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It is a great pleasure and privilege to be with you all today. My name is Anthony.

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Today's scripture reading is from Jude 1, 1 through 4, page 1055 in the Bibles in

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the back of the pews. Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to

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those who are called, loved by God the Father and kept for

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Jesus Christ. May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. Dear friends,

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although I was eager to write you about the salvation we share, I found it

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necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was delivered

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to the Saints once and for all. For some people who were designated for this

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judgment long ago have come in by stealth. They are ungodly, turning the

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grace of God into sensuality and denying Jesus Christ our Lord and Master. This is

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God's word. Amen. If you have your Bibles, go ahead and open them up to Jude, chapter

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1. We're gonna be spending the next few weeks in the book of Jude as we explore

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the book under the heading or under the sermon series title, Hold the Line. I

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want to start this morning by sharing a story. A gentleman named Hino Onoda,

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it's Japanese so I'm butchering it I'm sure, but Hino Onoda was a second

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lieutenant in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. Now he was

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conscripted into the army at the age of 20 years old and he was trained as an

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intelligence officer and part of his training was also in the art of guerrilla

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warfare. December of 1944, which was less than a year before Japan would

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ultimately surrender, Onoda was sent to the Philippine island of Lubang to

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conduct guerrilla warfare and his particular objective was to destroy some

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airfields and disrupt anything that the Allied forces were doing in the area be

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at the US or the Philippine Commonwealth troops. He was given also two very

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specific pieces of instruction. He was told number one you must not surrender

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and number two you cannot take your own life. You must keep fighting. You must

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keep fighting. Well come February 1945 US troops came and occupied the island and

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in doing so they forced Hino and three other soldiers into the mountain

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ranges and surviving on bananas and coconuts and stolen rice and anything

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they could get their hands on they would occasionally come down from the mountains

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and engage in local shootouts with locals as well as the police force on

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the island. During their time in hiding they conducted all kinds of guerrilla

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warfare campaigns and ended up over the time that they were there killing

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something like 30 civilians whom they thought were actually guerrilla warriors

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for the opposition for their enemy. They evaded the American and Filipino search

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parties attacking the villages and engaging in their guerrilla warfare. Well

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the first time Onoda, I just switched his name, Onoda, the first time his

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group saw a leaflet fall from the sky announcing that Japan had surrendered in

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the war was over was in October of 1945. There was another cell of Japanese

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guerrillas who were on the island and they found another note that said the

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war ended on the 15th of August come down from the mountains. Well they

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concluded that this was allied propaganda. It must be. They're trying to dupe us and

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so they would not come down and they did not believe that the war was over.

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Toward the end of 1945 leaflets with a surrender order from the general of

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Japanese 14th Army was dropped from the air. Onoda's group studied it very

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closely they examined it to determine whether it was genuine and they decided

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it was not. A couple of the gentlemen who were with him found their way separate

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from the group and one surrendered and two of the other ones ended up dying in

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a gun battle with local police.

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1974 February. Onoda encounters a gentleman by the name of Nori Suzuki, a

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Japanese adventurer who was on the island and he had told friends of this

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myth that there was lieutenant Onoda on the island and he was going to find him.

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He was going to find a panda and he was going to find the abominable snowman in

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that order. 1974 he's hiking the mountains and he comes across Onoda

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after four days of searching on Lubang and Onoda later describes that meeting

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as this hippie boy Suzuki came to the island to listen to the feelings of an

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old Japanese soldier. They became friends but Onoda still refused to

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surrender telling Suzuki that he was waiting for orders from his commanding

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officer. The name of his commanding officer was Yoshimi, Major Yoshimi and so

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Suzuki made his way back to Japan with the photographs that he had taken of

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Onoda and the government tracked down the major Yoshimi and together

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they got hopped on a plane and flew to the island so that the major could stand

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face to face with Onoda and tell him in accordance with Imperial command the

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14th area army has ceased all combat activity. In accordance with military

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headquarters command number A2003 the special squadron in the chief of staff's

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headquarters is relieved of all military duties. Units and individuals under the

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command of the special squadron are to cease military activity and operations

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immediately and place themselves under the command of the nearest nearest

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superior officer. When no officer can be found they are to communicate with the

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American or Philippine forces and follow their directives. On March 10th of 1974

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Onoda surrendered to the Philippine forces. Surrendered to them after ten

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thousand four hundred and sixteen days, 28 years of holding his post on that

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island until he heard otherwise. Pretty incredible story. What's even more

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incredible is that he wasn't the longest. Only another private held out just a

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little bit longer and surrendered in December. He was on an island in

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Indonesia awaiting his orders. I got my papers all mixed up. What's incredible to

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me about this story is it's a story of a man who took very seriously his orders

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in his call. He took very seriously his orders of his commanding officer and he

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was committed to not be deceived by the enemy even though it was misguided for

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many many years. You can imagine a man who held the line no matter what the

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cost was as his family got older. As the years ticked by and the decades ticked

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by he held the line even if it meant nearly 30 years of isolated living on an

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island. Well the book of Jude calls us to hold the line in a different way but I

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think that there's some parallels in the man's determination and doggedness

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to stay the course. Let's look at a little bit of background information on

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the book of Jude. The book of Jude is small. It's only one chapter. It was

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written in that standard first century form with a greeting at the beginning, a

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body, and then a benediction at the end. The author identifies himself as Jude,

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the brother of James. Jude is just another rendering of the names like

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Judah or Judas which we see throughout the Bible. A very popular name at this

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time. Early church fathers in the first century, Clement and Origen as well as

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the second century to Tertullian all attributed authorship of Jude to the

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brother of James, the half-brother of Jesus. This is Jesus's brother who's

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writing the book. In the book of Mark chapter 6 verse 1 we hear, he left there

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and came to his hometown and his disciples followed him. He's talking about

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Jesus. When the Sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue and many who heard

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him were astonished. Where did this man get these things they said? What is the

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wisdom that he has been given to him and how are these miracles performed by his

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hands? Isn't this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, Joseph,

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Judas, and Simon? And aren't his sisters here too? And so they were offended by

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Jesus. As I said, Jude is another form of the word Judah or Judas and so you have

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Jude, Judah, or Judas. Well one of Jesus's brothers, the third one listed in Mark

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and the fourth one listed in Matthew, is Judas. Jesus's family actually didn't

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believe him during his earthly ministry. We're told in John, the book of John. They

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didn't believe in him. But after his resurrection they believed and we find

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that James, his half-brother, the brother also of Jude, who was Jesus's half-brother

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because Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit. You know, Mary and the Holy Spirit.

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What? You didn't have the father, Joseph, and so his half-brothers are all those

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who were born of Joseph or any other if Mary happened to remarry. And so his

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half-brother James became the leader of the church in Jerusalem. Jude, while he, we

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don't know specifically where he ministered primarily, and most likely

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would have been in that same area that Jesus ministered and in the region of

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Judea. It's generally thought that this book was written sometime before the

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temple was destroyed. The temple was destroyed in 70 AD by the Roman

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occupiers and so this would have been sometime before 70 AD. And we also know

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that James, his brother, is believed to have been stoned to death by two outside

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sources, Josephus one of them, that James was stoned to death around 62 AD and

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that Paul was executed only two years later in 64 AD. So you can imagine the

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times that they're in as this letter is being written. We're many years removed

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from Jesus in his public ministry and his ascension and now we're into this

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apostolic age where the Apostles are spreading the gospel and Jesus's own

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brothers are participating in this ministry with James as a leader in the

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church in Jerusalem and Jude who most likely was doing ministry in the region

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of Judea, maybe an elder of some sort. But then James is stoned by the rulers

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and Paul is executed in Rome. And so you can imagine the times in the church as

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this fledgling little spark of this thing that Jesus started. The question

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is, how's it going to go? Is it going to last? Is it going to take hold? Will it

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spread? Will it become beyond the region that is in it or will it be isolated to

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where it began? Paul, the Apostle Paul, knowing that he was on his way to his

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death heading first to Jerusalem and then ultimately in his imprisonment, he

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calls the elders of the Ephesus, one of the churches that he was a part of

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and planted and loved dearly. He calls those elders to meet with him as he

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makes his way to Jerusalem. And one of the things that he tells those elders

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on his way that will ultimately land him in prison and death, he writes this to

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the elders in Ephesus in the book of Acts chapter 20 verse 28. He says,

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be on your guard or be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock of

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which the Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers to shepherd the church of God

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which he purchased with his own blood. I know that after my departure, savage

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wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Men will rise up even

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from your own number and distort the truth to lure disciples to follow them.

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Therefore, be alert. Remember that night and day for three years I never stopped

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warning each one of you with tears. You can imagine at this time as these

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leaders are finding the end of their life through martyrdom and being

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executed and the words of Paul to the church in Ephesus, wolves are going to

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come. They're gonna be among you. They're gonna rise up and they're gonna try to

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lead astray disciples to teachings in ways that are not in line with Christ.

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And you have to be watchful. You have to be like a shepherd beating back the

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wolves. This is his instruction to the church in Ephesus. False teachers and

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false teaching will worm its way into the church. I think you guys know that's true

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even today. It doesn't take very long for you to peruse. Just look up in each

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scripture, any passage, pop it into YouTube and begin to listen through all

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of the messages preached and you'll hear some wild things being taught

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by so-called Christian ministers. False teachers and false teaching will worm

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its way in. And that's the occasion for this letter. Jude is going to challenge

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you and I as we walk through this journey to hold the line and study the

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book of Jude. Jude is challenging us even today. Are you ready? Are you prepared to

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hold the line? Are you battle-ready? Do you have knowledge and faith that is

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lived out in your life or are you one of those stealth Christians flying under

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the radar? Only you and God know for sure.

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I'll ask when human sexuality is distorted and it's made, remade as an

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idol to our own independence and rejection of God, will you hold the line?

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When Christian ministers teach a message that is contrary to the revelation of

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God through his word, will you reject them or will you reject the Word of God?

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When the world invites you to join, join with it in celebrating the prideful

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rebellion of self-worship, will you join in or will you be his people even if

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every other people on this planet rejects you, ridicules you, ostracizes you

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and cancels you? Will you be his people?

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So if you have your Bibles, let's jump into that verse. Verse one there. Verse

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one begins. I'm really bad at this paper thing today. Luckily I put numbers on it.

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Okay, there we go. I also can't hear out of this side of my ear so like I feel

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like I'm leaning and not quite straight today but it's all good. Verse one.

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Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, to those who are called,

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to those who are the called, loved by God the Father and kept for Jesus. Verse one

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actually gives us a the first of two triads that we're gonna get here in the

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opening. The first triad and this addressed addresses the letter to those

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who are the called, to those who are the called, the loved by God and the kept for

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Jesus. Now the language of being called is what we kind of what we talked about

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last week. To be God's people is to be called out, gathered up people. Those who

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are called out of the world, called out of the way of the world and gathered up

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around Christ and so to be one of those who are the called out ones is to be

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someone who is separate and this always relates to holiness. To be called out is

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to be invited into the presence of God and to be invited into the presence of

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God is always an issue of holiness. In the same chapter that Bethany read earlier,

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chapter 8 of Romans, you have a scripture Romans 8 28 that says this.

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We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who

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are called according to his purpose. For those he foreknew he also predestined to

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be conformed to the image of his son so that he would be the firstborn among

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many brothers and sisters and those he predestined he also called and those he

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called he also justified and those he justified he also glorified. The calling

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is not just a hey follow me around and be the same you. Hey you know invite

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Jesus into your heart so that you can add him on to everything else that you

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already do. It's a calling out in a way and a calling to Christ and that always

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involves holiness. His whole calling is about conforming us to the image of his

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son. Yes we are justified in Christ. Why are we justified? So that we might be

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glorified. What is glorified except that we are made holy? And so Jude says this

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letter is addressed to those who've been called. Those who've been called to a

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place of holiness come out and be separate. He also says in that first triad

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in verse 1 those who are called and those who are loved by God the Father

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this is language of the beloved. His children who are beloved. Those that he

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loves and cares for and holds dear to his heart. Called to be holy. Beloved

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children. And finally kept for Jesus. The Greek word for kept can mean keep or

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guard. Observe, watch over, maintain, preserve. If you are a believer in Jesus

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Christ you can rest in the salvation that he has given to you. The Holy Spirit

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who enters you at the moment of salvation is the promise that you will

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be kept throughout this life and into eternity. Being kept means I am secure in

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Christ. So why did Jude, if you've read the book of Jude, why did Jude open with

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this? This first triad and then the next one that he gets into. Why did he open

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with this when we're gonna get into all kinds of judgment and all kinds of crazy

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talk in the middle of it? The rest of the book of Jude will talk about judgment

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and that judgment that is reserved particularly for those who teach others

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to live out a twisted and distorted lie in place of the gospel. But he contrasts

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that with this opening that if you are called and you are beloved and you

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are kept by Jesus for Jesus. That means mercy not judgment awaits you. That's why

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he begins his second triad in verse 2 with the idea of mercy. Verse 2, may mercy,

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peace, and love be multiplied to you. Mercy, peace, and love. The second triad is

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mercy, peace, and love and it says be yours in abundance or multiplied to you.

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Why mercy? Well mercy, there's nothing, nothing that daily we as believers don't

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need more than a mercy, unmerited mercy. For only unmerited mercy can meet the

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constant need of habitual sinners like you and me. Only the mercy of God day

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after day and so we need mercy and we need peace. I talked about a little bit

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earlier in worship but when a man knows himself or a woman knows herself to be

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accepted with God undeserving though they may be this gives a person a deep

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deep sense of peace in their life. It's not, peace is not, oh I'll be okay with

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every situation. I'll be fine with it. If I have the peace of God I'm gonna look

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at every situation and go no worries it's all good. Every pain, no, no, I

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don't feel anything. That's not what peace means. Peace means I know he will

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keep me through the pain. I know he will keep me through the disaster that's

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before me. He will keep me, he will hold me fast. I can fall apart he will not.

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That's actual peace. That's peace because without that peace we fall apart.

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We fall to pieces. We reject core things about what we believe and how we view

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the world when we get into dire situations. We do all kinds of terrible

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things to people. The peace that he provides in Christ is this underlying

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rock, the sense that though everything be falling apart and though I'm crying my

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eyes out and life is terrible I will not be broken over this. I will not be

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shattered to the point of oblivion. He will keep me to the end. Mercy, peace and

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love in abundance. Abundance meaning be filled full. Do you pray for your

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friends? Do you pray for your friends? Do you tell your friends what you pray for

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them for? I know I was convicted this last week just kind of looking at my

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prayer life and looking at the prayer life of the different groups that I'm in

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and that we, well I'm a part of small groups in Bible studies and just

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realizing how much of our prayer is about health. Pray for my health. Pray for

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the health of others. Pray for the person who's dying. Pray for the family of the

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person who's dying. Pray peace. Let's keep doing that. Let's keep doing

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that but let's also pray for an abundance of mercy and peace and love on

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our friends who aren't in pain, who aren't hurting, who aren't down. Just pray

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blessing upon blessing that their life would overflow and they would be

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drowning in the love of Christ. Let's make sure we include those in our

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prayers too. It can be very easy just to default into it's not very, anyone have

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any prayer requests? We're looking for specifically for health needs, pains in

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your joints, whatever it is, right? Do you pray for your friends? Do you

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tell them what you pray for? Verse three, dear friends, although I was eager to

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write you about the salvation we found, we share, I found it necessary to write

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appealing to you to contend for the faith that was delivered to the Saints

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once for all. He says I found it necessary. He said I wanted to write to

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you about this the salvation that we share. I wanted to glory and the awesome

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truths of the gospel and I wanted to sit and talk to you on paper. I wanted to

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write to you and tell you about the joys and the privileges of what it means to

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be a son and daughter in Christ and and we really should be talking about that

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but something compelled me and the word there that says I found it necessary

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actually means something like I snatched my pen up. I snatched my pen up. I wanted

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to write this but I snatched my pen up because I was compelled to write

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something else. There was an urgency. I began to see something unveiling,

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something before my eyes and I could not wait any longer. I had to write to you. I

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am appealing to you he says. I'm urging now, now an urgency and what's the

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urgency? What is he appealing? What did he snatch up his pen to make sure to

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communicate to these people called, loved and kept in Christ? His message was

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contend for the faith. Contend for the faith and the word contend means meet

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effort with effort. Meet effort with effort. Strive against opposition. The

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faith that was delivered to the saints once for all. Contend for the faith that

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was delivered to the saints once for all. Delivered is more than just a messenger

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service delivering a package. Delivered is the idea of entrusted. The faith which

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was entrusted to the saints. The faith which was put in guardianship with the

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saints. The faith which was given to the caretakers who are the saints. That's

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what he's saying there when he says contend for the faith that was given or

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entrusted. Put into guardianship.

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You are to caretake the faith which is the authorized tradition handed down

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from Christ to his apostles, his apostles to the rest of us. God has given

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over to his people a recognizable body of teaching about the son Jesus. A body

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of teaching that is not to be taken from or added to about Jesus has been

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delivered to the saints, entrusted to the saints to guard it and to keep it and

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he says contend for it. Meet effort for effort. There is an effort to undermine

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it. Meet that effort with equal force.

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In Acts 2 42 we're told about the first believers there at Pentecost and says

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that they devoted themselves to the Apostles teaching. The Apostles were

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eyewitnesses to Christ's ministry here on earth. They were disciples who learned

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from him about what it means to be citizens in the kingdom of heaven and

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what was to come and so the Apostles teaching is what the early church and

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believers devoted themselves to. It was the body of teaching that was entrusted

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to the saints entrusted to you and me to keep. The original is authoritative in

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the believers life. The original is authoritative in your life but here's the

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catch for us today it's not always fashionable. It's not the fashionable

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teaching of the day. Oftentimes it's far from it. Another Apostle, disciple John

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in 2nd John 9 and 10 wrote everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the

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teaching of Christ does not know God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both

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the father and the son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching

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do not receive him into your home or even give him any greeting. Give him no

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greeting if he comes to you with a teaching that isn't the original. The

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authoritative original handed to the Saints to entrust through the Apostles.

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Don't greet him. Don't stick out your hand and say brother you've got something

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that's not right. Don't bring that here. True progress in the faith is faithfulness

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to the apostolic teaching about Christ. True progress. We don't move beyond. We

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don't need new teaching. There was a movement I was at the Keswick movement

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in I think was Scotland or England. It was this big movement right and it was

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all about next-level Christianity right. There's all of you and then you could

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get to next-level Christianity. You know if you just do these certain things you

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get the secret knowledge you get this prophetic word spoken over you. You too

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could be in the second or the higher class of Christians not among all those

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peasant Christians and to that you would say no. Something's not right with

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that. Something's not right.

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The word that Jude uses to translate that we translate contend is this idea.

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Defense of the faith will be continuous costly and agonizing. Defense of the

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faith will be continuous costly and agonizing. You will be unfashionable. You

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will be unfashionable if you stand on the truth of the faith. If you are faithful

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to the faith and trusted to the Saints once for all you will be out of touch

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with the world and the way of the world. You will be well you will not have a

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place in the halls of even the liberal church in America.

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You will be labeled by whatever the flavor of the day is bigot, phobic, hater.

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You will be called unloving and what you will have is you will have distorted

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debased devilish people quoting scripture back at you to call you out

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and you will be tempted to believe that they are correctly judging you with

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scripture and that you need to play nice, shrink back and be quiet. That's what

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this world will look like if you truly contend for the faith. So are you

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prepared? Jude is calling out are you prepared? Will you contend for the

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faith once for all handed down? Have you devoted yourself to the Apostles

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teaching so that you know the real deal when you face the counterfeit? See we

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can get into this very devotional mindset where it's like I need to read

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the Word of God a little bit every day for my good. No! You need the Word of God so you

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know truth so you can sniff out the counterfeit and you can stand like a

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rock against it. Who cares about you? Sorry. We are the people of God entrusted

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with the Word of God through the Apostles to hold true to stand steady in

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the face to be in the face of every effort to come and undermine it every

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teaching and false teacher. People have died for this. Your brothers and sisters

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in the past have died contending for the faith. They've died because people said

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oh that's not very loving of you. I thought you were a Christian. They've

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died because they stood their ground and would not bow their knee to whatever

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cultural idol was that flavor of the day. They took the ridicule. Do you know that

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you have brothers and sisters in the faith that you will meet one day in

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heaven and you will walk the streets of gold and they can share with you stories

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about how their business was shut down because they stood on Christ and refused

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to bow. That they were no longer allowed to make a living in that city because

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they would not bend. That they were no longer invited to the parties. You will

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have brothers and sisters in heaven who can tell you stories about how the fact

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that they would not go to the festivals in the city that they were labeled as

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those who were bringing curses upon their village and they were hated

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everywhere they were looked they were spit upon and despised. I don't know

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where we got the idea that to be a Christian is to be this nicey nice pants

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who just stays quiet and makes no enemies. That's not our history. Our

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history is standing true. We don't make enemies for the sake of making enemies.

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We stand upon truth and truth is either loved or hated. And this is the call that

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we have and Jude is sitting wherever he's at and he said I was going to write

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to you and I wanted to have a nicey nice devotion with you about salvation but I

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couldn't help it. I snatched up the pen because I need you to know you've got to

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contend for the faith. It's in danger. There are wolves in sheep's clothing

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among you and they're bringing teaching. We're gonna get into what that teaching

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is and it's no coincidence that for us today in this age that Jude we're mapping

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it out in the month of June because it's very similar what he was contending

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with and what we contend with in our day and age. If you don't know the month of

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June is pride month in our nation and if you don't bow to that idol you may

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well pick up a label and Jude is here saying you know what contend fight meet

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effort with effort hold true to the apostolic teaching know it so well that

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you can sniff out the counterfeit and stand firm. Don't be obnoxious. Don't be

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hated because you should be hated. Be hated because you held to the truth

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tight and would not budge. If you don't move beyond the squishy Jesus loves me

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and has a wonderful plan for my life and yours to contend for the faith fight for

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the truth. Understand your position in Christ. Understand that there is a

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coming judgment to all of those who are outside of Christ. All who reject the

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idea that there is a king and creator over their life. Wrath is coming and only

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in the risen Son of Jesus Christ will they find mercy. Only in that arc can

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they be saved from the waters. Wrath is coming. As you are prepared to contend

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you will be shipwrecked as well as instead of snatching folks from the fire

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you will politely smile. Stay in your lane as their own mind is darkened their

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destruction is made certain and their eternal destination is secured. That's

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not what God is calling his people to. God is calling his people to meet effort

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with effort to contend for the faith to fight for the souls of the lost and to

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stand up to and against false liars who use the very word of God to destroy

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people. Yesterday was June 1st launch of what our society is called Pride Month.

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If you if you're a social media person you can see it as every icon changes

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every profile picture changes. What's really sad is when you see ministers

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began to post one yesterday happy Pride Month. I hope you feel validated and

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like you have an ally in me. That was just one minister out of multiple that I

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saw on one platform vocalizing an agreement with and partnering with what

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God is against and instead of saving people from the wrath that is to come

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they are smiling politely minding their business as their friends and family and

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folks around them as their mind is darkened. Their destruction is made

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certain and their eternal destination is secured. May that not be who we are. May

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we stand and contend for the faith. The question as we enter this series is will

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you hold the line?