Don’t Be Surprised: Day 6
“But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” 19It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. 20But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. 22And have mercy on those who doubt; 23save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.” - Jude 1:17-23
We live in quite an interesting day. Aren’t convinced about that? Just turn on the news and look around you. You can’t even open TikTok or Instagram without seeing some new piece of craziness. It’s almost as if every day something new pops up that catches our attention, makes us fear, or frustrates us to the point our blood boils. We live in the day of Social Media apologetics that wages war against the faith and seeks to discredit the Word of God. Quite honestly, arguments that cause many Christians to stumble, because we have become so reliant on culture for the evidence of our faith instead of God’s Word. We can’t be surprised that this is the state of the world and society. It was predicted over two thousand years ago and has been true since the days it was spoken. This world is full of people following their ungodly passions. I often hear people say “This world is going to hell.” “The world has never been as bad as it is now” or even “this world is worse now than it ever has been before.” Yet this couldn’t be further from the truth. What was, always has been. Sin corrupts God’s design. Simple as that. The world has always been fractured because of sin.
This should not cause our hearts to be depressed or fearful. The early church thrived in a time that was a bit more barbaric than today. Just as the early church held steadfast to the promise of the gospel, so we too hold now to the same promise. Jude encourages us with a call to persevere through the hardships of this fallen world. He does this by reminding us of the love, mercy, and faithfulness of God. Our perspective matters more than we realize. More specifically, what we choose to focus on really dictates the posture of our hearts. If we focus our gaze on the fallen nature of this world, we will walk in fear, crippled by anxiety and worry each day. However, if we set our gaze upon the gospel and remind ourselves of the love, mercy, and faithfulness of God, we will walk with an unmatched confidence in life. This hope is not solely for us to keep hidden to ourselves. We are called to encourage each other, show mercy to those who doubt, reach anyone and everyone we can, standing firm for the truth we have received in Christ. We should not be surprised by the state of this fallen world. Instead, we should be encouraged that things are unfolding exactly as God’s word has predicted.
Takeaway: Don’t be surprised when the world looks exactly how God said it would. Stand firm in the hope of the gospel.
