17But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, 18that they were saying to you, “In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.” 19These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit. Jude 17-19

If we are truly living in the “last days,” the Bible has its share of warnings for us along the same theme, that “mockers” or “scoffers” will arise who will spread all sorts of doctrines that deviate from the apostles’ teaching. It appears that Jude was on Peter’s mailing list (2 Peter 3:3) as both wrote similarly, using the same word for “mockers.” Paul called these false teachers “salvage wolves” (Acts 20:29) and devoted considerable ink to warning his successor Timothy of the challenges he’d face with these sorts in his ministry. (2 Timothy 3:1-9)

Some thoughts.

First, are we living in the “last days?” Generally, yes. Peter, Jude, Paul, and Timothy technically were, but we, more so some 2,000 years later. The farther we get from the final utterance of Jesus on this earth, the worse it’ll be. In my lifetime, I’ve witnessed a cataclysmic downward spiral, and the pace is quickening as I write this. It’s all head spinning and dusturbing, quite frankly.

Second, where we see divisions in the church, at the root of these will be false doctrine taught by lustful worldly teachers, “devoid of the Spirit.” James, Jude’s brother, calls these teachers and their messages “earthly, natural, and demonic.” (James 3:15)

20But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. Jude 20-21

Knowing these truths, Jude writes to his beloved, to those who possess a common salvation, to keep building up their core strength, that is, their most holy faith. Not particularly their trust in the Lord, but all the crucial elements of their Christian faith, two of which are praying in the Spirit, as only we can do as Christians, as one commenter puts it, “with watchful care keeping yourselves within the sphere of God’s love,” and waiting expectantly for the Lord’s merciful strong right hand, which will ultimately lift us into eternity.

6 Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand. Psalm 20:6