Sermon Devotional: Our Mindset

Scripture: Jude 17-19 (ESV)


Remember! “You must remember. . .” (v. 17)! The call to remember appears again and again throughout Scripture. To forget who God is and what he has done, to forget what God has commanded and what Jesus has accomplished, will always have grave consequences. Likewise, Jude tells the beloved, those faithful Christ followers within the church, to also remember the warnings made by prophets of old and by Jesus and his apostles—there will be trouble even within the Church of Christ.

There are no surprises here; there have always been, and will always be, those who reject and resist the Lord of Life. The apostle Peter says: “I want you to remember what the holy prophets said long ago and what our Lord and Savior commanded through your apostles. . . I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires” (2Pet 3:2-3). Jude points to false teachers who “have wormed their way into your churches” (v. 4), who “live immoral lives” (v. 4, 8), who are “grumblers and complainers,” faultfinders who “brag loudly about themselves and flatter others to get what they want” (v. 16).

Jude and Peter call them scoffers, mockers, slanderers. Jude says, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow after their own ungodly desires” (v. 18). Jesus suffered at the hands of scoffers. The soldiers “stripped Jesus and put a scarlet robe on him. They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head, . . . they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, ‘Hail! King of the Jews!’” (Mt 27:28-29). At Jesus’ crucifixion, “The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. . . The leading priests and teachers of religious law also mocked Jesus. ‘He saved others,’ they scoffed, ‘but he can’t save himself!’” (Mark 15:29, 31).

Those who will not believe in Jesus have always been characters in God’s unfolding, redemptive story of salvation history, and they will be present until the Last Day. However, the scoffers inside the church are the urgent concern of Jude and Peter. Are the scoffers in Jude’s church rejecting Jesus, the resurrected and ascended Messiah? Are they rejecting Jesus’ teaching that Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead? Are they rejecting Jesus’ commandments to live as his disciples were told? Are Jude’s scoffers simply “softening” Jesus and claiming that there is no need for whole-life commitment to the Living God?

What might it look like to be one of these false teachers, scoffers, today? These scoffers may claim to belong to the fellowship, but their private lives in their homes and with those who know the ways they love and live, demonstrate that they primarily serve themselves and “their own ungodly desires” (v. 18) before serving God or their neighbor. Scoffers create a narrative that seems like they understand and assent to the rule and reign of God over their lives and the redemption purchased for them by the blood of Christ the Lamb, but beneath the surface of things, the heart is full of deception. A scoffer’s carefully crafted mask worn to create a public and spiritually mature image will eventually slip. Incongruencies will always be exposed in the end. “Devoid of God the Spirit” (v. 19), scoffers cause increasing division in the church as a corrosive influence on community life. Jude has made clear, “these people scoff at things they do not understand. Like unthinking animals, they do whatever their instincts tell them, and so they bring about their own destruction” (v. 10). Paul reminds us who the scoffers serve. “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God” (2Cor 4:4).

Jude tells the beloved that these are “the last times” (v. 18), the last days before the Lord’s return. The presence and the trouble caused by false teachers and scoffers should be no surprise because the church has been clearly warned. God himself knows what is happening in these last days and he is still in control. Thanks be to God!

Consider –
╬   Jesus said we are to love one another, to forgive one another, to take great care to take the log out of our own eye before we take a speck out of our friend’s eye. We are also called to be wise and discerning as we seek to keep in step with the Spirit of Truth. These things are directives for each of us and for all of us in community. Pray for eyes to see how you may have engaged in “scoffer” behavior or thought. Ask the Lord’s forgiveness. Pray for God’s protection for our fellowship and our leaders.

╬   Almighty Father, thank you for Jesus our Lord and Savior. Thank you for God the Spirit who firmly dwells within those who belong to Christ Jesus. We need you, triune God. Come quickly, Lord Jesus. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.