1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,000 At the end of the Bible, the revelation is read. 2 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:13,160 Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who are the called, beloved 3 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:20,720 in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ, may mercy and peace and love be multiplied 4 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:22,120 to you. 5 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:29,600 Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt 6 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:35,760 the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which 7 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:40,400 was once for all delivered to the saints. 8 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:47,000 For certain persons have crept in unnoticed those who were long beforehand marked out 9 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:54,940 for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness 10 00:00:54,940 --> 00:01:00,560 and deny the only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. 11 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:06,580 Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after 12 00:01:06,580 --> 00:01:14,800 saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe, 13 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:22,000 and angels who did not keep their own domain but abandoned their proper abode He has kept 14 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:28,360 in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day. 15 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:34,880 Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as 16 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:42,340 these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example 17 00:01:42,340 --> 00:01:46,200 in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. 18 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:52,840 But in the same manner these men also, by dreaming, defile the flesh and reject authority 19 00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:56,360 and revile angelic majesties. 20 00:01:56,360 --> 00:02:01,360 But Michael the Archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of 21 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:07,040 Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment that said, The Lord rebuke 22 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:08,440 you. 23 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:13,580 But these men revile the things which they do not understand, and the things which they 24 00:02:13,580 --> 00:02:21,080 know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed. 25 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:28,320 Woe to them, for they have gone the way of Cain, and for the pay they have rushed ahead 26 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:35,320 long into the air of Balaam and perished in the rebellion of Korah. 27 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:41,000 These men are those who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you 28 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:46,000 without fear, caring for themselves. 29 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:55,240 Clouds without water carried along by winds, autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted, 30 00:02:55,240 --> 00:03:02,680 wild waves of the sea casting up their own shame like foam, wandering stars for whom 31 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:07,160 the black darkness has been reserved forever. 32 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:13,960 And about these also Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, 33 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:20,860 Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of his holy ones to execute judgment upon 34 00:03:20,860 --> 00:03:27,360 all and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds, which they have done 35 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:33,280 in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against 36 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:36,040 him. 37 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:41,140 These are grumblers finding fault, following after their own lusts. 38 00:03:41,140 --> 00:03:47,600 They speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage. 39 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:52,600 But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles 40 00:03:52,600 --> 00:04:00,760 of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they were saying to you, In the last time there shall be mockers 41 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:05,140 following after their own ungodly lusts. 42 00:04:05,140 --> 00:04:12,320 These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit. 43 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:19,680 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy 44 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:26,720 Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord 45 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:30,560 Jesus Christ to eternal life. 46 00:04:30,560 --> 00:04:37,200 And have mercy on some who are doubting, save others, snatching them out of the fire. 47 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:43,920 And on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh. 48 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:48,400 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his 49 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:56,240 glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, 50 00:04:56,240 --> 00:05:03,600 the glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forever. 51 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:04,600 Amen. 52 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:07,120 Let's pray. 53 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:17,400 Father, we thank you for Jude, that he was willing to follow the Lord Jesus and to faithfully 54 00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:19,920 serve him. 55 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:24,480 And we thank you that he was an instrument of the Holy Spirit to write your inerrant 56 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:26,920 precious word. 57 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:33,600 Our desire tonight is that we might think with Jude as he writes, and that the Holy 58 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:39,840 Spirit would illuminate our hearts to understand the meaning so that we may know the word of 59 00:05:39,840 --> 00:05:44,600 God, understand that, and apply it to our lives. 60 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:47,200 In Jesus' name that we pray. 61 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:48,200 Amen. 62 00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:55,440 One of the things that we immediately observe as we come to this book is the redemption 63 00:05:55,440 --> 00:05:58,200 of a name. 64 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:09,760 There's probably no name in history that is filled with more shame than the name Judas. 65 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:13,960 There are not many people today who name their children Judas, you will notice. 66 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:20,160 The reason is the identification with Judas Iscariot, and yet the name of this man is 67 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:21,360 Judas. 68 00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:25,080 It was a familiar name in that day. 69 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:30,960 Judas would be the Greek word. 70 00:06:30,960 --> 00:06:36,040 The Hebrew equivalent would be Judah. 71 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:41,200 Jude is how it's brought into the English, and perhaps the English translators translated 72 00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:46,120 it Jude because they did not want to write the letter of Judas. 73 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:47,120 I don't know. 74 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:54,320 But Jude is the English name that we get from Judas or Judah. 75 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:58,680 An interesting note also is that he calls himself the brother of James. 76 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:07,400 James is the English equivalent of the Hebrew name Jacob, another very common name in that 77 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:10,360 day. 78 00:07:10,360 --> 00:07:17,600 Jude says that he is the bond slave or bond servant of Jesus Christ and the brother of 79 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:19,440 James. 80 00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:23,600 That is the only way he identifies himself, but it seems to be sufficient to tell us who 81 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:25,680 he was. 82 00:07:25,680 --> 00:07:31,280 This man Jude was the brother, undoubtedly, of James who was the leader of the church 83 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:33,420 in Jerusalem. 84 00:07:33,420 --> 00:07:38,120 That is not James the brother of John, the son of Zebedee. 85 00:07:38,120 --> 00:07:44,680 After this is James who was a half-brother of our Lord Jesus Christ. 86 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:47,800 After his conversion, he was a leader in the church in Jerusalem. 87 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:50,740 He was the chief elder of that church. 88 00:07:50,740 --> 00:07:56,920 In Acts 15, we see James in action as he calls together this church council, which made a 89 00:07:56,920 --> 00:08:04,160 deliberate and important decision regarding the Gentiles and their relationship to the 90 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:06,840 family of God. 91 00:08:06,840 --> 00:08:12,160 Now this man, Jude, identifies himself as a brother of James, and therefore we understand 92 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:16,280 him also to be one of the half-brothers of our Lord Jesus Christ. 93 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:22,200 I want you to turn back to the book of Mark for a moment and see the list that is given 94 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:23,200 here. 95 00:08:23,200 --> 00:08:34,360 Mark chapter 6, and look in verse 3. 96 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:41,080 Some of those in Nazareth speak and say, Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the 97 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:48,760 brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon? 98 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:54,120 Probably that Judas, or Jude, mentioned here in verse 3, is the author of this book of 99 00:08:54,120 --> 00:08:59,560 Jude toward the end of the New Testament. 100 00:08:59,560 --> 00:09:04,780 He also calls himself a bond servant of Jesus Christ. 101 00:09:04,780 --> 00:09:10,200 He does not try to impress anyone with the fact that he was, in fact, the half-brother 102 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:11,200 of Christ. 103 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:18,480 But rather, he prefers to identify himself as simply a servant, a slave, one who does 104 00:09:18,480 --> 00:09:22,440 what his master wills. 105 00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:25,560 Jude was not always in that position. 106 00:09:25,560 --> 00:09:32,440 In fact, in John 7, it very clearly says that his brothers were not believing on him, referring 107 00:09:32,440 --> 00:09:34,560 to Jesus. 108 00:09:34,560 --> 00:09:39,880 They did not accept him at that point in his ministry as who he claimed to be. 109 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:47,120 Indeed, they seemed to have looked upon him as a rather strange kind of person. 110 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:50,960 They were without understanding. 111 00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:57,640 But later, after his death and resurrection, they came to a personal faith in this one 112 00:09:57,640 --> 00:10:04,720 with whom they had grown up and recognized that he was, in fact, the Christ of God. 113 00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:11,720 And now Jude simply identifies himself as—we would identify ourselves, I hope—as a servant 114 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:14,800 of Jesus the Christ. 115 00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:21,000 They have a relationship that really goes beyond that of being half-brothers, but rather 116 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:24,560 one that involves a spiritual relationship. 117 00:10:24,560 --> 00:10:32,040 Now, this epistle was not penned, you note, to any particular group of people. 118 00:10:32,040 --> 00:10:35,640 That's why it is called one of the general epistles. 119 00:10:35,640 --> 00:10:38,880 It is written to the church at large. 120 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:44,080 It may be that Jude had in mind a particular assembly when he wrote it, but he did not 121 00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:45,080 say so. 122 00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:48,840 Thus, it is called a general epistle. 123 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:54,160 We're going to look tonight, as time permits, at the first four verses and divide them this 124 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:55,160 way. 125 00:10:55,160 --> 00:10:59,240 In verse one, the description of the believer. 126 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:02,560 Verses two and three, the desire of the writer. 127 00:11:02,560 --> 00:11:07,480 And verse four, the deception of the apostates. 128 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:11,240 First let's notice how he describes believers. 129 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:18,920 He says, to those who are the called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ. 130 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:25,480 Three important thoughts in verse one describing you as a believer in Jesus Christ. 131 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:29,640 First he says, those who are the called. 132 00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:35,560 That is a term synonymous with the name Christian. 133 00:11:35,560 --> 00:11:41,880 Those who are the called refers to those that God, in a sovereign sense, has summoned from 134 00:11:41,880 --> 00:11:45,920 the world to be his own. 135 00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:52,000 The called refers to every person who has come to faith in Jesus Christ. 136 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:56,600 Not to a select few of them, but to each one of the saved. 137 00:11:56,600 --> 00:12:01,560 If you belong to Jesus Christ tonight by faith in him, then you are among those that are 138 00:12:01,560 --> 00:12:05,340 addressed here, really, as the called. 139 00:12:05,340 --> 00:12:10,280 This concept of the calling of God is one that is found throughout the New Testament. 140 00:12:10,280 --> 00:12:13,600 Our calling is said to be a high calling. 141 00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:16,000 It's said to be a holy calling. 142 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:19,520 It's said to be a heavenly calling. 143 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:25,840 Perhaps one of the key verses regarding the call of God upon the sinner is found in Romans 144 00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:26,840 chapter eight. 145 00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:32,280 Now we're going to get to that eventually as we go through Romans, but let's jump ahead 146 00:12:32,280 --> 00:12:37,960 now and just look at that one verse that deals with it. 147 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:42,000 Perhaps to get the context, it would be good for us to back up to verse 29 of Romans eight 148 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:48,280 where he says, For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to become conformed to the image 149 00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:54,120 of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 150 00:12:54,120 --> 00:13:02,160 Whom he predestined, these he also called, and whom he called, these he also justified, 151 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:06,360 and whom he justified, these he also glorified. 152 00:13:06,360 --> 00:13:12,160 There are five works of God in salvation as delineated here. 153 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:22,200 Predestination, or rather foreknowledge, predestination, the call of God, justification, and glorification. 154 00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:27,200 The call of God is the work of God, the Holy Spirit. 155 00:13:27,200 --> 00:13:34,960 In calling a sinner out of his sins to be a believer, this emphasizes the sovereignty 156 00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:37,240 of God. 157 00:13:37,240 --> 00:13:42,800 Now there is also the other truth, and that is man's responsibility, but this particular 158 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:48,720 word emphasizes God's part in that, his calling. 159 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:57,160 You and I were not saved because we stumbled upon Jesus Christ, or even because we diligently 160 00:13:57,160 --> 00:13:59,440 sought him out. 161 00:13:59,440 --> 00:14:05,360 The truth is that he sought us out and called us to himself. 162 00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:07,600 And that's why we are saved tonight. 163 00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:12,400 We are not able to boast in the fact that we found Jesus, but rather we boast in the 164 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:18,600 fact that he, by his grace, has found us and called us to be his own. 165 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:24,080 This word called here was a common word in that day used of those who were invited to 166 00:14:24,080 --> 00:14:25,080 an event. 167 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:29,280 And I tell you, have we ever been invited to something? 168 00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:35,840 We have been invited by God sovereignly into his family and invited by his grace to share 169 00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:39,400 in his eternal glory. 170 00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:43,680 And there is no doubt but that every person who is called is someday going to inherit 171 00:14:43,680 --> 00:14:44,680 that glory. 172 00:14:44,680 --> 00:14:50,920 For, if you will notice, in Romans chapter 8, all of those verbs are in the past tense. 173 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:54,720 In our experience and time, the first four of them are past tense. 174 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:58,200 We have not yet been glorified in time. 175 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:03,140 But as far as God is concerned, it is so sure that we shall be glorified that he puts it 176 00:15:03,140 --> 00:15:04,140 in the past tense. 177 00:15:04,140 --> 00:15:10,000 And he said, those who are called are also justified and glorified past tense. 178 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:13,800 There is no doubt, my friend, if you belong to Jesus Christ that someday you are going 179 00:15:13,800 --> 00:15:15,920 to be with him. 180 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:23,760 And Jude emphasizes this truth as he closes his epistle when he says that he is able to 181 00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:31,240 make you stand in the presence of his glory blameless with great joy. 182 00:15:31,240 --> 00:15:32,240 That is your destiny. 183 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:40,800 Now, he also says here that those who are called are the beloved in God the Father, 184 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:42,440 loved in God. 185 00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:48,120 That is in a particular tense in the Greek, a perfect tense, which means that it is a 186 00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:55,000 past action that has an effect that carries on to this present time. 187 00:15:55,000 --> 00:16:00,280 Kenneth Weist, who for years taught Greek at Moody Bible Institute, said it could be 188 00:16:00,280 --> 00:16:06,400 translated this way, to those who by God the Father have been loved and are in the state 189 00:16:06,400 --> 00:16:10,720 of being the permanent objects of his love. 190 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:13,640 That's the emphasis in what he says here. 191 00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:20,280 In other words, right now, at this very moment, you are the object of God's love. 192 00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:25,840 Jesus Christ went to Calvary for us when we were unlovely. 193 00:16:25,840 --> 00:16:35,080 Now that we are in him, God the Father will do nothing whatsoever for our damage, but 194 00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:39,160 rather it is all for our good, for our sakes. 195 00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:45,160 He loves you just as much as he loves his dear Son, Jesus Christ. 196 00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:48,040 You say, I'm not sure God loves me that much. 197 00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:51,160 Yes, my friend, he does. 198 00:16:51,160 --> 00:16:53,840 And Jesus himself said that. 199 00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:55,720 Turn back to John chapter 17. 200 00:16:55,720 --> 00:16:59,640 You may want to keep your finger here because we'll be coming back to it in a moment, but 201 00:16:59,640 --> 00:17:08,240 in John chapter 17, Jesus tells us that very thing. 202 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:16,480 Verse 23 says, I in them and thou in me, that they may be perfected in unity, that the world 203 00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:25,440 may know that thou didst send me, and didst love them even as thou didst love me. 204 00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:31,960 In other words, Jesus is saying, Father, I want them to be perfected in unity, that the 205 00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:38,160 world may know that you sent me, and that the world may also know that you have loved 206 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:46,680 them even as, just as, to the same degree as you have loved me. 207 00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:51,880 How much do you think God the Father loves his Son? 208 00:17:51,880 --> 00:17:56,160 Why don't you know that the whole delight of his heart, if I may express it that way, 209 00:17:56,160 --> 00:17:59,200 is focused upon his Son? 210 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:02,400 He calls him his beloved Son. 211 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:06,680 In Colossians, it is the Son of his love. 212 00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:09,320 How much do you love your children? 213 00:18:09,320 --> 00:18:15,440 It's difficult to describe and to measure, isn't it, the love that you feel for your 214 00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:18,720 child or for your grandchild? 215 00:18:18,720 --> 00:18:24,000 Your heart's affection is focused entirely upon that child or those children. 216 00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:29,560 You love them, and you are willing to do whatever is necessary for them, for their good. 217 00:18:29,560 --> 00:18:34,280 You see, my friend, it is that way in God's love for you. 218 00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:39,120 God loves his Son so much that he wants a whole heaven full of people just like him, 219 00:18:39,120 --> 00:18:40,680 and he's going to have that someday. 220 00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:44,120 If you're in Jesus Christ, you're going to be a part of that. 221 00:18:44,120 --> 00:18:46,040 Now let's go back again to Jude. 222 00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:49,720 You may want to keep your finger in John 17. 223 00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:56,000 But notice that the final phrase describing the believer in verse 1 is that we are kept 224 00:18:56,000 --> 00:19:03,400 for Jesus Christ or preserved for Jesus Christ. 225 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:10,760 The idea means to guard or to hold firmly, to watch, to keep. 226 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:17,040 And again, it's in the same verb tense that the previous phrase, and it can be translated 227 00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:19,240 this way. 228 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:26,800 Angels who have been guarded and are in a permanent state of being carefully watched. 229 00:19:26,800 --> 00:19:33,120 Perhaps involved here is the thought of Hebrews 1.14 where it says that angels are ministering 230 00:19:33,120 --> 00:19:39,560 spirits sent forth to those who are to be the heirs of salvation. 231 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:45,200 I believe in what some call guardian angels. 232 00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:51,000 Not that God has to have an angel to keep us any more than God has to use you or me 233 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:53,400 to declare his word. 234 00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:58,880 But I believe that part of the outworking of God's sovereign purposes involves angelic 235 00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:04,280 beings who are given charge to watch over his children in this world. 236 00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:10,280 It may well be that the moment we die that we are aware of these spirit beings, and it 237 00:20:10,280 --> 00:20:16,480 is they who usher us into the presence of God, taking us safe to our home as is their 238 00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:19,040 charge. 239 00:20:19,040 --> 00:20:22,680 Whether you agree with me on that or not, there is no doubt that those who are in Jesus 240 00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:27,280 Christ are those who are kept for him. 241 00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:34,720 This is the same Greek verb as is found back in John 17 again in verse 11 where he says, 242 00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:42,760 And I am no more in the world, yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to thee, Holy 243 00:20:42,760 --> 00:20:51,720 Father, keep, there is that word, keep or guard, preserve them in thy name, the name 244 00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:56,080 which thou hast given me, that they may be one even as we are. 245 00:20:56,080 --> 00:21:01,800 The very same word that Jesus uses in his high priestly prayer is the word that Jude 246 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:08,760 uses to describe how you and I are kept by God for Jesus Christ. 247 00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:12,760 And I notice that some translations put this a different way. 248 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:18,000 There is no preposition in the original here, but I think that what it says in the NASV 249 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:26,480 captures the thought of it, that we are kept for Jesus Christ, for we are God's gift to 250 00:21:26,480 --> 00:21:28,120 him. 251 00:21:28,120 --> 00:21:36,600 We are a part of the bride that God is calling out for his son. 252 00:21:36,600 --> 00:21:42,520 We are being kept until that time that we are with him, and in a further sense than 253 00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:48,680 that, we are being kept until that day of the rapture when our glorification is going 254 00:21:48,680 --> 00:21:54,980 to be consummated and we will then be forever with the Lord. 255 00:21:54,980 --> 00:22:01,280 We won't need to be kept for him then because we, at that time, will be with him. 256 00:22:01,280 --> 00:22:05,840 So we have a marvelous verse here describing our position in Christ. 257 00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:13,400 We are those who are the called, those who are loved in God the Father, and those who 258 00:22:13,400 --> 00:22:17,260 are kept for Jesus Christ. 259 00:22:17,260 --> 00:22:23,440 So when you feel lonely or you feel down and you feel blue, you remember what you are in 260 00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:27,520 Jesus Christ, how the Bible describes you. 261 00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:31,400 When you are tempted to think that you have failed so badly that God doesn't love you 262 00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:36,480 or doesn't want you anymore, that you have no longer a place in God's purposes, you 263 00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:41,720 look at this verse and remember that if you have trusted Jesus Christ, however badly you 264 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:47,640 may have failed since that time, you are still one of God's called. 265 00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:54,320 God still loves you as much as he loves his son, Jesus Christ, and he is keeping you by 266 00:22:54,320 --> 00:23:01,120 his faithfulness and his power until that day that you will stand in his presence blameless 267 00:23:01,120 --> 00:23:04,560 with exceeding joy. 268 00:23:04,560 --> 00:23:10,400 Now we want to go on to verses 2 and 3 as we talk about the desire of the writer. 269 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:15,960 Verse 2 is really a prayer, it's a salutation or a greeting, a common one from that day. 270 00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:21,400 He says, may mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you. 271 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:27,840 God's mercy involves his compassion, his forgiveness, which precedes the work of his 272 00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:29,440 grace. 273 00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:34,140 His mercy, as someone has said, is God not giving to us what we deserve. 274 00:23:34,140 --> 00:23:38,920 His grace is his giving to us what we do not deserve. 275 00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:47,040 Here we have God's mercy acting toward us and God's peace is that rest of soul that 276 00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:50,360 comes from knowing him. 277 00:23:50,360 --> 00:23:56,960 It is that peace with God and the peace of God that accompanies that. 278 00:23:56,960 --> 00:24:00,840 And then he talks about love being multiplied to us. 279 00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:05,400 God's love is his motive for all of his dealings with you. 280 00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:10,000 It may be that there's a parallel between these words and what is said in verse 1. 281 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:14,680 For instance, the calling of God is based upon his mercy, isn't it? 282 00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:16,360 And it mentions his love here. 283 00:24:16,360 --> 00:24:19,220 In verse 1, his love is mentioned. 284 00:24:19,220 --> 00:24:23,480 And in verse 1, it talks about our being kept for Jesus Christ. 285 00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:27,560 That keeping of God brings peace. 286 00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:33,720 I remember when I, as a teenager, came to an understanding that I didn't have to keep 287 00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:36,840 calling out for God to save me over and over again. 288 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:41,960 That the first time I said that and meant it, God saved me and saved me forever. 289 00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:46,200 When I understood that that keeping power of God was active in my life, it brought a 290 00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:49,720 peace to my soul I had never known to that point. 291 00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:53,760 And you may be here tonight and you're not sure that you've been saved. 292 00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:59,440 Well, can you look back at a time in your life when you understood your lostness, the 293 00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:05,560 fact of your sin, that you were separated from God. 294 00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:07,640 Did you realize that? 295 00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:14,040 Did you understand that Jesus Christ, God's son, died for your sin and rose again? 296 00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:18,640 Did you understand at some point in your life that by personally inviting Him into your 297 00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:21,680 life you would be saved from sin and given eternal life? 298 00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:25,160 You say, well, I'm not sure I understood all of that. 299 00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:29,280 Well, you know, sometimes we don't understand all of that. 300 00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:31,720 We don't understand all of the theological ramifications of it. 301 00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:38,400 But if we understand the essence of that gospel truth, that's all it takes for our salvation. 302 00:25:38,400 --> 00:25:42,160 God doesn't say we have to be theologians to be saved, but we do have to understand 303 00:25:42,160 --> 00:25:43,720 the gospel to be saved. 304 00:25:43,720 --> 00:25:46,320 You say, I'm not sure if I've been saved. 305 00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:48,720 Well, did you understand the essence of the gospel? 306 00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:51,000 Did you receive Jesus Christ? 307 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:55,900 If so, then understand that you should have a life of peace. 308 00:25:55,900 --> 00:26:00,200 That peace of God should be yours because God is keeping you. 309 00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:01,200 God is keeping you. 310 00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:06,840 He's guarding your soul until that day that you'll be with Christ. 311 00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:12,360 If you're not sure that you did understand the gospel, then what you should do, I believe, 312 00:26:12,360 --> 00:26:17,940 to settle the issue once and for all is tonight to receive Jesus Christ. 313 00:26:17,940 --> 00:26:22,320 To realize tonight that you're a sinner, that you need to receive Christ into your 314 00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:26,980 heart, to believe on Him. 315 00:26:26,980 --> 00:26:31,160 Make that decision tonight, and from now on rest upon the fact that you have made that 316 00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:33,160 decision. 317 00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:41,360 Satan likes to use doubt as a whip for us, to confuse us and to depress us. 318 00:26:41,360 --> 00:26:43,800 But you can settle it once and for all tonight. 319 00:26:43,800 --> 00:26:48,280 If you're not sure that you trusted Christ, then do it tonight and rest upon it from this 320 00:26:48,280 --> 00:26:52,720 point on that you are being kept by God, that you may know as peace. 321 00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:58,680 James' desire is that that mercy and peace and love may be a multiplied experience to 322 00:26:58,680 --> 00:26:59,680 us. 323 00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:04,280 Then he gives us the purpose for his writing in verse 3. 324 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:11,280 He says, beloved, while I was making every effort to write to you about our common salvation, 325 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:15,760 I felt the necessity to write to you about a different subject. 326 00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:23,160 You see, originally Jude wanted to write to believers in general regarding the salvation 327 00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:24,800 that we share in common. 328 00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:30,480 When he says common here, he doesn't mean an ordinary salvation as though it's something 329 00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:31,480 cheap. 330 00:27:31,480 --> 00:27:35,360 But he's simply saying it's something that we share in common. 331 00:27:35,360 --> 00:27:38,960 We are partners in this salvation. 332 00:27:38,960 --> 00:27:46,160 He said, I wanted to write a treatise to you describing the salvation of God. 333 00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:48,760 But he said something constrained me. 334 00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:51,800 Undoubtedly, he's referring to the Holy Spirit. 335 00:27:51,800 --> 00:28:00,040 He said, I felt it a necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for 336 00:28:00,040 --> 00:28:01,040 the faith. 337 00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:10,640 And so what started out to be an epistle about salvation now becomes an exhortation regarding 338 00:28:10,640 --> 00:28:11,640 the faith. 339 00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:18,400 Now when he says the faith, he's not talking about the act of believing on Christ. 340 00:28:18,400 --> 00:28:25,120 He's talking about that body of truth that God has revealed to us. 341 00:28:25,120 --> 00:28:31,840 He says, brothers, I am writing to you to appeal that you contend earnestly for the 342 00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:39,160 faith, the truth that God has given once and for all. 343 00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:47,240 That is, His completed revelation, the final, full revelation that God has given to us. 344 00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:50,720 He says, contend earnestly for that. 345 00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:56,600 Before the living in a day when there are people who think that God is still giving revelation, 346 00:28:56,600 --> 00:28:58,760 that is not true. 347 00:28:58,760 --> 00:29:03,200 God's revelation ceased at the end of the first century. 348 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:09,760 And as that revelation was completed with the book of the revelation of Jesus Christ, 349 00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:18,520 as we call it, there is a warning written to anyone who would add to or delete from 350 00:29:18,520 --> 00:29:23,480 this book that is completed by the revelation. 351 00:29:23,480 --> 00:29:29,720 Those today who are claiming to have additional revelations from God are liars. 352 00:29:29,720 --> 00:29:36,660 That is not too strong a term to use because God is no longer revealing truth. 353 00:29:36,660 --> 00:29:43,160 God may give us additional insight into truth He has already revealed, but God is not giving 354 00:29:43,160 --> 00:29:45,040 new truth these days. 355 00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:48,480 That's just not His work at this part of this age. 356 00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:53,800 The truth, the faith has been delivered once and for all to us. 357 00:29:53,800 --> 00:29:58,320 And notice that He says that in such a way that reminds us of stewardship. 358 00:29:58,320 --> 00:30:03,720 He says, which was once for all delivered to the saints and trusted to us. 359 00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:08,540 That's the same thought that we were talking about this morning in stewardship. 360 00:30:08,540 --> 00:30:18,040 You and I have received from God a revelation, a body of truth that is here called the faith. 361 00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:26,440 Now, regarding that, He says we are to contend earnestly for it. 362 00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:33,920 An interesting word there, contend earnestly. 363 00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:38,160 It's a verb that is found only here in the New Testament in this form. 364 00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:41,520 There are related words used elsewhere. 365 00:30:41,520 --> 00:30:47,960 But it's a word that was used in that day of an athlete who was involved in an agonizing 366 00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:50,120 contest. 367 00:30:50,120 --> 00:30:55,560 It refers to a vigorous, intense struggle. 368 00:30:55,560 --> 00:31:03,480 It is a word that would be particularly appropriate for a wrestler, one who was involved in a 369 00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:09,840 face-to-face contest to see who the winner would be. 370 00:31:09,840 --> 00:31:16,820 And what Jude is implying here is that even at that time there were those who were wrestling 371 00:31:16,820 --> 00:31:19,920 with believers regarding the truth. 372 00:31:19,920 --> 00:31:25,080 There were those who were trying to deny it, as he goes on to say in verse 4. 373 00:31:25,080 --> 00:31:32,360 And so he says that we who know the truth need to be involved in wrestling on its behalf, 374 00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:34,920 earnestly contending for it. 375 00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:40,280 Now, he doesn't say that we're to do that in a contentious, or perhaps a better word 376 00:31:40,280 --> 00:31:43,920 would be, a cantankerous way. 377 00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:50,360 There are some people who excuse their cantankerous attitude by using this verse that we are to 378 00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:52,600 contend earnestly. 379 00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:53,600 That is not the point here. 380 00:31:53,600 --> 00:31:56,560 We are to have a sweet, loving spirit. 381 00:31:56,560 --> 00:32:02,400 But at the same time, when it comes to the body of the faith, we are not to give an inch 382 00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:06,000 in the contest with those who are opposing it. 383 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:10,280 We are to stand up for it, whatever the cost. 384 00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:12,120 That's the point. 385 00:32:12,120 --> 00:32:14,700 It will involve agony. 386 00:32:14,700 --> 00:32:16,780 It will involve struggle. 387 00:32:16,780 --> 00:32:19,720 It will involve effort. 388 00:32:19,720 --> 00:32:30,080 But we are commanded to earnestly contend on behalf of doctrine of the truth. 389 00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:36,000 That is the desire of Jude for those who read this epistle. 390 00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:44,080 That's God's desire for you and for me, that with a right spirit, with a balanced attitude, 391 00:32:44,080 --> 00:32:51,000 we be unashamed in our wrestling for the faith. 392 00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:57,440 Now, the reason that that is so important is because of what Jude says in verse 4, and 393 00:32:57,440 --> 00:33:03,920 we find today, and that's because of the deception of apostates. 394 00:33:03,920 --> 00:33:11,400 Something's work is always involved in some way in deceit. 395 00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:15,900 That's the reason that the fall occurred because of deceit. 396 00:33:15,900 --> 00:33:23,840 He deceived Eve, the Bible says, and today he is still deceiving the minds of people. 397 00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:29,560 A person who is a false teacher or an apostate, and by the word that word means one who has 398 00:33:29,560 --> 00:33:31,080 fallen away from something. 399 00:33:31,080 --> 00:33:35,720 In other words, fallen away from the truth. 400 00:33:35,720 --> 00:33:44,160 A person who is a false teacher does not make a neon sign and say, I am a false teacher. 401 00:33:44,160 --> 00:33:47,280 He's not going to advertise it. 402 00:33:47,280 --> 00:33:58,240 But with the very deception of Satan himself, he will hide his falseness under a cover of 403 00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:02,600 something else. 404 00:34:02,600 --> 00:34:08,200 Satan's method is always in some way entangled with deceit. 405 00:34:08,200 --> 00:34:13,640 By the way, that's why we as Christians are to have nothing to do with deceit. 406 00:34:13,640 --> 00:34:20,320 We should avoid in any way trying to deceive people for any reason. 407 00:34:20,320 --> 00:34:23,600 We are to be transparent or sincere. 408 00:34:23,600 --> 00:34:29,880 We are to completely avoid deceit because that is the tactic of the devil. 409 00:34:29,880 --> 00:34:33,160 Now James talks here about certain persons. 410 00:34:33,160 --> 00:34:38,560 He doesn't choose to name them at this point, but apparently they were well known to his 411 00:34:38,560 --> 00:34:39,840 readers. 412 00:34:39,840 --> 00:34:45,440 He says certain persons have crept in unnoticed. 413 00:34:45,440 --> 00:34:49,200 That word means to enter alongside. 414 00:34:49,200 --> 00:34:54,360 It means to slip in the door with somebody else. 415 00:34:54,360 --> 00:35:01,120 As he goes on in this epistle, he explains that there are people who have slipped into 416 00:35:01,120 --> 00:35:07,680 their fellowships, even observing love feasts with them who were false teachers. 417 00:35:07,680 --> 00:35:11,160 He says they have crept in unnoticed. 418 00:35:11,160 --> 00:35:18,840 Perhaps that says something about the alertness, the vigilance of those believers. 419 00:35:18,840 --> 00:35:24,600 But it certainly says something about the deceit of Satan and of these people involved. 420 00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:29,800 He says certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out 421 00:35:29,800 --> 00:35:32,800 for this condemnation. 422 00:35:32,800 --> 00:35:37,520 That does not mean that God somehow in the past looked down to the future and chose certain 423 00:35:37,520 --> 00:35:41,920 men and said, now you are going to be condemned as false teachers. 424 00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:50,760 The idea that Jude is conveying here is that God long beforehand, it could mean in a previous 425 00:35:50,760 --> 00:35:55,920 epistle too or in a previous writing, but probably long beforehand, God has warned that 426 00:35:55,920 --> 00:36:00,240 those who are false teachers are going to be condemned. 427 00:36:00,240 --> 00:36:04,600 I believe that is the point that Jude is making here. 428 00:36:04,600 --> 00:36:09,840 He describes them furthermore as ungodly persons. 429 00:36:09,840 --> 00:36:14,480 Of course that term ungodly is used generously later on in verse. 430 00:36:14,480 --> 00:36:21,240 But even at this point he says that these false teachers, these apostates are destitute 431 00:36:21,240 --> 00:36:22,960 of any reverence for God. 432 00:36:22,960 --> 00:36:24,540 They are ungodly. 433 00:36:24,540 --> 00:36:26,880 God doesn't have a place in them. 434 00:36:26,880 --> 00:36:28,440 They talked about God. 435 00:36:28,440 --> 00:36:37,800 James was talking about Gnostics in that day, which is a rather difficult to define sect 436 00:36:37,800 --> 00:36:45,080 that developed because it evolved into several forms in the first and second centuries. 437 00:36:45,080 --> 00:36:47,000 But these people did talk about God. 438 00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:54,480 They talked about Jesus Christ, but behind their language was false doctrine. 439 00:36:54,480 --> 00:36:59,120 So even though they talked about God here, Jude says they were ungodly. 440 00:36:59,120 --> 00:37:00,120 Why? 441 00:37:00,120 --> 00:37:04,680 Because they had no sense of awe toward God. 442 00:37:04,680 --> 00:37:09,440 And then he gives us some insight into what they were like. 443 00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:17,400 He says they turned the grace of our God into licentiousness. 444 00:37:17,400 --> 00:37:20,400 What does he mean here? 445 00:37:20,400 --> 00:37:27,200 Well he is saying that they take the teaching about God's grace, which is so precious to 446 00:37:27,200 --> 00:37:36,360 us, and they stretch it out to an extreme that is outside of the faith. 447 00:37:36,360 --> 00:37:43,760 The Gnostics basically felt that the body is evil, but the spirit is good. 448 00:37:43,760 --> 00:37:46,920 So whatever the body does, forget about that. 449 00:37:46,920 --> 00:37:49,880 The thing is to concentrate on the spirit. 450 00:37:49,880 --> 00:37:52,000 That was what they taught. 451 00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:57,120 Therefore if your body, with your body you committed immorality, no difference. 452 00:37:57,120 --> 00:37:59,880 So what? 453 00:37:59,880 --> 00:38:03,540 Licentiousness or lasciviousness didn't make any difference. 454 00:38:03,540 --> 00:38:04,640 That was physical. 455 00:38:04,640 --> 00:38:07,360 That was a part of the body that was going to be condemned anyway. 456 00:38:07,360 --> 00:38:11,840 Just center your attention on the inner, the spiritual. 457 00:38:11,840 --> 00:38:15,000 And that is what Jude condemns. 458 00:38:15,000 --> 00:38:26,080 He says this idea of living without any regulation or restriction morally is not the grace of 459 00:38:26,080 --> 00:38:27,080 God. 460 00:38:27,080 --> 00:38:29,360 It is a lie. 461 00:38:29,360 --> 00:38:38,560 What we learn from this is that along with false teaching inevitably will come immorality. 462 00:38:38,560 --> 00:38:46,280 You mark it down that when there is wrong doctrine, either at that point or eventually 463 00:38:46,280 --> 00:38:50,840 there will be immorality involved with it. 464 00:38:50,840 --> 00:38:54,240 The two go together. 465 00:38:54,240 --> 00:38:55,960 And then he gives us a further insight. 466 00:38:55,960 --> 00:39:02,400 He says not only do they turn the grace of our God into licentiousness, but he says they 467 00:39:02,400 --> 00:39:07,600 deny our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ. 468 00:39:07,600 --> 00:39:10,200 He uses a particular word here in Master. 469 00:39:10,200 --> 00:39:13,480 It's the word despot. 470 00:39:13,480 --> 00:39:18,360 It's only used in one other place in the writings of Peter regarding Jesus. 471 00:39:18,360 --> 00:39:22,800 Most of the time it's a word that refers to God the Father. 472 00:39:22,800 --> 00:39:29,560 But it's a word that describes the absolute sovereignty of the one spoken about. 473 00:39:29,560 --> 00:39:36,600 And so he says here they deny the sovereignty, the Master, Jesus Christ. 474 00:39:36,600 --> 00:39:39,760 They deny His Lordship. 475 00:39:39,760 --> 00:39:43,760 So he emphasizes their wrong doctrine as well. 476 00:39:43,760 --> 00:39:47,540 They deny the teachings of the faith. 477 00:39:47,540 --> 00:39:50,900 So what are the characteristics of an apostate? 478 00:39:50,900 --> 00:39:56,200 Wrong doctrine coupled with wrong living. 479 00:39:56,200 --> 00:40:01,920 Now we today are faced with apostates. 480 00:40:01,920 --> 00:40:06,960 We are living in a day of deceit when people use language that we recognize, but they give 481 00:40:06,960 --> 00:40:09,880 different definitions to those terms. 482 00:40:09,880 --> 00:40:14,240 And consequently there are many people who are being deceived. 483 00:40:14,240 --> 00:40:24,120 I'd like to tell you about a couple of camps that you need to be alert to. 484 00:40:24,120 --> 00:40:33,040 Back in the 17th century they were developed as a result of rationalism, a theological 485 00:40:33,040 --> 00:40:39,280 camp which is today called liberalism. 486 00:40:39,280 --> 00:40:43,640 Those who are liberals, and I'm not thinking now of political liberals, I'm thinking of 487 00:40:43,640 --> 00:40:47,640 theological liberals. 488 00:40:47,640 --> 00:40:55,560 Theological liberals deny the faith as it was once for all delivered to us. 489 00:40:55,560 --> 00:41:03,440 For example, they do deny that Jesus is deity. 490 00:41:03,440 --> 00:41:08,460 I could bring before you tonight writings, even popular writings from today. 491 00:41:08,460 --> 00:41:12,460 Books that are being published and bought by the public in general. 492 00:41:12,460 --> 00:41:17,160 Books penned by religious figures. 493 00:41:17,160 --> 00:41:24,120 Those who call themselves Christians, which at the same time deny the person of Jesus 494 00:41:24,120 --> 00:41:30,360 Christ, that is that he is God come in the flesh. 495 00:41:30,360 --> 00:41:38,080 Likewise there are those who are religious, who promote immorality even in the name of 496 00:41:38,080 --> 00:41:39,080 Christianity. 497 00:41:39,080 --> 00:41:44,240 A good example of that would be the statement three or four weeks ago now by the Minnesota 498 00:41:44,240 --> 00:41:51,160 Council of Churches in which they said that homosexuality is an approved lifestyle and 499 00:41:51,160 --> 00:41:59,280 that we in Christian love should accept these people as being part of the Christian faith. 500 00:41:59,280 --> 00:42:08,480 That kind of teaching reveals liberal theology and it reveals apostasy within that organization. 501 00:42:08,480 --> 00:42:14,680 And though they call themselves Christians, they are not a part of the faith. 502 00:42:14,680 --> 00:42:22,560 They are not a part of the orthodox doctrine that God has delivered to us. 503 00:42:22,560 --> 00:42:26,400 We need to contend earnestly with those who are in the liberal camp. 504 00:42:26,400 --> 00:42:35,420 Frankly, today liberalism is somewhat stagnant, if not on the decline. 505 00:42:35,420 --> 00:42:39,600 Back in the early part of this century there was a great controversy that raged in our 506 00:42:39,600 --> 00:42:44,600 country between the liberals and the fundamentalists. 507 00:42:44,600 --> 00:42:47,200 Some of that battle took place right here in Minneapolis. 508 00:42:47,200 --> 00:42:48,200 Dr. W.B. 509 00:42:48,200 --> 00:42:53,960 Riley was one of those who was on the front line of that battle. 510 00:42:53,960 --> 00:43:00,680 There were others, mighty men of God who stood for the faith and as Jude commands here, they 511 00:43:00,680 --> 00:43:07,320 earnestly contended, they wrestled in an agonizing way for the truth. 512 00:43:07,320 --> 00:43:16,000 And today liberal theology basically has lost its impetus and its power as it is expressed 513 00:43:16,000 --> 00:43:21,160 in example, for example, in the World Council of Churches and in the National Council of 514 00:43:21,160 --> 00:43:23,080 Churches. 515 00:43:23,080 --> 00:43:29,680 Today we find that liberal theology is adopting something new which they call liberation theology, 516 00:43:29,680 --> 00:43:36,680 which is a marriage between Christian terms and Marxist teaching and doctrine. 517 00:43:36,680 --> 00:43:42,520 It's very interesting that this is even now being recognized by the secular press as being 518 00:43:42,520 --> 00:43:47,880 something outside the stream of biblical theology. 519 00:43:47,880 --> 00:43:53,960 Today we have a lot of missionaries, even in the Roman Catholic Church, which are in 520 00:43:53,960 --> 00:44:00,560 Central and South America and also in liberal denominations, which are spreading the, quote, 521 00:44:00,560 --> 00:44:05,000 gospel of liberation theology, close quote. 522 00:44:05,000 --> 00:44:10,560 It is not the saving message of Jesus Christ, but rather it is the message that oppressed 523 00:44:10,560 --> 00:44:15,280 people need to be released from the oppression of capitalism. 524 00:44:15,280 --> 00:44:21,720 That is the salvation that is being declared by liberation theology. 525 00:44:21,720 --> 00:44:28,520 And of course we contend earnestly against it and deny it. 526 00:44:28,520 --> 00:44:33,880 Then there is another camp that you need to be aware of, a camp that is more prominent 527 00:44:33,880 --> 00:44:36,560 perhaps in these days. 528 00:44:36,560 --> 00:44:42,320 It started as a reaction to the liberal camp. 529 00:44:42,320 --> 00:44:48,640 It was founded pretty much by a man in Germany by the name of Karl Barth. 530 00:44:48,640 --> 00:44:51,920 The camp is called neo-Orthodoxy. 531 00:44:51,920 --> 00:44:55,160 You see the term orthodox in there. 532 00:44:55,160 --> 00:45:02,100 And although Barth and his followers used some of the orthodox terms, they gave new 533 00:45:02,100 --> 00:45:05,580 definitions to those terms. 534 00:45:05,580 --> 00:45:12,520 So that a person today who is neo-orthodox will talk about the inspiration of the Bible, 535 00:45:12,520 --> 00:45:16,480 but they do not mean what we mean when we say that. 536 00:45:16,480 --> 00:45:21,840 When we say that the Bible is inspired, we mean that God superintended the writing of 537 00:45:21,840 --> 00:45:26,360 it so that what was written was the very word of God. 538 00:45:26,360 --> 00:45:33,120 What they mean when they say the Bible is inspired is that as a person reads it and 539 00:45:33,120 --> 00:45:39,000 it suddenly makes sense to them that that at that point becomes inspired to them. 540 00:45:39,000 --> 00:45:44,060 So they say the Bible contains the word of God and it is inspired to you when it becomes 541 00:45:44,060 --> 00:45:45,520 meaningful to you. 542 00:45:45,520 --> 00:45:47,440 That's a lie. 543 00:45:47,440 --> 00:45:49,400 The Bible doesn't contain the word of God. 544 00:45:49,400 --> 00:45:51,160 The Bible is the word of God. 545 00:45:51,160 --> 00:45:55,960 And if it never says a thing to a person, it doesn't change the fact that it is the inspired 546 00:45:55,960 --> 00:46:07,760 word of the living God. 547 00:46:07,760 --> 00:46:13,680 It is a movement that perhaps is on the increase in these days, particularly in some of the 548 00:46:13,680 --> 00:46:17,520 older seminaries that have not gone the liberal route. 549 00:46:17,520 --> 00:46:25,000 When you think of a seminary like at the Divinity School at Harvard and some of those Ivy League 550 00:46:25,000 --> 00:46:29,200 universities, they've gone the liberal route pretty much. 551 00:46:29,200 --> 00:46:33,600 Though there's a sprinkling of neo-orthodoxy there and maybe you can find an occasional 552 00:46:33,600 --> 00:46:37,840 orthodox person, but pretty much they've gone the liberal route. 553 00:46:37,840 --> 00:46:43,020 But these days some of the schools and colleges and seminaries that in the past have stood 554 00:46:43,020 --> 00:46:49,200 for the faith have now started to slide into neo-orthodoxy. 555 00:46:49,200 --> 00:46:55,000 And the tragedy is that young men and women that are coming out of good, sound churches 556 00:46:55,000 --> 00:47:00,560 are being sent to some seminaries and colleges where they are being taught doctrine that 557 00:47:00,560 --> 00:47:05,320 is the opposite of what they were raised on, the same kinds of words being used but a different 558 00:47:05,320 --> 00:47:07,440 content to the theology. 559 00:47:07,440 --> 00:47:11,980 And the consequence of that is that they come out of the colleges and universities and seminaries 560 00:47:11,980 --> 00:47:17,300 messed up completely, wrecked spiritually. 561 00:47:17,300 --> 00:47:21,880 We must beware of the movement of neo-orthodoxy. 562 00:47:21,880 --> 00:47:26,300 Those would be completely outside the realm of the faith. 563 00:47:26,300 --> 00:47:31,340 But even within the faith there are those who take extreme positions that we must be 564 00:47:31,340 --> 00:47:33,420 alert to. 565 00:47:33,420 --> 00:47:38,460 And I will just mention in passing a couple of these camps and then I'm going to be finished. 566 00:47:38,460 --> 00:47:45,340 But this is very practical because you see this today within the evangelical fundamentalist 567 00:47:45,340 --> 00:47:46,700 world. 568 00:47:46,700 --> 00:47:53,260 There are those that I would call and others would call neo-fundamentalists. 569 00:47:53,260 --> 00:47:59,240 These people would agree with us theologically in doctrine, they believe what the Bible says 570 00:47:59,240 --> 00:48:02,900 from cover to cover, no question about that. 571 00:48:02,900 --> 00:48:10,820 But their spirit, their heart is an unloving spirit and heart. 572 00:48:10,820 --> 00:48:16,420 There is a militancy about them that goes beyond the point of what Jude says here to 573 00:48:16,420 --> 00:48:22,580 the point of lacking balance. 574 00:48:22,580 --> 00:48:27,900 There are those today who would call themselves fundamentalists that actually I would put 575 00:48:27,900 --> 00:48:34,940 in a neo-fundamentalist category because of an extreme hard-line position that they 576 00:48:34,940 --> 00:48:36,380 would take. 577 00:48:36,380 --> 00:48:42,220 Their position almost is that no one teaches the truth but us. 578 00:48:42,220 --> 00:48:48,100 They would say, I don't trust anybody but you and sometimes I wonder about you. 579 00:48:48,100 --> 00:48:51,580 Their circle gets very small and it gets smaller all the time. 580 00:48:51,580 --> 00:48:56,460 And one of the things that characterizes the neo-fundamentalist group is that it continually 581 00:48:56,460 --> 00:49:01,260 fractures and divides within itself. 582 00:49:01,260 --> 00:49:06,100 I thank God that there are some who were tending to be in that group who today are coming back 583 00:49:06,100 --> 00:49:09,600 more to the center and becoming more balanced about things. 584 00:49:09,600 --> 00:49:15,460 On the other hand, there are still those who are within the umbrella of orthodoxy that I 585 00:49:15,460 --> 00:49:19,100 would call neo-evangelicals. 586 00:49:19,100 --> 00:49:23,420 Now that is a term that we hear these days and sometimes it is used so broadly that it 587 00:49:23,420 --> 00:49:27,260 loses its significance, its meaning. 588 00:49:27,260 --> 00:49:36,980 I asked a friend of mine who was a college president one time, what is a neo-evangelical? 589 00:49:36,980 --> 00:49:41,980 And with tongue in cheek he said, well that's anybody who doesn't agree with me. 590 00:49:41,980 --> 00:49:46,540 And sometimes you get the impression that that term is used that generally and that 591 00:49:46,540 --> 00:49:47,540 sloppily. 592 00:49:47,540 --> 00:49:53,300 But I would suggest to you that there is a legitimate camp or group today that could 593 00:49:53,300 --> 00:49:58,740 be called neo-evangelical and it would be characterized by some of these things. 594 00:49:58,740 --> 00:50:08,540 First of all, by a questioning at least regarding the inerrancy of the Bible. 595 00:50:08,540 --> 00:50:14,060 Again a willingness to talk about the authority of the Bible, but when you come to the point 596 00:50:14,060 --> 00:50:19,160 of saying that the Bible is inerrant in all that it talks about, whether theology or science 597 00:50:19,160 --> 00:50:24,980 or whatever or history, they would question whether the Bible really is inerrant in all 598 00:50:24,980 --> 00:50:27,740 of those areas. 599 00:50:27,740 --> 00:50:32,960 Now I would call that a neo-evangelical position and it's a dangerous position because it 600 00:50:32,960 --> 00:50:36,080 can lead to neo-orthodoxy. 601 00:50:36,080 --> 00:50:38,500 That is out of the camp. 602 00:50:38,500 --> 00:50:46,300 Secondly, those who would be a part of this neo-evangelical group would support what I 603 00:50:46,300 --> 00:50:49,620 would call ecumenical evangelism. 604 00:50:49,620 --> 00:50:52,260 I did not say cooperative evangelism. 605 00:50:52,260 --> 00:50:56,860 I believe in cooperating with other people and preaching the gospel, other people who 606 00:50:56,860 --> 00:50:58,420 are believers. 607 00:50:58,420 --> 00:51:03,940 But there are some who are Christians who believe that it's okay to cooperate with 608 00:51:03,940 --> 00:51:12,220 apostates or unbelievers in preaching the gospel and having evangelistic campaigns. 609 00:51:12,220 --> 00:51:17,060 And my friend, sanction for doing that cannot be found in the word of God. 610 00:51:17,060 --> 00:51:20,820 Indeed, just the opposite is commanded of us. 611 00:51:20,820 --> 00:51:25,500 We are to have nothing to do with those who deny the Lord Jesus Christ. 612 00:51:25,500 --> 00:51:27,300 Nothing to do with them. 613 00:51:27,300 --> 00:51:32,220 And there are arguments used and I've heard them for having large ecumenical evangelistic 614 00:51:32,220 --> 00:51:38,740 campaigns and frankly when it embraces unbelievers and apostates, it's beyond what the Bible 615 00:51:38,740 --> 00:51:40,580 says is okay. 616 00:51:40,580 --> 00:51:43,940 Neo-evangelicals would say yes, that's all right to do that. 617 00:51:43,940 --> 00:51:50,420 A third way to describe a neo-evangelical would be found in a willingness to compromise 618 00:51:50,420 --> 00:51:55,940 what the Bible says and subject it to man's science. 619 00:51:55,940 --> 00:52:02,860 In other words, if science today has proof, quote unquote, that evolution is true, then 620 00:52:02,860 --> 00:52:08,860 we accept the first chapters of Genesis as being only myths or as being nice stories 621 00:52:08,860 --> 00:52:12,980 that are intended to communicate some kind of a deeper truth. 622 00:52:12,980 --> 00:52:19,180 But we would say that science has proven this and therefore the Bible must be wrong. 623 00:52:19,180 --> 00:52:23,340 That kind of thinking too is at best neo-evangelical. 624 00:52:23,340 --> 00:52:27,420 A willingness to subject the Bible to the findings of science. 625 00:52:27,420 --> 00:52:30,820 Indeed, I believe that we must do just the opposite. 626 00:52:30,820 --> 00:52:34,220 If there's a difference between what science says and what the Bible says, and there's 627 00:52:34,220 --> 00:52:37,660 no question about which we accept as being true. 628 00:52:37,660 --> 00:52:42,740 The Bible is true, there's no question about that, and science has yet to catch up to that 629 00:52:42,740 --> 00:52:43,740 point. 630 00:52:43,740 --> 00:52:46,500 That's how I would describe a neo-evangelical. 631 00:52:46,500 --> 00:52:53,020 There may be other ways to describe people who would be categorized that way. 632 00:52:53,020 --> 00:52:55,340 And I suppose that we could name names tonight. 633 00:52:55,340 --> 00:52:56,940 I don't intend to do that. 634 00:52:56,940 --> 00:53:02,940 I'm going to simply do what Jude does here and say certain persons fit into these camps. 635 00:53:02,940 --> 00:53:03,940 Where do we fit? 636 00:53:03,940 --> 00:53:10,340 Well, where we fit is in a position that I would like to describe as Bibliscists. 637 00:53:10,340 --> 00:53:15,300 That is, we accept the Bible as God's inherent revelation to us. 638 00:53:15,300 --> 00:53:20,400 We accept this Bible as a revelation of the faith. 639 00:53:20,400 --> 00:53:23,900 And we are committed to what the Bible says. 640 00:53:23,900 --> 00:53:28,900 And it is our purpose by the grace of God to preach this book, to represent the God 641 00:53:28,900 --> 00:53:35,460 of this book, to declare the saving gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world, 642 00:53:35,460 --> 00:53:40,140 and to do that in obedience to what the Word of God says. 643 00:53:40,140 --> 00:53:50,060 And so we find ourselves in a theological maze at times, and as those who lived in the 644 00:53:50,060 --> 00:53:55,900 days of Jude, we too must earnestly contend for the faith, the body of doctrine that God 645 00:53:55,900 --> 00:53:58,260 has once for all delivered to us. 646 00:53:58,260 --> 00:54:05,100 May God help us to be right in spirit as well as right in doctrine. 647 00:54:05,100 --> 00:54:07,580 The two go together, don't they? 648 00:54:07,580 --> 00:54:11,060 I think there's nothing wrong with the word balance. 649 00:54:11,060 --> 00:54:14,740 There's some people who think there is something wrong with that word, but I believe we need 650 00:54:14,740 --> 00:54:19,740 to be balanced people who believe the book with all of their hearts and are committed 651 00:54:19,740 --> 00:54:25,700 to it to death, but at the same time love people, love sinners, want to see them saved 652 00:54:25,700 --> 00:54:28,220 and brought to Jesus Christ. 653 00:54:28,220 --> 00:54:33,340 May God help us to find that balance individually as a church and to stay in it. 654 00:54:33,340 --> 00:54:36,140 Let's bow together in prayer. 655 00:54:36,140 --> 00:54:39,820 Would you stand with me please as we close our service? 656 00:54:39,820 --> 00:54:46,100 Father, I thank you for what you have said to us from Jude, and I pray that as we look 657 00:54:46,100 --> 00:54:51,580 at the remainder of this short epistle that you would instruct us further regarding the 658 00:54:51,580 --> 00:54:54,820 danger of apostates. 659 00:54:54,820 --> 00:55:01,580 I pray that we may be better equipped so that we can contend earnestly for the faith. 660 00:55:01,580 --> 00:55:08,500 May our hearts rejoice in what we are as the called, the beloved, the kept ones for Jesus 661 00:55:08,500 --> 00:55:10,120 Christ. 662 00:55:10,120 --> 00:55:18,540 May we find that balance, that warmth in orthodoxy and truth that will enable us to accurately 663 00:55:18,540 --> 00:55:25,740 represent you to a lost and dying world and to a confused church in general in our nation. 664 00:55:25,740 --> 00:55:52,740 In Jesus' name we pray, amen.