A Message to this Generation II

“Other than Jesus Christ deity and salvation through Him, no other doctrine of the Bible is attacked and ridiculed as much as the pre-tribulation Rapture. That shouldn’t shock us, the world hates Jesus Christ, hates His deity, hates His salvation, why would it not hate His return for those who have put their faith in Him? Their relentless attack only proves the authenticity of the doctrine as an assured thing.”

A Christian answering a Pastor mocking Jesus’ return

As discussed last week we are going over the book of Jude. We know that Jude was writing to the believers that would be living right at the end of the Church age. The second part of this book goes from verses 20 to 25. Here we see Jude has made a pivot in his book, the first part was writing to us not to lose our mercy, peace, and love, and to know that our Heavenly Father will still bring justice on His own timing. We see Jude is worried about identifying those who have crept in the Church unnoticed and are now actively working against the gospel of Christ. Now however, we see Jude take a different approach, he is actually giving us orders on what we should do.

Now before we go to what he is directing us, we need to remember what he has already told us in verse 17 to go back and read the apostles and Jesus Christ’s words, he is warning us to keep the scripture close to us, near to us, and that we should be studying it. “But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ” Jude 1:17. This is important for what we are about to study in Jude.

  Jude is emphasizing on what the apostles and Jesus had previously stated and written, we are to be building on our faith, we are to be in God’s Word, we are to be praying in the Holy Spirit. “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit” Jude 1:20. We should take notice that this entire verse is defined by action, “building and praying,” it is as if Jude is trying to underline the fact that Christians should be active! And we should be, God has given us talents and we should be using them as He has designed and bestowed those gifts on us. Just look at what Jesus Christ said in His parable in Matthew 25. The two good servants are actively working. This is not to say we are saved through our works but rather we are to work for the Kingdom of Heaven. We have been given a job to do, no matter if that means being the Pastor of a church in Guatemala, an accountant at a law office in New York, a net repairman in Bangladesh, or a stay at home mother. God has given us a job to do, and we are to find ways to bring the glory back to God whenever we get the chance.

Now this brings us to verse 21, before we go any further, I want to remind the reader that Jude has already reminded us to go back and reread the apostles and what Jesus states. Jude has proved that he is writing to a coming generation (which I believe is now) that will experience the lateness of the age, a group that would be in comparison to Enoch, proclaiming to a wicked world Jesus Christ. Now what happened to Enoch? He was taken by the Lord! He was RAPTURED! As discussed in part one of this two-part series, Enoch is a foreshadowing of the generation that would go through the event commonly called the Rapture. We have verse 21 to help establish this as a fact. “Keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life” Jude 1:21. What is this mercy? We know this mercy is quoted by Jesus Christ Himself in Revelation chapter 3, “Because you have kept the word of my perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth” Revelation 3:10. The mercy which the Church will receive is to not be a part of the hour of testing that is coming, this testing is described in Daniel chapter 9 as a time for the Jewish nation to go through “And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate” Daniel 9:27. There are many people who will claim the Church must go through the Tribulation, there are some who would even claim that we are to be pulled out half way through or before the wrath begins, I would state the Word of God to them, read Revelation chapter 5 “And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.” Revelation 5:10. God has made US Kings and priests to our God; And WE shall reign on the earth. Many translations have “them” and “they” in these translations, however I believe this is inaccurate and older translations have proven to have “us” and “we,” I am not advocating for one translation over another but rather to study the Bible we need to look at all reputable translations. To say one is better than all, like many say regarding the King James Version is ridiculous and those who make such an argument can be compared to as 21st century Pharisees. Nevertheless, in this case of Revelation 5:10, the KJV got it right!

We who are purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ, who are to be priests ruling upon the earth, are witnessing the seals being broken by Jesus Christ Himself. We are seeing it happen from heaven; thus, the rapture has already happened by this time in Revelation. Revelation 4:1 gives John’s account of the rapture taking place, “After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things” Revelation 4:1. So now let us go back to Jude 1:21 and see further evidence of Jude talking about the rapture. Remember we need to always know the context of what is being stated, which in this case Jude is writing to a group of believers that the faith has been passed down to, who would be living during the times like Enoch with wickedness abounding. We know Jesus described the end days like in those days of Noah which Enoch lived in and we know Jude is reminding us to go back and read what the apostles and Jesus wrote and spoke about regarding the later days. With that in context, we see something interesting with the word in verse 21 “anxiously”, here the Greek gives us a remarkable set of clues into what Jude is really trying to portray to us.

The word “anxiously” comes from three Greek words προσδέχομαι (prosdechomai) which is defined “as to receive to oneself, accepted, accepting cherish, looking, receive receives, waiting, waiting anxiously” the next word is πρός (pros) which is defined as “advantageous for, at (denotes local proximity), toward (denotes motion toward a place) about accord, according.” The final word is δέχομαι (dechomai) “to receive, accept, accepted, received, receives, take, taken, took, welcome, welcomed.” In summary this word means that we should be eagerly looking for, waiting for a sign to which we will be taken and received from one place to another, we will be taken. The verse gives us greater clarity when Jude states “waiting” as if we do not know when it is to come, Wayne Brindle wrote very elegantly, “These passages [passages supporting imminent rapture] that promise the rapture of the church all teach, imply, or allow for imminence as an event that can occur ‘at any moment.’ The purpose of most of these passages is to encourage believers concerning the hope that awaits them or to motivate them to pursue holiness in anticipation of seeing Christ soon. As Feinberg notes, "there is no mention of any signs or events that precede the rapture of the church in any of the rapture passages. The point seems to be that the believer prior to this event is to look, not for some sign, but the Lord from heaven.[1]” Which would directly correlate with what Jude is stating in his letter, for us to be building our faith and praying in the Holy Spirit. Jude is wanting us to work on our personal relationship with Christ prior to any action taken by us with others as we will see in verse 22.

Jude verse 21 is a perfect example of instructions for the believer to be anxiously waiting for the return of Jesus Christ for us, the specificity of the Greek bring us to believe this is in fact a rapture verse in addition to the other supportive evidence of Enoch being the sole human example given, it can be concluded that Jude 1:21 is in fact a reference for us who are believers in Jesus Christ to be building on our faith in studying the Word of God, praying in the Holy Spirit, and keeping ourselves in the love of God waiting eagerly for His return to which will be a sign signifying we have been taken from literal place to another and received onto Himself. I am immediately reminded by Jesus Christ’s own words “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.2 In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And you know the way where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going, how do we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the father but through me” John 14:1-6. I would ask those who say there is no such thing as a rapture, is Jesus Christ a liar? Because apparently, He is if there is no rapture since He is preparing a place for us and is going to take us there one day. Verse 5-6 in John 14 gives us even more evidence it must be Jesus Christ who is to take us away, for no one comes to God the Father without going through Jesus Christ who “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words” 1st Thessalonians 4:13-18. 

Jude is wanting to remind us of what was already promised by Christ and discussed by the apostles, he is advocating for us to be watchful for Jesus Christ’s return for us. But until that happens Jude has us doing the work God has intended us to do from Matthew 28:19, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” As we come to the end of the age, we are still mandated from Jesus Himself to do what He commissioned us to do. We are to do as Jude states in verse 22, “and have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh” Jude 1:22. We should be showing mercy on spiritually younger believers, teaching them and discipling them, share the gospel to those who are not saved, doing everything we can to help those who are questioning and wanting to know more about Jesus Christ. We need to be teaching the scripture, showing what is right and what is wrong, hating the very polluted garments that are created by the flesh. Jude is wanting us to be eagerly waiting on the Lord’s return for us, but also working to advance the Kingdom of Heaven. What a marvelous mission we have been given, to share the gospel to anyone, and to those who accept, help them grow in the Lord.

Jude ends the book bringing the importance on who our focus needs to be on, which is Jesus Christ. “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless, with great Joy to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen” Jude 1:24-25. Did you see the additional clue regarding the rapture, we, through Jesus Christ, will stand in the presence of His glory blameless and with great joy. He is wanting us to remember that at any time the game will be over, and we are being called to Him. Thus, we need to be actively focused on Christ, and additionally doing His work.

Jude is a unique book because it is the final book before the book of Revelation. How ironic this small book is put right before the greatest end times testimony ever given to mankind. Jude is focused on the Church and its relationship with our Heavenly Father Jesus Christ. The book starts wanting us to calm down and have mercy, peace, and love due to the times Jude knew we were going to be in. Jude wants us to be alerted to a savage group of evil twisted people who have entered the Church unnoticed and are causing havoc. Jude is wanting to remind us that Jesus Christ will have His righteous justice which will come one day and that we should be on guard to keep preaching salvation, and helping our fellow believers build up their faith in Jesus Christ. However, Jude is most importantly reminding the reader to keep our eyes fixated on the mercy of Jesus Christ in His coming of taking us home. The context of this book highlights the importance of understanding that Jesus Christ is not only an all loving God, but also a God who is all justice, and He will bring judgement onto those who are wicked and rescue those who are His. The Church is never meant to go through the Tribulation, Jude helps to make that very clear, the Church is here as a body of believers in Jesus Christ, living and building up each other who are saved in Jesus Christ. Just remember Titus 2,“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, 14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. 15 These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you” Titus 2:11-15. 

So, like last week when we started this study, imagine, the sun had set and the moon had started to rise, local police patrols in your area had increased due to the insurrection and riots in the area. You are gathered under a lamp in the living room, with other believers willing to meet, you see a computer salesmen, construction workers, and other locals all in a circle sitting down breaking bread and drinking wine. The room is silent until an older man with grey hair steps up, you can tell he is tired from the chaos of the year but his eyes reflect eagerness, “Our brother Jude, has written a letter to us” the room erupts with pages turning to the book of Jude in their Bibles, everyone waits for the Church Elder to open his, “before we read, let us pray.”

Through Jude, Jesus is writing to you and I!

Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming

JL

[1]Liberty University Biblical Evidence for the Imminence of the Rapture https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/58821853.pdf pg 151