion and authority, both now and forever. Amen.