The little epistle of Jude was written to exhort Christian believers to faithfulness and fidelity in times of apostasy.  We are living in such a time.  The gross moral degeneracy in society at large and the solemn declension in the realm of religion manifest the fact that this is so.

Jude states that it was needful for him to write and exhort as he did because, "there are certain men crept in".  Today these wicked errorists have crept into our churches, into our Bible colleges and into our Bible societies.  Men who "turn the grace of our God into lasciviousness" rejecting God's Word as a rule of life; men who "deny the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ" - doctrinally or practically.  As the serpent entered into Paradise to seduce Adam and Eve so these enter into the visible church to seduce and deceive believers.

Jude does not allude in this epistle to attacks from without but rather from within.  In studying both the fair pages of Holy Scripture and the texts of the history books one sees that the Church has never been harmed or weakened by attacks from without but always by attacks from within.

In times of difficulties, darkness and apostasy, in times when it is clear that these ungodly corrupt men have "crept in" and are attempting to undermine the faith, the Bible believing child of God needs to be clear as to his responsibilities.

THE BELIEVER'S FIRST RESPONSIBILITY IS TO THE FAITH
You find this in verse 3, "Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation," (that I believe, encompasses the fundaments of our faith) "it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints."  We are to "contend for the faith".  That is our first responsibility in the day of apostasy and this whole book of Jude is about the day of apostasy.  To contend is to struggle in opposition.  We are to earnestly assert the tenets of the common salvation, the fundaments of the faith.  They are to be thundered out from the pulpits of our land by we who preach the Word of God, without apology, without compromise, without dilution.  We are to earnestly assert the tenets of the common salvation, our immovable allegiance to the inerrant, infallible, verbally inspired Bible, its supremacy and its sufficiency; the doctrine of the Trinity-Father, Son and Holy Spirit, co-equal and co-eternal; the incarnation, virgin birth, substitutionary atonement, bodily resurrection, ascension into glory, and second coming of Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God; Christ's deity, true sinless humanity, and utter impeccability; the necessity of the new birth effected in the sinner by the unmerited free grace of a sovereign God; the redemption of the sinner by the redeeming blood of Christ shed once and for all as an offering for the redemption of the elect upon Calvary's cross; the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ to the sinner being the sinner's only righteousness before Almighty God.  Oh my friends, they and so much more are the things pertaining to the common salvation that we are to contend for!  We are to earnestly contend for all that God is for, and we are to be against all that God is against, to the pulling down of the strongholds of Satan.

THE SECOND RESPONSIBILITY IS TO HIMSELF
Notice here in verses 20 and 21, "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."  Only the individual sustained by the most real and flourishing inner life is going to come through the day of dearth triumphant.  This "building" mentioned here - "but ye, beloved, building up yourselves in your most holy faith", implies constantly seeking for an improvement of one's grasp of the doctrine of our faith.  People in our churches and chapels today do not understand the doctrine of their faith.  The need of fervent effectual prayer also that we find here, "praying in the Holy Ghost" cannot be overemphasised to the people of God in these days.  The exhortation in these verses to the people of God in times of dearth and in times of national apostasy is simple "Keep the fire burning in your soul".

William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, on one occasion was travelling in a train through the Swiss Alps with a number of his cadets.  As he was deep in meditation, one of his cadets said, "General, look out of the window, look, look, the view is beautiful!"  The old general never looked up, but he said, "Keep the fire burning in your soul, for the tendency of the fire is to go out."  That is the exhortation of these verses here to those who seek to live for Christ in this day of falling away, in this day of fearful barrenness, in this day of dearth, in this day of apostasy.

THE THIRD RESPONSIBILITY IS TO OTHERS
Verse 22 and 23 of Jude: "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."  These verses are saying to us that those who are simple or ignorant, who are misled but open to conviction, those who are sincere in their desire to please and glorify God and submissive in their attitude, we must seek to instruct and to correct, some more tenderly than others.  But others, who obstinately teach and preach soul-destroying doctrines are to be named.  They are to be denounced in strong terms and warned of the consequence of their actions: "others save with fear".  Put the fear of God into them!  In these days of spiritual corruption we must cry out with the apostle to all who profess the Lord's Name the call to separation recorded in 2 Corinthians 6:17, "Wherefore come out from among them" - Come out from the world, come out from the apostasy - "and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing: and I will receive you."