"Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.
Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.
Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.
And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage." Jude vs 8-16
Jude is a short epistle to the Church with a stern warning against apostasy.
APOS'TASY, n. [Gr. a defection, to depart.]
1. An abandonment of what one has professed; a total desertion, or departure from one's faith or religion.
There were those among the early church, and even among the church today, who have departed from the faith, yet maintain a semblance of godliness. They keep going to church, to the meetings and meals, and some even continue to teach, yet the Spirit of God is not upon them. A wolf among sheep, and "traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof," they are described elsewhere in Scripture. From those such as these, we are warned to stay away from. To be separate from.
"But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;
How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.
These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.
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.
And of some have compassion, making a difference:
And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." Jude vs. 17-25
We are not called to apathy, we are called to action when it comes to seeing our brethren slip away. We are called to compassion, and also to rescue. When we see our brothers and sisters falling into the flesh, we are called to save them with fear, pulling them out of the fire.
However, pulling our brethren out of the fire that they may find themselves in means that we will have to get close to the fire ourselves. We may have to dive into the heat in order to rescue them from the fire. We are not called to be comfortable, by any means, but we must not forget about compassion. If we reached into a burning pit to save our brother or sister from the call of seasonably pleasurable flesh, yet the entire time we are yelling condemning words at them, we risk the chance that they will refuse our hand and continue on.
Yes, there does come a time when we have to step back in prayer and let them learn for themselves, but until then, we are responsible for our action and words concerning them and their sin.
Dare I say that I believe that, most of the time, folks get angry when people don't heed their well-meant advice because of pride? Sometimes we have a tendency to get to thinking that we have been commissioned to keep everyone else in line, and that we deserve respect, love, and recognition for our attempts. People should listen to us. People ought to just do what we say, because what we say is right. We've studied it out for a long time, and we are convinced that it is absolute, and people shouldn't question it. We're right, they are wrong, and they need to repent and get right with God or else.... Right?
Oh, how high minded that sounds. Lord, forgive us.
If we could ever get to the point where we COULD rightly divide the Word, separate out the sin from the "what is best" parts of Scripture, then go from there. The sins are unquestionable, but the "what is best" parts are under individual conviction that the Spirit will refine in time. If we could ever get to the point where we could stop taking questioning or a different view as a personal offense, and start seeing it as it is: A work for the Spirit, not us. Our word will do NOTHING if the Spirit is not also working, and even when the Spirit IS working, He may be working in someone else differently that He worked in us on the exact same topic.
If only we would stop taking offense for the Lord.
I can't go around my whole life taking as a personal insult what others do or say against the Lord. That would make for one miserable life, as we are overwhelmed with advocates of the devil in this world. I shouldn't walk in such a way to think that MY well-intended words are worthy of unquestionable respect and heeding, that is pride in a most dangerous form. We are only the messenger to a lost a sinful world. If they take offense to the message, it is not an offense to us, but to the Lord, and He, the Creator and Sustainer of the world, is fully capable of handling it Himself. He is longsuffering toward us, thankfully. More so than we are toward each other, that's for sure.
So, yes, reach in and save others from that fire. Pull them out in fear for their lives, for their souls. Plead with them if you have to, as you would plead with someone about to lose their life to their own hand. Go, go and win souls to Christ. Exhort and instruct in the ways of wisdom, but don't forget compassion....
Don't forget the fruits of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. If any of our actions or words ever defy any of the fruits of the Spirit, then it is not in accordance with the will of God for us, as His ambassadors and bearers of the Gospel of grace.
The Truth CAN be spoken in accordance with the fruits, in accordance with compassion. It just takes a whole lot of dying to self to do it, and dying to self first starts with dying to pride.
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