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Good morning. Today's scripture reading is from the book of Jude, chapter 1 verses 17

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through 23, and that is page 1055 in the pew bibles. But you, dear friends, remember what

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was predicted by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They told you in the end time

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there will be scoffers living according to their own ungodly desires. These people create divisions

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and are worldly, not having the spirit. But you, dear friends, as you build yourselves up in your

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most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting expectantly

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for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life. Save others by snatching them from the fire.

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Have mercy on others with fear, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh. This is God's word.

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I'll invite you, if you do have a Bible or you would like to grab the one in the pews,

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please turn over there to Jude. Jude is the second to last book in the Bible. If you get

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to Revelation, you've gone too far. If you find any of the first, second, or third Johns,

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you're right before it. So Jude is right between there and you can turn over to Jude. It's really

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just one chapter and we're in verses 17 through 23 this morning.

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In recent years, we've witnessed a concerning trend in Christianity. The phenomenon of believers

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falling away from the faith goes by different names. It can be mass under the name deconstruction,

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or you might call them apostasy or those who just reject the faith outright. But studies paint a

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sobering picture. According to a 2019 Pew Research Center report, the percentage of Americans

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identifying as Christian has dropped by 12% over the past decade. And from 77% in 2009 to 65% in

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2019. So that's a big drop there. But even more alarming is a 2022 Gallup poll that found church

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membership in the US has fallen below 50% for the first time in over eight decades.

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But why is this happening? And more importantly, what can we do about it? Interestingly,

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as we see this decline, we're also witnessing something else. And that is a hunger for

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Christians. And that is a hunger among the current generation for something deeper,

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something more substantial in their faith journey. Many young Christians are no longer satisfied

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with surface level feel good messages that resemble Ted talks more than biblical teaching.

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Instead, we're seeing with the new generation that they are craving biblical clarity and a thick

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liturgy, a return to the roots of the faith. Here's a quote from a millennial. We're kind of done

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with glam rock liturgy and preaching for pizzazz that masks the lack of biblical preaching. We want

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our souls fed, not our emotions tickled. This generation is seeking authenticity in their

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lives. They want to grapple with the hard questions of the faith to understand the rich

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traditions and the deep theological truths that have sustained believers century after century.

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They're looking for a faith that can withstand the challenges of our complex world.

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Not one that shies away from difficult topics or offers overly simplistic answers.

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This hunger for substance is precisely why the words of Jude, though written 2000 millennia ago

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are timely for today. How do we stand when others are falling away? How do we make sure that we

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don't drift, but are kept in Christ as Nick pointed out? What is Jude's instruction for us today?

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A quick recap of the last few weeks. Jude wanted to write to a group of believers about their

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common salvation. He wanted to write an endearing letter sharing and then glorying in their faith.

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And yet he felt compelled to snatch up his pen, to write to them, to warn them about false teachers

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who were creeping up within the church and to tell them to contend for the faith. For the sake of

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contend for the faith, fight for the faith, meet effort with efforts, rise up church.

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Because there are teachers and people among Christians who are using the grace of God,

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the grace that God accepts sinners through repentance and faith, God accepts sinners.

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These teachers were using that and saying, well, if God accepts sinners, let's keep sinning. God

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accepts sinners. God is love. God wouldn't even judge. He accepts everyone as they are.

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And they would promote all kinds of weakness in the church. Jude could, the book of Jude could

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very well be written by any number of Christian leaders today and it would be 100% relevant

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to what we see in our time. And so he began today's scripture by reminding them that this was

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predicted by the apostles of Jesus Christ, that in the end times, in the last times that scoffers

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would live among us in their ungodly desires, that they would mock the things of God, they would mock

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the goodness of God and the things that God laid out that were good and they would say no to those

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things. And instead through their desires for sensuality, they would promote all kinds of evil

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in these last days. And these people are not out there and us in here, but they're in here.

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They're among us. And among us, they creep up with little teachings or little thoughts,

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backroom discussions to worm their way or slither their way or stealth their way into the church

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and to lead many astray. And so the call was to be on the garden now within the church,

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within the context of who we are as the body of believers. These people are creating divisions

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and these people are worldly, he says in verse 19, not having the spirit. They're unregistered.

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A regenerate believer receives the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ. When they receive

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salvation, the Holy Spirit comes. These are not in the Spirit. But they can talk a good talk,

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can't they? They can say all kinds of things that sound right to the undiscerning ear.

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And so Jude is encouraging us to discern. It was told about, it was predicted, it's come to pass,

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and it remains even 2,000 millennia later. But we're gonna spend the bulk of our time in

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verse 20 through 23. So having predicted that these folks would come and expounded on who they

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are in verse 19, he moves into verse 20. And we're gonna look at verse 20 and 21 under the heading

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of strengthen and wait, strengthen and wait. Jude has said they're falling, they're drifting,

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or they've fallen away already. What are you doing? What does it take to make a stand?

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And so I'm gonna cover four points out of Jude 20 and 21 under the heading of strengthen and wait.

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And the first one is this, he says, build up. How do we keep from falling? How do we maintain our

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stand? Number one, build up. But you, dear friends, dear friends is also dear beloved or my

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beloved. It's a term of endearment. It says you are children, you're accepted in the family. It's a

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familial name. You, friends, children in the faith, build yourselves up in your most holy faith.

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Build yourselves up in your most holy faith. Jude says, take responsibility for your spiritual

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formation. Take responsibility for it. And back in verse three of Jude, he wrote that they needed to

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contend for the faith that was delivered once for all. Now that's not a faith that is subjective.

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That's not a faith that is subjective to the person, but that's an objective faith,

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something outside of us that we believe in, in an act that was called the apostle's teaching.

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The apostle's teaching represented the orthodox teaching about who Jesus was.

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It represented the standard, and it was the standard by which every other claim of truth

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was to be weighed against. The apostle's teaching. And so when he says build yourself up in your most

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holy faith, it's not a personal subjective faith. It's the faith handed down to us once for all.

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How do we come to know stuff? As people, as humans, how do we come to know stuff?

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What do we do with our kids? We put them in a classroom, right? And they get taught,

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and for years and years they study, right? And they dig deeper and they build upon one concept,

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another concept, and another concept until they have a sturdy building of teaching.

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And he comes and he says, take responsibility for your formation. Build yourself up in this most

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holy faith. Learn, observe, study. As you know, with most professions, right, the more important

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the profession and the more like life or death the profession is, the more study there is, right?

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I don't know exactly how long it is, but I know if you want to become a medical doctor,

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seven to 10 years, that's what Kimberly just said, seven to 10 years of study to become a medical

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doctor, and I'll tell you, I'm grateful. Anytime you ever go to the doctor, I'm sure you're grateful

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too that they had study and they just, they didn't hop in there and wing it or watch a YouTube video

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before they got in there to see if they could perform heart surgery on you, right?

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The more important, the more dedicated you have to be to that study. And I can't think of anything

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more great and more important than the foundations of our faith. That which we stand on, not just

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in this world, but in the world to come. That's which, that which carries us forward, the

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foundations of our faith. And Jude says, you want to know how to stand whenever other people are

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falling, build yourself up in this most holy faith. It's not automatic. It doesn't just happen.

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Right? It's not like osmosis where you just plop yourself in a pew and it seeps in through your

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skin. And over a few years, you're good. It's not automatic. It requires effort. In fact, Peter,

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Peter says that it is something that you must make every effort or strain to do.

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In second Peter one, beginning in verse five, he says, for this very reason, make every effort

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to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control,

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self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection

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and brotherly affection with love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure,

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they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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The person who lacks these things is blind and short-sighted and has forgotten the cleansing

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from his past sins. Therefore, brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your

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calling and election because if you do these things, you will never stumble. For in this way,

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entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for

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you. Some tear down, some bring division. Jude says, build yourself up. Build yourself up in

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this most holy faith. Add, is what Peter says, supplement or add to your faith goodness, knowledge,

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self-control, brotherly affection, endurance and so on. And possessing these qualities help us to

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see and understand better this faith and this knowledge of Jesus Christ than if we didn't.

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The sad truth in reality is, and you guys know this, some people

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never strengthen their faith. They are like infants. They are like babies in the faith.

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The great preacher, Charles Spurgeon, talking about the need for spiritual fathers in the

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church who will mentor and grow folks up in the faith, said this. He said, in the church of God,

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there are children who are 70 years old. Yes, little children displaying all the infirmities

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of declining years. It is not a pleasant sight to see gray-headed babies. But on the other hand,

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there are fathers in the church of God, wise, stable, instructed, who are comparatively young

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men. The Lord can cause his people to go rapidly and far outstrip their years.

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Why is it not good that we remain infants? Why can't I say the prayer, one and done,

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and just skate out the rest of my time, putting no effort into the formation of my faith?

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Well, there's a few reasons I would say. The one reason is that the Lord is

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the most vulnerable to predators. The first one is the most obvious. Infants are vulnerable to

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predators. If you had a choice between someone who's an adult who can fight back or run really

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fast, or someone who is incapable of moving and doesn't know up or down, you're probably going

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after the infant if you're a predator, right? We see this in the animal kingdom all the time.

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You're vulnerable to predators. It's not good to be an infant. You're vulnerable to false teaching.

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You're vulnerable to those who come and will prey on you, who will sway you, who will convince you

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of things. It's not good to remain an infant and be vulnerable. But it's also true that infants are

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susceptible to lies. Infants are more susceptible to lies. And as infants or small children in the

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family, you also can become conduits for spreading those lies to other people. Young children can be

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taught to believe all kinds of things. And if they're taught to believe all kinds of things,

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but they're in the body of a 50-year-old espousing those things as if they're true or fact,

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they might very well convince a new believer to follow in their way and lead them right off the

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hell. You can't be an infant and be strong in the truth. Infants are susceptible to be led even to

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lies and to spreading lies. And remaining an infant, they also don't have the maturity to see

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all good things as good. And this is huge. Those who remain in that infancy stage, even though

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they're older, oftentimes lack the ability to see good things as good. And they'll even call good

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things bad. My wife was telling me this illustration. I'd never heard of it before, but it's called

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Sheep Dip. Anyone know what Sheep Dip is? It's not something you bring to a party. Sheep Dip

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is a big old vat full of chemicals. There are insecticides and fungicides, insecticides and

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fungicides filled up in a vat. And a shepherd will take a sheep who is prone to all kinds of,

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you know, itching mites and things on their skins and fungus growing inside of their wool.

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He'll take a sheep and he'll take it over to the vat and he'll put it in and he'll push it under.

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And that sheep fights like nothing else to get out, kicking and screaming and whatever it is.

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He'll push it under, hold it for a few seconds, pull it out, set it on the ground and it'll run off.

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That sheep thinks he's dying. That sheep thinks that's abuse. That sheep thinks it's assault.

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Call someone. Get them here. I need a police officer. I've been assaulted.

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That shepherd knows it's good. As an infant, as a dumb sheep,

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we oftentimes lack the immaturity to be able to see good things as good.

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And it's only when we grow up in the faith that we can begin to see those things and say,

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I see what God's doing. I see the good in that. I can understand my suffering better.

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I can understand the season of life better. I can understand this person more fully because

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I can see with mature eyes. It's not good to remain an infant, vulnerable to predators,

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susceptible to lies and not being able to discern good from bad. And so the instruction is to first

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build up, to feast on God's word for the nourishment of your soul. That it would be more

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essential than breakfast, lunch, dinner, second dinner, third dinner. Study his word. Maybe

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you're not a commentary person. Maybe those things intimidate you or you just want nothing

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to do with them. That's fine. Read the Bible. Ask a lot of questions of spiritually mature

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men and women. Don't believe yourself. Don't be wise in your own eyes. Go and be taught and learn.

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Grow up in the faith. Ask lots of questions. Let spiritually mature men and women lead you.

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Connect with a small group where you can discuss scripture. And if you got a funky little view

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that you picked up along the way because you were led down a lie, maybe someone in that small group

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will go, ew, what's that? That's not what the Bible is saying. That's not what the counsel of the word is.

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Job chapter 23 verse 12 says, I have treasured the words from God's mouth more than my daily food.

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Build yourself up. Build yourself up. The second one is pray in. Pray in the word.

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Pray in. Pray in. We build up and we pray in. Verse 20 continues saying, praying in the Holy Spirit.

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We build ourselves up in the faith, in the most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.

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Now some Charismatic folks think that this is all about praying in strange languages or tongues,

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and I don't believe that's what this particularly means, to pray in the Holy Spirit. Earlier,

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talking about the apostate ones, Jude said in verse 19 that they create divisions and are worldly,

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not having the Spirit. But then he continues, but you, dear friends, as you build yourself up in the

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most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, you have the Spirit. You have the Spirit is what he's

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saying. And they don't. You have it, they don't. As children of God, you are led by the Spirit,

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they are not. When they pray, they have no helper, the Holy Spirit, our advocate, when they pray,

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they have no helper to get their prayers formed and aligned with God's word and delivered to the

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Father through the Son. You do, the Bible says. You have an advocate. Samuel Zwimmer said,

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true prayer is God the Holy Spirit, talking to God the Father in the name of God the Son,

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and the believer's heart is the prayer room.

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For believers, the Holy Spirit is the source and the sustainer of our spiritual life.

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To pray in the Spirit means to pray in harmony with the word of God. You see how this one

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connects to the first one. How can we even begin to pray if we are not building ourselves up

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in our faith? To pray in the Spirit means to pray in harmony with the word of God, and God does not

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speak with two voices. He does not say one thing in Scripture and then whisper something different

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in your ear. He doesn't say, this is true in Scripture, this is good, this is my way,

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this is my way, and then secretly give you knowledge about another way that you can walk in.

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You know what I mean? Scripture and the Holy Spirit are in alignment.

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No two voices. We will never, the Spirit will never move us to pray for something that's not

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sanctioned by Scripture. H.W. Frost said, there is an inseparable union between the Spirit,

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the word, and prayer, which indicates that the Spirit will always lead the saint

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to make much of the word, and especially God's promises in the word. This explains the fact that

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the great prayers have always been great students of the word. Prayer is not my will be done in

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heaven. Prayer is your kingdom come and your will be done on earth. The supreme object of prayer is

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God's glory. In prayer, we have two advocates available to aid us as well, and they plead for

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us and plead our case. Nick made mention of this earlier. The Son, Jesus, intercedes for us before

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the throne of God. In 1 John chapter 2 verse 1, he said, my little children, I am writing you these

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things so that you may not sin, but if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father,

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Jesus Christ, the righteous one. And so we have advocate number one, the Son, Jesus,

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who's interceding for us before the Father, and it's his righteousness that we're receiving and

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we're walking in. And we also have advocate number two, the Holy Spirit is Christ's advocate in our

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heart. We are the vehicles of the Spirit's intercession. We're the vehicles of the Spirit's

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intercession, which he carries on within us and through us. This wonderful news

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means that the Holy Spirit is the one who is actively praying prayers.

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Did you know that the Holy Spirit is praying prayers in you? The Holy Spirit is praying

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prayers, and because the Holy Spirit is a part of the triune God, his prayers are always acceptable.

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They're always heard, and they're always answered, and they're acceptable to the Father

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through the Son. And the Holy Spirit then instructs us and inspires us and illuminates us

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in our hearts and our minds so that we then begin to align with what the Holy Spirit is praying.

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What the Holy Spirit is interceding within us, we come in alignment, and that's when our prayers

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become effective. Our prayers aren't effective just because we say nice things, or we can

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construct them in a certain way. Our prayers are effective because they align with God,

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the power of the Holy Spirit within interceding, they come in alignment with that, and the Holy

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Spirit direct access through Jesus Christ to the Father. He instructs us, inspires and illuminates,

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and as long as the Holy Spirit is not grieved within our hearts by our willful disregard for

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God's commands and his will, he is able to guide us in our prayers and petitions.

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And with the Holy Spirit's guidance, our prayers will then be in agreement with the things he's

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interceding for, and that is praying in the Spirit. Build up. Pray in. Third, keep in. Verse 21 begins,

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keep yourself in the love of God. I have three boys, they're older now, it's really hard to

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coordinate everything. I have three boys at home, they're all three live here at the house,

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and I love my boys 24-7, as a father loves his children, as an imperfect father loves his

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children in the best way that I can. I love them all the time, but my children as they've grown,

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they've become more secluded. They have their room, they have their places to go, Kaia has his job to

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get to, he can drive, so he will take the long way home sometimes, and I don't love him less

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when he's out doing whatever he's doing or he's in his room. But that doesn't necessarily mean

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that he has access to all the benefits of my love. See, when I go out with him, he's not

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when I go out with him, I pay. When he takes the long way around, he pays. I don't pay. He access

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a benefit that I joyfully give, I have no problem, no reservation about showering it on him,

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but it's only in nearness to me that he accesses it. And Jude says, keep yourself in the love of

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God. We have to keep ourselves positioned to experience the love of God that is always there

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and is showered upon his children to allow those benefits and the pleasure of being his beloved.

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And some folks have a hard time hearing that they're loved. Some folks, the moment they hear

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something like I love you, they filter it through their own view of themselves.

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They wonder if they're even lovable, and when they hear the words I love you from someone,

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they doubt them. In their mind, they think if you only knew, or what do you want?

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I think it's on purpose that this instruction to keep ourselves in the love of God

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follows the instruction to pray in the Holy Spirit. Why? Because the Bible tells us so much

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about the Holy Spirit, and here's just a few things that I think are really insightful.

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That the Spirit reveals God in his word to us. That the Spirit empowers us to live like Christ.

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That it enlivens us with the resurrection power. The power that raised Christ from the dead is at

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work within us, and that it transforms us into Christ's image with increasing glory. Christ,

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who was the acceptable one because of his sacrifice. It's the Holy Spirit who enables you

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to taste and see that the Lord is good. You cannot keep yourself in the love of God,

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except that the Holy Spirit is doing something in you to position you under the shower of his grace.

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I don't know if you know this, but God loves to be trusted.

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He is drawn to the brokenhearted. He is drawn to the weak. He is drawn to the humble. He loves,

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loves, loves to display his faithful love. He loves to show that he will follow through on what

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he said. Follow through on his promises. He loves when we're dependent on him. He loves when we're

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weak so that he can strengthen us in the power of his might and he can receive the glory he is due

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as being the perfect Almighty. He is. He loves us to maintain our position and status

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as children of God and allow him to be father. Allow him to be father.

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Keep yourself in the love of God. Allow the Holy Spirit to position you under the fountain of his

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grace. Trust him. Allow him to follow through with his faithful love. The reformer Martin Luther

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said that the sin underneath all our sins is to trust the lie of the serpent, that we cannot trust

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the love and grace of God and must take matters into our own hands. It's the lie. The lie is we

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have to take it in our own. God's love won't follow through. He won't do what he said he was going

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to do. We have to make it happen. That is an impediment to the experience of God's love

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and is something that we must set aside in trust. Number four, we build up, we pray in, we keep in,

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and finally we wait for verse 21. Waiting expectantly for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life.

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Now we're told one of the promises that helps us to stand in the face of those who are falling,

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in the face of those who are coming with false teaching, one of the promises is the expectant,

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hopeful waiting of Christ's return. Waiting expectantly for him. And I would imagine there's

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probably two responses when Jesus comes, right? Two responses. One response, well, there was a time

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where I was out on our property. We have about six acres and we live in El Dorado County. Now El

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Dorado County is different than Sacramento County in many ways, but in one way, we can own and shoot

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guns on our property. My son back there is going, yeah, we can, we can do that. We own guns and we

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can shoot them on our property so long as we're not shooting in the direction of a home. We're

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shooting into a backstop. Well, I set up a backstop against a hill on our property and we went out

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and I was shooting a gun with one of my sons, showing him how to use a handgun and we were

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shooting responsibly as we should. Now, just because we're able lawfully doesn't mean that the

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neighbors always liked the noise or that the neighbors liked the direction that we're doing it.

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And so we had a neighbor who came, drove down around this winding and he yelled out from his car,

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Hey, I don't have a problem with guns, but I think where you're shooting is a problem. So I've

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called the sheriff and he's on his way. Now, what do you think I felt in that moment? I wasn't doing

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anything wrong, but I could think of, I thought I was going to be walking away like this. I'd be

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handing in my resignation letter. You guys would be like, Oh, pastor's in prison. He was shooting

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guns and never own a gun again, right? So as I waited for the sheriff to arrive, I did not wait.

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And when he did arrive and pulled in, I was shaken. I was like, yes, sir. Yes, sir. Whatever you want.

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I'll do anything. He showed up to finish the story. He showed up, walked down to where I was,

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stood in the position and said, Hey, our sheriff loves the second amendment and he wants everyone

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in here to shoot. So teach your kids and shoot. And that's a great place right there where you

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were shooting. Good job. But I need to stay down here a little bit longer. So he thinks

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that we're talking a little bit more. And I'm just instructing you on how to be safe. But he's like,

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this is awesome. What a great spot. Excellent. And he got back in his car and left and there was no

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problem after that. And I've talked to the neighbor since and I think we're good. But when I was

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waiting, I was not waiting with hope. I dreamt up every scenario. I dreamt up he was going to jump

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out of that cruiser and well, I'm armed, right? He knows I'm armed. The guy called on me. He's

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going to come out armed, drawn. I'm going to have to get on the ground. It's going to be a scene.

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That's one way. One response to Jesus is coming. The other response I was thinking about as a kid,

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we lived on a block and it was a typical urban environment in San Jose, California.

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And where I lived as a kid, the ice cream truck came by every day at the same time.

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And we knew, we knew what time it was. And we would all, the three, my four sibling,

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three siblings, I'm the fourth, we would all go to the couch, which was against that front window

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facing inward. And we would get on it and look over the top of it and just wait at the window

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for the ice cream truck to, as soon as it came, we'd take off running with either mom or dad in

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the rears coming up with the money, right? Cause we couldn't buy anything. We'd run out there,

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whether we bought anything either way, we'd run out there just to wave at him. I mean, he was like a

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superstar in our neighborhood and we knew when he was coming and we were excited to see him.

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That's another response to Jesus is coming.

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Waiting expectantly. And that's what Jude says, wait expectantly for the mercy of Jesus Christ

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when he returns. Wait expectantly. Your response to those words, Jesus is coming,

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is a really good indicator as to whether or not you are keeping yourself in the love of God.

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If you are under the shower of his grace, then when I say Jesus is coming,

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the corners of your mouth curl up just a little bit as you think about Jesus is coming.

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He's coming. Over 1,845 times in the Bible, the end times are predicted

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or they're alluded to. It is a major theme in the Bible.

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I've heard a joke before, the joke was something like, I'm not pre-millennial,

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I'm not post-millennial and I'm not all millennial, I'm panmillennial.

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In the end, it'll all pan out, right? And it's funny and it will pan out, it will.

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Whatever you believe in, it will. It will. It will. It will. It will.

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It will. Whatever you believe. But it panning out can't mean that we put it out of our mind

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and go on living without it in our minds. Jude says, you want to stand firm? You build up,

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you pray up, you keep it, and you wait for him. You wait for him expectantly. Wait on him,

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and you wait until he comes to you. And that is the end of it.

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But if you want to stand firm, it's not the end of it. It's the end of it.

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It's a great hope. It's a great hope. It's a great hope. It's a great hope.

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It's something that helps us stand while others are falling away.

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Okay, really quickly, verse 22 and 23. What about the drifters though? What about those among us

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What should we think toward them?

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What should we do?

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Have mercy on those who waver.

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Save others by snatching them from the fire.

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Have mercy on others, but with fear,

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hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.

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I think Jude is laying out at least two kinds of drifters.

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The first one is the doubting drifter.

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The doubting one is what Peter called unstable souls,

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or what James called double-minded waves

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being tossed here and there by every teaching.

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The doubter is one who has moments of fire,

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moments of spiritual ecstasy, and long periods of,

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ah, I'm gonna go find something else.

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I'm gonna go entertain myself over here.

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I'm gonna go find some pleasure to entertain myself here,

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and then maybe comes back around

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only to do it again and again.

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And you can see over time, there's a slipping away.

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We make a joke that, I've made it before here,

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that you can tell when someone's on their way

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out of a church as they move their way back

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in the sanctuary until they're out the door, right?

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That's just a joke.

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I don't think that actually represents anything.

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That's just a joke, I don't think that actually

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represents anything necessarily,

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but there's something to be said about repeating

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over and over in that drifting and that doubting,

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and you begin to see it take its toll.

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And so the question is, how should we treat them?

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What should we do for the drifter?

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And James says that we're supposed to have mercy on them.

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Should we attack them?

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Hey, I thought you were a Christian.

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I thought you were, why are you doing that?

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I thought you said you were a Christian.

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Should we club them over the head for doubting?

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Just believe, you don't need to know anything,

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you don't have to have firmness in your faith, just believe.

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James says no, I mean Jude says no.

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We're to give them undeserved kindness.

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That's what mercy is.

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We're to give them undeserved kindness.

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Mercy throughout the Bible has to do with forgiveness

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and withholding or delaying deserved punishment.

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We're supposed to withhold deserved punishment,

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delay punishment, we're supposed to give forgiveness,

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we're supposed to give undeserved kindness

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to the drifter, to the doubter.

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It is our mercy that very well could win them back.

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It is our kindness, it's the kindness that God showed to us

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that first won us over in the first place,

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it's our kindness to those who doubt and those who drift

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that could win them back.

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It's not kindness that we're supposed to give,

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it's not kindness that allows them to continue in their sin

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and affirms their sin, no.

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It's kindness to say I'm not gonna write you off,

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I'm not gonna wipe my hands clean of you and be like,

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well, you're dead to me.

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It's the kind that says, hey, I'm gonna evangelize you,

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I'm gonna remind you of the grace of God,

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the shower of grace, the shower of God's love

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that I'm standing under and that I'm being filled up with,

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I'm gonna try to splash you a little bit with that,

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just get a little bit onto you

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so that you can experience and begin to taste

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God's goodness again and maybe his kindness

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will draw you back.

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I'm not gonna write you off,

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I'm not gonna get that disgusted feeling in my stomach,

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oh, they once were a Christian,

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but man, did they fall off the wagon.

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He says mercy, mercy is what we're to show

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to those who are wavering.

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But there is another kind of drifter

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and it's the obstinate drifter.

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The obstinate drifter is the one

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who is steadfast in their rebellion,

401
00:40:56,800 --> 00:41:00,200
steadfast in their sin and you can begin to see them

402
00:41:00,200 --> 00:41:03,520
descend further and further and further

403
00:41:04,920 --> 00:41:07,960
into the darkness that they're walking in.

404
00:41:09,680 --> 00:41:12,640
And so some people we need to talk sweet to,

405
00:41:13,600 --> 00:41:16,320
some people we need to sprinkle with the grace of God

406
00:41:16,320 --> 00:41:18,160
and the fountain of God's goodness

407
00:41:18,160 --> 00:41:20,240
and we need to plead with them and preach the gospel

408
00:41:20,240 --> 00:41:22,920
to them and love them and welcome them with kindness

409
00:41:22,920 --> 00:41:25,560
and other people need rebuke.

410
00:41:27,160 --> 00:41:30,920
Some people need to be snatched from the flame,

411
00:41:30,920 --> 00:41:33,560
they're obstinate, they need to be shaken

412
00:41:33,560 --> 00:41:35,760
from their position, they're falling away,

413
00:41:35,760 --> 00:41:38,160
they're falling into sin, they're drifting away,

414
00:41:38,160 --> 00:41:41,160
the fire of judgment is undeniable.

415
00:41:42,280 --> 00:41:45,200
They are playing with fire and they will be burned

416
00:41:45,200 --> 00:41:46,720
so we snatch them.

417
00:41:46,720 --> 00:41:47,880
We say stop it.

418
00:41:50,000 --> 00:41:53,720
Get your hand away from there, right?

419
00:41:53,720 --> 00:41:56,120
You have no business being there,

420
00:41:56,120 --> 00:41:58,440
you have no business doing that or acting that way,

421
00:41:58,440 --> 00:42:00,240
stop now.

422
00:42:02,720 --> 00:42:07,720
I've often thought in my stellar physical condition,

423
00:42:09,120 --> 00:42:12,480
if I was ever put into a position where I had to rescue

424
00:42:12,480 --> 00:42:14,120
someone, and I think about weird things,

425
00:42:14,120 --> 00:42:16,720
if I was ever put in a situation where I had to rescue

426
00:42:16,720 --> 00:42:19,400
someone from a car barreling down on them

427
00:42:19,400 --> 00:42:22,000
and you see it in the movies, you run and you dive

428
00:42:22,000 --> 00:42:23,960
and you push them out of the way and then I think,

429
00:42:23,960 --> 00:42:25,520
man, that would hurt.

430
00:42:26,640 --> 00:42:29,960
Like that would hurt a lot, that would hurt me.

431
00:42:29,960 --> 00:42:32,760
Like I don't know if I would survive the fall.

432
00:42:32,760 --> 00:42:34,960
I'd certainly come up with a lot of broken bones.

433
00:42:36,600 --> 00:42:39,480
It's like, but what are you gonna do to get them

434
00:42:39,480 --> 00:42:40,320
out of the way?

435
00:42:41,240 --> 00:42:42,960
You see it barreling down on them,

436
00:42:42,960 --> 00:42:45,640
you see it barreling down on them,

437
00:42:45,640 --> 00:42:47,960
you see where this goes.

438
00:42:48,920 --> 00:42:50,320
Those flames are hot.

439
00:42:51,440 --> 00:42:54,200
Judgment fires that they have been sowing into

440
00:42:54,200 --> 00:42:56,840
by their life and their rejection of Christ,

441
00:42:56,840 --> 00:42:59,360
they're stoking, the flames are coming up,

442
00:42:59,360 --> 00:43:00,560
what are you gonna do?

443
00:43:02,200 --> 00:43:04,320
In the scenario I live in, I'd like to think that

444
00:43:04,320 --> 00:43:08,680
I would just act and deal with the hospital costs later.

445
00:43:10,520 --> 00:43:12,920
But when it comes to brothers and sisters who are drifting,

446
00:43:12,920 --> 00:43:15,000
there's some we come and we say, man,

447
00:43:15,000 --> 00:43:16,680
just remember the grace of God.

448
00:43:17,760 --> 00:43:21,840
Remember his goodness, remember that testimony, that time.

449
00:43:22,760 --> 00:43:24,640
Remember when he repaired your marriage

450
00:43:24,640 --> 00:43:25,920
and it was about to fall apart.

451
00:43:25,920 --> 00:43:28,800
Remember when he provided that financial thing for you

452
00:43:28,800 --> 00:43:30,640
to get you through that time.

453
00:43:30,640 --> 00:43:33,040
Remember when that one guy came alongside of you

454
00:43:33,040 --> 00:43:34,880
and worked through that sin issue with you.

455
00:43:34,880 --> 00:43:39,280
Remember the grace of God and the history and come back.

456
00:43:39,280 --> 00:43:41,880
Come back to Christ and others, you just have to go,

457
00:43:41,880 --> 00:43:45,520
wake up, fire.

458
00:43:47,880 --> 00:43:48,720
It's hot.

459
00:43:51,080 --> 00:43:52,320
Stop, get away.

460
00:43:54,000 --> 00:43:56,480
I think it's easy for us to write folks off.

461
00:43:58,800 --> 00:44:02,320
I've been here at this church for over six years.

462
00:44:03,520 --> 00:44:07,000
There's lots of faces that are seen here

463
00:44:07,000 --> 00:44:08,040
that I don't see now.

464
00:44:09,280 --> 00:44:10,360
Some have moved on.

465
00:44:10,360 --> 00:44:13,440
Some continue in the faith strong.

466
00:44:13,440 --> 00:44:14,520
Others, I have no idea.

467
00:44:15,480 --> 00:44:16,320
I don't know.

468
00:44:17,160 --> 00:44:20,520
It'd be easy for me to say, oh, catch wind,

469
00:44:20,520 --> 00:44:22,280
oh yeah, they're not a Christian anymore.

470
00:44:22,280 --> 00:44:25,080
They're doing this, they're doing that, they're doing that.

471
00:44:25,080 --> 00:44:27,480
I guess they're not my responsibility anymore.

472
00:44:28,680 --> 00:44:33,440
And Jude says, man, it's gonna take a toll on the church.

473
00:44:33,440 --> 00:44:35,280
It's gonna take a toll on the people.

474
00:44:35,280 --> 00:44:38,920
All of this stuff that has come in,

475
00:44:38,920 --> 00:44:41,320
the world is deceiving, the enemy is real

476
00:44:41,320 --> 00:44:44,960
and he's working to try to snatch people away from God

477
00:44:44,960 --> 00:44:47,120
and his good work.

478
00:44:47,120 --> 00:44:48,200
What are we gonna do?

479
00:44:49,120 --> 00:44:51,920
Are we just gonna sit by and let it happen?

480
00:44:51,920 --> 00:44:54,280
Are we gonna let the enemy come in here

481
00:44:54,280 --> 00:44:55,880
and plunder our church?

482
00:44:57,120 --> 00:44:58,960
Or are we gonna say, you know what?

483
00:44:58,960 --> 00:45:01,640
The feeling of embarrassment is staying in my lane.

484
00:45:02,680 --> 00:45:05,240
You know what, I'm gonna set that aside.

485
00:45:05,240 --> 00:45:06,680
I'm gonna give that call to that person.

486
00:45:06,680 --> 00:45:09,080
I'm gonna say, hey, what's up?

487
00:45:09,080 --> 00:45:10,160
Don't you remember?

488
00:45:11,080 --> 00:45:11,920
Remember.

489
00:45:13,280 --> 00:45:14,120
And if there's still off-center,

490
00:45:14,120 --> 00:45:15,920
you're gonna say, stop that.

491
00:45:17,880 --> 00:45:19,680
I know, I was there on that journey.

492
00:45:19,680 --> 00:45:22,520
I know that's not you, stop that.

493
00:45:22,520 --> 00:45:25,480
And if they reject, what can you do?

494
00:45:25,480 --> 00:45:26,840
But you did what you could.

495
00:45:30,640 --> 00:45:32,560
We can prevent it by building ourselves up,

496
00:45:32,560 --> 00:45:35,800
but we also have to recognize that some will fall

497
00:45:35,800 --> 00:45:38,720
and drift, and we have to be prepared

498
00:45:38,720 --> 00:45:42,000
to show mercy to those who waver

499
00:45:42,000 --> 00:46:06,360
and to snatch others from the fire.