Jude 3 Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. 
There is very much in this short book of Jude that could be brought before the church. After all, it was written as a warning to the church against allowing certain beliefs and teachers access into our minds and hearts. It is a letter of dire consequences for those who pervert the truth, as well as a letter of encouragement to those who hold true to the doctrine of Jesus Christ. While very short, it is a highly important and significant writing under the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit for each member of the Body of Christ. We need to heed the admonitions put forth in this text. Over the course of this week’s message preparation, one of those warnings has become a great conviction in my heart, and I feel encumbered to share what has been working in me with regard to our spiritual growth. 
For quite awhile, we have been lifting up our fellowship in respect to our onward spiritual growth into Christ Jesus. We are beseeching the Lord for the fullness of Christ to be the desire of each and every member of this fellowship, as well as every member of the Body of Christ. We should all be craving to become that which God desires for His chosen and redeemed people. 
In line with that prayer, this morning’s passage puts a renewed emphasis on the responsibility that we have as members of the Body of Christ. Consider the full aspect of what is before us in this admonition … I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. Then the writer ends with the encouragement in verses 20-23, But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith; praying in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. 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. 
	This is a call to be very proactive in our diligent walk as Christians on this earth. This is not a passive life that we have in Christ. It is very demanding and very crucial and critical even as to the manner in which the life that we live will cause others to be snatched out of the fire. There is a need to offer ourselves wholly and earnestly to the salvation that has been so freely given to us by God. 
	Now, before anyone gets the idea that this is a matter of salvation by works, never is that the case. We are not saved because we do anything good. We do not earn salvation by virtue of the way that we treat others. We are saved simply and solely because God chose to save us unto Himself. It is all the work of His grace and His mercy. We need that to be at the very forefront of our consideration. We are saved by God’s grace alone with no measure unto our worthiness in any consideration.
	Having set that at the very front of our discussion, this Christian walk, once we are saved, is a very active and rigorous one, not to earn salvation, but because we are saved. The difference is that because we are saved by the grace and the mercy and the love of God, we seek to please Him in every aspect of our lives. Our love for Him constrains us to do that which is pleasing to Him. As we so respond to His love, so do we learn more and more of His grace and mercy and love. We come into a deeper relationship with Him because we give ourselves to that relationship.
	The same principle is inherent in each of our earthly relationships. They take love and nurturing and energy and sacrifice and understanding and effort and work to be developed and maintained. They will wither and die if we do not care for and tend to our relationships.
	The same is true of our spiritual relationship with God. It is not that we will lose our salvation. That is eternally secure in Jesus Christ with all the assurance of the Holy Spirit. The matter before us this morning is our ongoing, living relationship with God in Jesus Christ. We can begin to take Him for granted in our lives. We can begin to get complacent and habitual in our consideration and worship of Him. Rather than finding renewed joy and refreshment in our gift of spiritual life, sadly, we can become merely saved, and lose the zeal and the diligent perseverance after the utmost in knowing and serving and loving Him.	    
Heb 6:9-12 But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way. For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. 
	We are encouraged by the writer to the Hebrews to show diligence, industry, work, conscientiousness, thoroughness, attentiveness, and carefulness in our salvation. We are to be meticulous and thorough in our walk in Christ, and not sluggish, doing just what needs to be done under some perceived notion of behavior. To walk the spirit-filled life of Jesus Christ is not just sitting and expecting God to bless us. It means that we struggle with the course of our lives to be more pleasing to God. It necessitates that we give up our ideas of what God wants and seek Him to reveal Himself to us. It requires earnest prayer and meditation upon Him. It means that we give ourselves to Him in worship and praise, becoming living sacrifices unto that which is honoring and glorifying to Him. 
	We must read and re-read His Word, not as a duty, but as the means of coming to know Him in greater depth and reality. We study and we memorize and we delve into His Word, beseeching the Holy Spirit to open His heart into us. We find ourselves in quest of those things in our lives which will delight Him to far greater and increasing measures. 
 	In this manner, we will find that our relationship with Him develops into something glorious and vibrant, rich in the fullness of Christ. Prov. 10:4 Poor is he who works with a negligent hand, But the hand of the diligent makes rich. We cannot develop such a prosperous spiritual relationship unless we are willing to do all that He requires of us in our life on this earth. 
Listen to the Apostle Peter in his encouragement after spiritual diligence in our calling in Christ. 2 Peter 1:10-12 Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. Therefore, I shall always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you. 
	And in 2 Peter 3:14+15 Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord to be salvation… Our lives should be characterized in our community in His peace; spotless, and blameless. This is not an easy thing that just happens. Peace is established as we go through the trials and turmoil and tribulation and circumstances that rob us of our earthly peace, yet fill us with the spiritual awareness of God’s peace covering and ruling and overruling despite the storms and gales. This is what builds up our ever increasing trust in God.
	As well, we must learn what it means to regard God’s patience, His perfect timing in the events and situations and circumstances of our lives. That is not an easy and simple process to be instituted into us. It takes the seemingly endless and mortally forceful pressures of the death-to-self process to find ourselves on the resurrection side of the cross of God’s patient endurance and love. 
It takes a commitment of the every fiber of our being to crave to know God to the utmost that He will more increasingly reveal Himself to us on this earth. Eccl 9:10 Whatever your hand finds to do, verily, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going. All that we are, all that we desire, all that we think, all that we do, all that we attempt to accomplish must be unto Him with all our heart and might. There is an intensity of spirit that must indwell us to know God. We need to be willing to do whatever it takes, to bear any burden, to travel any road of His choosing in order to increase the intimacy of our relationship with Him. 
	That intimacy will be established, not just in our relationship with God, but in our family relationship in Christ. Rom 12:10-13 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality. There should be at the forefront of our hearts and minds, complete and utter service to God in serving one another. Look at how the members of the church should be characterized: devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.
	This is a matter of encouraging one another to be one in the Lord, to not lag behind in terms of our spiritual life. We are to push one another forward into the diligent and earnest advancement of our corporate, spiritual life. That is the focal point of the writer of this Book of Jude. That is the consistent admonition of the writers of the letters of the New Testament to the believers. In each letter, the truth rings forth that we are to diligently seek after the utmost in serving the Lord by serving one another. 1 Cor. 14:12, So also you, since you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek to abound for the edification of the church. 
Consider the words of the Apostle John in showing love one to another. 1 John 2:10, The one who loves his brother abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 1 John 3:10+11, By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother. For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another… 1 John 3:16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 1 John 3:18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. The passage which we often sing, 1 John 4:7+8, Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. And 1 John 4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 
	There is little doubt of the need for our service one to another as an expression of our diligent service of labor unto God. That loving service should be in evidence in all our relationships. For some reason, too many people find it easier to treat members outside their own families with greater regard and kindness than their own spouses, children, brothers, sisters, and parents. The love of Christ is to be in evidence in each one of our interactions, within and without our natural and spiritual families. 
	Finally, this morning, I would share the warning that the Apostle Paul issued to Timothy. Timothy was, by all accounts, a very dedicated, hard-working minister of the Gospel with a great responsibility to the churches in the region of Ephesus. As we considered in the study of the letters to Timothy, he apparently was in charge of the entire surrounding provinces including all the churches. Yet, please notice what Paul finds needful to tell this man of God.   
2 Tim 1:6, And for this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 
	It is a word of encouragement to kindle afresh the gift of God in his life. This is what has been at work in me over the course of these studies. We must not look at ourselves as anyone who has the full knowledge of God at our disposal. All of eternity will be insufficient for that knowledge. We will never know the complete depth of the love of God displayed in Jesus Christ. We will spend forever and beyond learning more and more of Christ, drinking from the fountain of the comprehension of God’s love for us. It would be folly to think that we know all the riches that are invested in Christ.
	As well, it would be frivolousness to be content with the meager plate of spiritual familiarity that is already ours. We do know some of the wealth of God’s love to us. We have an awareness of spiritual understanding. We are practicing morsels of worship and praise and honor to God in our lives. We are able to give God glory in many areas of our lives and we do count on Him to see us through to the end of our walk on this earth. We can find contentment in what we do know of God’s manner of working all things to His good in our life. But we must not stop at this point. We must kindle afresh the gift of God. We must find the desire to diligently seek and to attentively serve Him. Do not settle for anything less than the total fullness of our relationship in Jesus Christ. That is God’s desire for us, to want to know Him in every aspect of His so great love. 
	I pray intently that we, as a fellowship, that you and me, individually and corporately, will ask, will seek, will beg, will beseech, will ceaselessly go to God, as did the widow insistently go before the judge in Luke 18. As Jesus, Himself tells us in that parable, Luke 18:7, now shall not God bring about justice for His elect, who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? That should be the earnestness of our petitions before Him to know Him more and more. We should find ourselves crying unto Him day and night, engrossed in nothing else but the kindling afresh of His gift in our lives. Let it be our heart to contend earnestly for the faith that is ours in Jesus Christ! So be it!  
Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. Amen.

This morning’s benediction is Jude 24+25, 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.