Jude 1:21

Man's need of watching is implied; at the same time he cannot keep himself, unless God in His love keep him. looking for--in hope. the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ--to be fully manifested at His coming. Mercy is usually attributed to the Father: here to the Son; so entirely one are they.

JUDE gives a very terrible picture of what will happen in the last days. He describes apostates and paints them in the blackest colors. And he then informs us that there will come, in the last time, mockers and with them separatists and sensualists, all of whom will assail the Church of the living God. It feels very natural, that after foretelling our adversaries and describing them, and so bidding us view the hosts assembled for the war, he should next instruct us how to prepare our defenses and set our forces in battle array.

THIS exhortation is not addressed to all who are here present. It is only addressed to those who "are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called." It is, in fact, addressed only to the true Christian who has passed from death unto life—who is a new creature in Christ Jesus—and in whom dwells the Holy Spirit. To such persons the Apostle Jude says in the text, "Keep yourselves in the love of God." To other persons we have this to say—You cannot keep yourselves in the love of God, for you never knew what it was to be in it. You have lived—with shame and sorrow be it spoken—you have lived all this while in a world that is full of God and yet you have never perceived Him! You have been a pensioner upon His bounty, clothed by His charity, protected by His Providence and yet you have been altogether forgetful of the God whom you ought to have loved with all your heart, soul and strength! Ah, little do you know what you have lost by living without the love of God! The love of God is that which fills our mortal existence with the brightness of Heaven and makes us feast on immortal joys, even in this vale of tears! If some men were born and bred in mines, where they saw not the light of day, I can suppose that they would think themselves possibly better off than those who had lived above and who had walked abroad in the light. I can suppose them to be even conceited because they found themselves better able to find their way about in the gloomy caverns below than those would be whose eyes had been used to the light—more at home there in the gloomy bowels of the earth than the sons of light who had lived above. I can imagine their getting much conceit to themselves because of their enjoying the darkness which is beneath.

JUDE gives a very terrible picture of what will happen in the last days. He describes apostates and paints them in the blackest colors. And he then informs us that there will come, in the last time, mockers and with them separatists and sensualists, all of whom will assail the Church of the living God. It feels very natural, that after foretelling our adversaries and describing them, and so bidding us view the hosts assembled for the war, he should next instruct us how to prepare our defenses and set our forces in battle array. In the 20th and 21st verses of his epistle, Jude mentions the great Christian Quadrilateral, the four forts which must be well manned and carefully maintained if we would battle the advancing foe. I shall call your attention to the four important points, though I must do so with the utmost brevity. The Apostle says, "You beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith." Edification is a grand defense against the assaults of skeptics and heretics. These prey upon the ignorant and unestablished, but fail to overthrow those who are rooted and grounded in the Truth of God. We need to be continually built up—learning more, loving more—and living more the grand Truths of the Gospel. We must see to it that the foundation is right, for it will be useless, or worse than useless, to be built up upon false principles—it is "on our most holy faith" that the building must be based. We should be so established in the Doctrines of Grace as to recognize their holiness and to imitate them in our own lives. Only a "most holy" faith is safe for the soul and woe unto the man who rests content with any other. See, then, Brothers and Sisters, that to ward off the ills of these last times we must labor to know the Truth ourselves, and must endeavor to instruct our Brethren in them.

Keep yourselves in the love of God - By building up yourselves on your most holy faith, and praying in the Holy Ghost; for without this we shall soon lose the love of God. Looking for the mercy of our Lord - For although they were to build themselves up, and to pray in the Holy Ghost, and keep themselves in the love of God, yet this building, praying, and keeping, cannot merit heaven; for, after all their diligence, earnestness, self-denial, watching, obedience, etc., they must look for the Mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ, to bring them to Eternal Life.