Jude 1:3-4 - Wake Up and Stand Up

Today, Tuesday October 26 Wake Up and Stand Up Jude 1:3-4 “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.” It is obvious that Jude is writing this small letter to the called, sanctified and preserved! He is writing to believers who are facing a great danger! Without question, the greatest threat to the church has always been false teaching. Its subtlety and severity make it a spiritual poison unlike any other. While external threats—such as religious persecution and the world's animosity—are certainly unpleasant, the wounds they inflict are only physical and the injuries they cause only temporary. The deadliest false teaching, on the other hand, comes not from deceptive, non-Christian religions outside the church, but from spiritual pretenders inside the church. And the resulting damage is far greater than that caused by any external assault; the casualties are spiritual and the consequences are eternal. It's no wonder, then, that Jesus warned His followers about the deadly dangers of apostasy: “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.” (Matthew 7:15-20) In Psalm 11:3 we read this question, “If the foundations are destroyed what can the righteous do?” I read this for years and thought that it meant that if the foundations of our faith and of our country are destroyed, then there is no hope. We can throw up our hands in despair! But in recent years as I’ve read the context of this passage I begin to realize that this question is being asked so that we might realize that there is something we must do and can do. We need to wake up to the terrible plight and condition that we are in because we have gone to sleep. We have forgotten that we are to be soldiers of the cross. Jude wrote to "exhort" these believers. (Jude 1:3). In the Greek language, this word was used to describe a general giving orders to the army; hence the atmosphere of this letter is "military." Jude had started to write a quiet devotional letter about salvation, but the Spirit led him to put down his harp and sound the trumpet! The Epistle of Jude is a call to arms. We need to wake up and stand up!  Charles Spurgeon once said that "the new views are not the old truth in a better dress, but deadly errors with which we can have no fellowship." False doctrine is a deadly poison that must be identified, labeled, and avoided. Spurgeon also said, "I cannot endure false doctrine, however neatly it may be put before me. Would you have me eat poisoned meat because the dish is of the choicest ware?" I’m afraid that these apostates have already invaded our churches and today we are in grave danger. But remember the promise in Isaiah 59:19: “…. When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him.” My friend, that “standard” is the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The message of the cross is greatly needed in our homes, churches and country today! Today, please wake up and stand up for Jesus! God bless!