But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. (Jude 20-21)
So far in our study of the book of Jude, we have been walking through the darkness. We have witnessed the beliefs and behavior of the apostates. In verse twenty, we turn the spiritual corner, and the Lord says, “But ye.” He speaks to His children. Read Jude 20-21 again.
When we read the expression, “But ye,” we realize that God is trying to get our attention! He turns from these apostates and speaks to the genuine Christians.
We are called upon to live right in a world that has gone wrong. There is a difference between how a Christian lives and an unbeliever lives. Unbelievers think differently than believers think. The world should be able to look at someone who is a Christian and know from how that person lives and speaks that he is a Christian. A wise man once said, “If Christians would simply be Christian, we would have the greatest revival in our nation’s history.”
The Call to Live Right
In a wrong world, God’s children must live right. Notice Isaiah 5:20-21. God said that His people were living in darkness and calling it light.
Christ instructed His disciples in Matthew 5:13, “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted?” The chemical makeup of salt cannot be destroyed, but salt becomes ineffective when it is contaminated with other things. If we are contaminated with the world, we have no power or influence for Christ.
Read 2 Corinthians 6:14-18. We must love the lost, and we should win the lost. However, we cannot accomplish this by living like the lost. God says we should be separated. This is two-fold—separated to the Lord and from the world. Remember, separation is not isolation. We are not to stay out of the world; we are to keep the world out of us.
The Cost of Living Right
It costs something to live right. It costs the loss of personal freedom. If we belong to the Lord, we are to yield our personal freedom and say, “Lord, I am not seeking my own will; I want Thy will to be done.”
Living right will also cost us our social standing. When we identify strongly with the Lord on the job or in public places, the world does not respond kindly. Do you know why? It is because we are living in a world that calls darkness light and light darkness.
The Course for Living Right
The Lord tells us how to live right. He has a course for us to follow. We must put these things from Jude 20-21 to work in our lives:
- Build Yourself Up
Acts 20:32 says that “the word of his grace” is able to build us up. To live right in a wrong world, we must build ourselves up with God’s Word. We have the right foundation—Jesus Christ; build on Him.
- Pray in the Holy Ghost
When we are walking with the Lord, walking in the Holy Spirit, praying in the Spirit in the name of the Lord, we are doing what God has called us to do. Read John 14:13.
- Keep Yourself in the Love of God
This does not mean to try to get God to love you. God already loves you. This means to obey the Lord and stay in the place of blessing. Keep your eyes on the Lord Jesus.
- Look for the Lord’s Return
Jude 20 also says, “Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” If we truly believe that Christ could come today, we will choose to live right in a wrong world. It will change our lives to live in the light of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
Background Reading for Next Week: Jude 20-23; Psalm 126:5-6; 1 John 3:16-18; Mark 9:14-22; John 20:11-15