Jude 1:17-23

But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.  They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.”  It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.  But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.  And have mercy on 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.

Prophecy is a wonderful gift of God.  It both warns us of the evil we must face in this world and encourages us about God’s promises for the future.  Since God knows the future, we can be assured that He is in control of our current circumstances as well as our eternal destiny.  This allows us to live with confidence and hope in a world that often feel like it is spinning out of control.

A PROPHECY OF SIN AND DIVISION: The apostles and Jesus, Himself warned their followers of the reality that there would be false teachers who make a mockery of the faith of our Lord Jesus and the church.  These people are ruled by their own passions and desires as opposed to living to love God and others.  They are their own biggest purpose in life.  They seek to cause division in the church so they can worm their way into the fellowship, take advantage of all they can and bring about ineffectiveness and destruction.  Their affections are for the world and themselves, and the Spirit of God is completely absent from their lives.  Clearly these are unbelievers who are posing as believers out of a desire to destroy the church and the advancement of the Gospel.

A PROPHECY OF LOVE AND MERCY: In stark contrast to the false teachers the faithful saints are building one another up in our faith through prayers and the giftings of the Spirit of God.  We focus on the love of God and seek to imitate it in our daily walk.  Our hope is anchored to the return of Christ and the eternal life that He has promised to us.  A big part of being a faithful minister is to serve the people around us.  Faith is a process in all our lives and there will be more immature believers or those who are genuinely searching for truth but are plagued by doubts.  In such cases we must be patient, kind, and merciful.  Other people are clearly lost or are in danger of being deceived and must be warned with an urgency that will save them from impending destruction.  We must take on the role of evangelists.  There will be times where we will need to be cautions because it is hard to tell exactly where the person is.  We want to be merciful, but there should also be caution because we don’t want to condone sin, nor do we want to condemn a sinner who is truly seeking for reconciliation.  However, there are also those who are deeply stained by sin that we must stand in opposition to out of love for the body of Christ.  This sounds like an impossible task, but it is made possible because we are not alone.  We have the Spirit of Christ as well as a body of believers with whom we can grow and serve together.

APPLICATION: Look out for false teachers that will seek to destroy the fellowship of the saints and the advancement of the Gospel.  Expose false teaching and expel false teachers from the fellowship of the church.  Unite with other believers to help one another grow in the faith.  Depend on the Spirit and ask Him for discernment and the ability to minister to the variety of people around us in the best way possible.