Jude 1-4 | The Call to Contend

So, we meet their physical need with vision with with eyeglasses. Their physical need of vision. We meet it with eyeglasses as best we can. This is a 20-year-old lady came to our clinic. I did not know u how bad her vision was. I walked up to her said, "Good morning. How are you?" And she just stared at me. And so I said, "Hm." I said, "That wall chart over there, tell me what's the smallest number you can read." and she looks over there and she says, "Uh, what wall chart?" And I thought, "Oh, now I know why she didn't greet me." We were able to find a very strong pair of readers, a minus 18. Actually, she left seeing 2020 vision. She could not see her hand in front of her face. Literally, it was just a glob. She walked out of that clinic seeing things she has never seen before like her feet, her hands, people around her, that's why she has the smile. Um we have seen that when you meet somebody's physical need that they can't meet a a significant a serious need when that they can't meet and you meet it for them free and it's an expensive thing for them but you make it free it does psychologically it does something positive the barriers break down they realize we're Americans We spend a lot of our time, a lot of our money to come and to serve them, the people who are on the low end of the economic scale. We are serving them and giving them something very valuable for free. The barriers come down and they are willing to listen to what we have to say. And guess what we're going to say next? That's the point where we sit them down with with an evangelist to share the gospel. This is the reason we go to Mexico, El Salvador and the other places. And you know, you know, when Jesus met somebody who had a physical need, he met

that first. Then he tell then he told them about God. That's the pattern that we use and it is very effective. Last year, we witnessed over 1,800 people commit their life to Jesus Christ through an eyeglass ministry. We served over we will serve we should serve over 10,000 people this year. That's our expectation. We did that last year. We probably would do more this year. So I am here to sell you on the idea of going with us. We are doing multiple uh multiple clinics in Mexico. This year we have reserved this one for First Baptist Camden uh August 1 through 8. That's the date of the clinic of the trip. But here's the date you really want to remember. On March the 29th, we're going to have anformational meeting here. I will be back to share with you in small groups after the worship service. We'll meet somewhere and we'll talk about that trip in particular. I'll tell you whatever you need to know, whatever you want to know about what is a trip with Vision 316 look like, what do we do? That's what we're going to talk about. Uh if you're interested, please come. And if you're not really intending to go to Mexico, but you just want to know more about what what a trip looks like, you're invited. Now, I'm going to be here after the worship service this morning. If you have some questions you want to talk to me, please uh come up. I'd love to share with you. But if you got any interest in going on a trip with Vision 3:16, this would be a good meeting to uh to attend. And I have one more slide and it looks like that on purpose. There's nothing there because I want to point out a couple of people that don't that you don't see. So, we're going to serve 10,000 people this year. That means we're going to give out probably 10,000 eyeglasses. That's a lot of work. And it starts way

back. The process starts way back at the beginning with an event. You have to have you have to have the glasses washed and sorted and then you have to measure them. Those are the first two critical steps and it's critical. If we don't have glasses to give away, the evangelism fails. People don't have the barriers are still there. In fact, if we don't have glasses to give away, we don't even have a clinic. So, I want just want to acknowledge the people here who have helped us over the years washing glasses and measuring. You're critical to the process. Literally critical. And those are the people who get very little recognition. But they're not doing it to get recognition. They're doing it. They're doing it to serve Jesus. So, thank you. We would have more uh washings this year. And if you're interested in measuring, that's one of the hard things for us. Uh Diana Scogginan is not here today, but she asked me to put in a plug. Uh if you have any interest in in measuring glasses, please see Diana. Uh that is also a very critical step in the process. Cody, thank you for letting me have the time today. Larry, I'd like to pray for you and the ministry of Vision 3:16. Sorry, >> I want to pray for you before you go. >> Father God, we thank you for the ministry that we get to partner with with Vision 3:16. We thank you for those 1,800 souls that were reached last year. And we just praise you for that. We pray Lord for the disciplehip that's taking place now for those folks to grow in their faith and in their walk with you. We pray Lord for um our partnership. We pray Lord for this team that you are in the process of assembling for August that Lord it would be a full team and that they'd be able to go and um help with facilitating this clinic and reaching more souls with the gospel of Jesus Christ. I pray for Larry and the ministry of Vision 316 that you would

just strengthen him as they um facilitate many teams in the ministry and that Lord you would just uh continue to bless and encourage them. We ask now Lord as we continue in worship that you would settle our hearts. Help us to be attentive to all that you would desire to do in us today in your name. Amen. Thank you. That's >> okay. Our call to worship this morning is found in Psalms 86 verse 8 through13. And it says, "There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours. All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, oh Lord, and shall glorify your name, for you are great and do wondrous things. You alone are God. Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth. Unite my heart to fear your name. I give thanks to you, oh Lord, my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever. For great is your steadfast love towards me. You have delivered my soul from the depths of sh. I invite you now to stand as we continue in worship. I heard all those stories. How a savior came from glory. How he gave his life on Calvary to save the rich like me. I heard about his groing of his precious blood atoning. Then I repented of my sins and won the victory. Oh victory in Jesus my savior forever. He bought me and bought me with his redeeing blood. He loved me and I knew him and all my love is to him. He punched me to victory. He made the cleansing blood. The word of God is healing of his cleansing power revealing how he made the lame to walk again and cause the blind to see. And then I cried, "Dear Jesus, come and heal a broken spirit." And somehow Jesus came and brought to me the victory. Oh victory

is Jesus my savior forever. He saw me and bought me with his redeeing blood. He knew him and all my love is to him. He wants me to victory beneath the cleansing blood. I heard about a nation he's built for me in glory. Ever heard about the streets of gold beyond the crystal sea about the angels singing and the over story and some sweet day I'll sing out a song of victory. Oh, victory in Jesus my savior forever. He saw me and bought me with his redeeming blood. He loved me and I knew him and all my love is to him. He punched me to victory beneath the cleansing blood. He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing floor. Bless the Lord, oh my soul. Oh my soul, worship his holy name. >> Sing like never before. Oh my soul. Worship your holy name. >> The sun comes out. It's a new day, dawning. It's time to sing a song again. Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me, let me be singing when the evening comes. Bless the Lord, oh my soul, oh my soul. Worship his holy name. Sing like never before. Oh my soul, I worship your holy name. Your rich love and your soul to anger. Your name is great and your heart is

kind. For all your goodness I will keep on singing. 10,000 raisins for my heart. Bless the Lord, oh my soul. Oh my soul, worship his holy name. Sing like never before. Oh my soul, I worship your holy name. And born that day when my strength is failing, the end draws near and my time has come. Still my soul will sing your praise and me. 10,000 years and forever more. Forever more. Bless the Lord, oh my soul. Oh my soul, worship his holy name. Sing like never before. Oh my soul, I worship your holy name. Bless the Lord my soul. Oh my soul, worship his holy name. Sing like never before. Oh my soul, I worship your holy name. I worship your holy name, Lord. I worship your holy name. Okay, can we pray? Father, thank you so much for this day. Thank you so much for uh these tithes and offerings. And Lord, I pray that you would just bless it. And I pray that we would be good stewards as a church. And I pray that we would honor you with the way we um do everything. And Lord, thank you. Thank you for everything you've done. He bless us so much in Jesus name you guys. So the

question of the day is um what is forbidden in the fifth commandment and why should we keep it? So Matthew 15 4-6 for God commanded honor your mother and your father and whoever reviles father or mother must surely die. But you say if anyone tells his father or his mother what shall we do? What should we g you have gained from me is given to God. He need not honor his father. For you uh for the sake of your tradition, you have made void the word of God. Deuteronomy 5:16, "Honor your mother and your father as the Lord your God commanded you, that your days may be long, that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God has given you. You stand as we continue singing. >> You are my strength when I am weak. You are the treasure that I see. You are my all in all. Seeking you as a precious true to give up, I'd be a fool. You are my only hope. Jesus, lamb of God, worthy is your name. Jesus, lamb of God, worthy is your name. taking my sin, my cross, my shame. Rising again, I bless your name. You are my all. When I fall down, you pick me up. When I am dry, you fill my cup. You are my only Jesus. Lamb of God, worthy is your name. Jesus, lamb of God, worthy is your name. Jesus, lamb of God, worthy is your name.

Jesus, lamb of God, worthy is your name. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a rich like me. I once was lost but now I'm found. Was blind but now I see. >> It was grace that taught my heart to fear. and grace thy fears really. How preious did that grace appear before I first through many danger toys and snares I have already His grace hath brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me home. The Lord has promised good to me. His word my hope secure. He will my shield and wash me as long as I endure. And we've been there 10,000 years. Bright shine as

the sun. We know days to sing God's praise. And when we thirst, Lord, we thank you for this reminder of the grace in our life. Um because of you, we thank you for the reminder that this is just a taste of what we're going to see for eternity. The song talks about thousands of years, but we know that's only the beginning. And so thank you for this reminder that we will be with you forever. Thank you for your love in our life for a chance to worship you this morning. Jesus name. >> Oh, amen. >> It's always good to hear the people of God singing. >> Sherry, good seeing you over there. Um, if you have your Bible, and I hope that you do, please turn with me to the book of Jude. Uh, we are uh starting this this new little book. Someone said, "Are are you gonna take a week or uh No, we won't. We will we'll I think that we'll be in this until uh we get to Creation Sunday." Um and uh so if you're wondering like what kind of volunteers that we're looking for, uh couple of things are things like uh um someone to help set up the bookstore, run the bookstore. Uh you know, we need help with uh uh uh greeting, uh someone to uh be with our our speaker, you know, for like an hour here or an hour there and things like that. And so just different hosting things as well. So, uh, anyways, uh, those are some of the things that we're looking at. If you're not quite sure where Jude is, just go to maps. That's located at the back and work your way if you have a concordance and then you'll get to Revelation and then you'll get to Jude. So, it's right there. Um, and, uh, it's what's called a general epistle. It is, uh, that means that's

not to a a specified group of people. um it was to a specific group but we don't know who they are. Uh like we know the book of Philippians was written to the church at Philippi because it says so or or the the the book of Colossians was written to the church at Colassi because it says so. Um and here there there's no specified uh group but it contains a lot of really relevant and timely topics for the church of God today. Now, Jude, he shares a lot of similar characteristics to the book uh located just a a few pages over in second Peter. Uh and so they they could have been written to the same church, likely not. But it just shows that there were a lot of issues even within the early church. We oftentimes want to go back to the early church and go, that's the perfect, you know, picture of of the church. and and and it's it is and it's not. And the reason why it is is because of Christ. And the reason why it's not is because of us. And uh and it's the same today. If we ever find a perfect church, uh don't go to it. You'll ruin it. Right? Um and and and that goes for me as well. And so, uh we're we're all a mess. And thank the Lord that we have God. Um this was written probably around 65 AD. And the whole book centers around this idea of contending for the faith. And when I think of contending, I always think of one of my favorite movies, Rocky. Anybody else just like a Rocky fan? Like you love watching that movie? It's It's awesome. I It's got the be one of the best soundtracks in any film uh ever. And And I love it because there's a scene in there where Rocky his his locker is given away. And it's because Mickey, his his trainer, the guy that owns this this boxing gym, uh thinks that he's a bum. A and he is. For all intents and purposes, he's he's uh called a leg breaker, right? Because he he's big, he's tough, he's like an ox, and he could have been someone. And instead,

he doesn't give his training the kind of uh uh attention that it needed. He wasn't hungry. And Mickey, he looks at him. He said, "You you had talent. You could have been a contender." To which Rocky says, "Yeah, I could have been a contender. I could have been somebody instead of a bum, which is what I am." Now, in the church, in Christ, there there are no bums. Okay? You were called by the Lord to contend for the faith. That is your calling. If you've ever wondered what a calling is from God, it is for you to contend for the faith. And what we're going to look at today is what that looks like. What does it mean to contend for the faith and not be a jerk about it? Right? And so, uh, let's stand together in honor of God's word as we read Jude chap, uh, Jude verses 1-4. God's word, it says this. Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James. To those who are called beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ. May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only master and lord, Jesus Christ. And so, Father, we do ask that you would speak clearly to us through your word today. Our our hearts are are open to what you have to say God. And so, um, as as God, as King, as as our only Lord and Master, we ask for us, uh, to obey. God, give us obedience spirits. We pray that you would speak to us clearly and help us to walk

faithfully in the way that you would have us to go. Don't let us go to the left or to the right, but to walk that narrow path pleasing to you, inviting you into the situation, seeking out what your your will is for us, God. That's our our one desire. And uh, Father, as a church, uh, we we know that we are called to abide in you, uh, to be rooted and uh, reproduce disciples and renew lives for your glory, God. We know that's what uh, we're called to do. So, help us to do that to the best of our abilities. Help us, Father, to uh, reach this community, Lord. Camden has a lot of spiritual darkness, a lot of lost people, a lot of people that we know and we love, friends and neighbors and family, God, and we want them to know Christ. And so help us uh to contend for the gospel in humility, with grace, with strength, not not relying on our own personalities or or clever uh words or anything like that, but always abiding in you, the strength and source of our lives. We ask that you would uh please give us attentive ears and hearts today. In Jesus precious name we pray. Amen. Well, this book begins with an introduction uh from the writer. Unlike our culture, if if uh you were to get a a note or a card in the mail, uh it has your name on it. A and even on the inside, even though it's your birthday, a lot of people they'll write your name up there. Uh you know, because that's just our custom. That's what we do. Uh back in this time the letters would start with the author uh addressing to whoever the recipient is. Now he introduces himself as Jude and Jude is just a shortened form of the name Judas which was a common name in the New Testament time. Jude he describes himself as a a a servant that's here in the ESV. Uh does anybody's translation say slave? Does anybody's translation okay? All right. And and and if we look at the ESV,

right, and we look at the Greek, the Greek word for for a servant is diconos. That's where we get our word deacon from. A deacon is an office in the church and their primary ministry is service to the congregation. Uh that's why we call them deacons, diaonos. But this is not the Greek word diaonos. Uh this is the Greek word dulos. Uh which is not servant. It is slave or bondervant takes on a completely different tone at that point, doesn't it? He understands himself as a slave. In other words, Jude, he recognizes that he is not his own. He has been bought by Christ Jesus and he considers himself a slave. And as a slave, he completely belongs to his master. As a slave, all rights over his life, over his property belongs to Jesus. And so what Jude is doing here is he is writing, yes, as a servant, but most importantly as a slave who has been commissioned to write this letter. And so while this does sound very humble to our ears, it's also very authoritative for us because there is no one that is more free than a Christian that is a slave to Jesus. The chains of Christ or chains of love that Spurgeon he says is soft as silk yet stronger than steel. Christians are bought, as Peter tells us, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. Jude, he also explains that he is the brother of James. Now, there were two famous James in the Bible uh in the New Testament. here. One is James the son of Zebedee and uh he was put to death many years before this in Acts 12 by Herod. Um and so likely that's not who this James is. This James to be on a firstname basis would be on a James that became actually an elder in the church in

Jerusalem. This James is the halfbrother of Jesus. Jesus, he was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, which is why he did not carry a sin nature like our own. But Mary, she did not stay a virgin. Okay? She did. We call her the Virgin Mary out of custom and to identify her. But she consummated her marriage with Joseph and they had several children and most actually we could probably say all uh of his family. Uh, and I I would I would hesitate to put Mary into this category, but they weren't followers of Christ. Uh, they they didn't believe in the Lord. We learned this in John chapter 7. Not even his brothers believed in Jesus. They thought he was out of his mind. He was talking against all the religious leaders at that time and they were looking, you know, hey, come on home Jesus. we need to maybe put you down and and and you know keep you locked away for a while because you're clearly out of your mind. And that is important because Jesus's family initially rejects them, rejects him as the Messiah. But now you have James and Jude that trust him with all their hearts. They consider Christ to be their master. I have been bought at the price of my Lord. In Acts chapter 1, we find them all together with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his brothers in the upper room where the Holy Spirit fell. Now, what changed all this? We don't know exactly when all that happened. when they when they uh believed on Christ. But what we do know is that the resurrection changed everything. And it's important for us to know that it's not proximity to Christ. It's submission to Christ that saves us. And so if Jude is the brother of James, he is also the halfbrother of Jesus. He could have just said Jude, brother of the Lord. But instead, he describes himself as a slave. And before Jude

warns the church, what he's going to do is he's going to model that allegiance for us before we can begin to contend for the gospel. We have to belong to the Lord. We have to know Christ. In Jude, he gives us three stabling truths for you and I today. uh is that we are a secure and a loved people. Jude he says that we are three things called beloved and kept for Christ. Firstly that that word called is not an invitation. It means selecting. It means choosing. It's not just merely an outward invitation. This is the effectual call and it's the same word call uh that Jesus used when he called Lazarus out of the dead. Lazarus, Jesus called to him, come forth. And it is because he was called that he came to life. Just as Lazarus came out of that grave when he was called, so it was with you. It's that aha moment. It's when you're regenerate. And the first thing that we do is we repent of our sins and we trust in Christ. We go, "Oh my gosh, I see it. I see the glory of the Lord. I see my sin. I see myself. I see the Lord. I see salvation." And God is good. He also calls us beloved here. Now, what's interesting is that um he doesn't call us tolerated, right? Like I don't know about you, but sometimes I I I can barely tolerate myself sometimes. My wife's the saint. By the way, she did hear that joke that I said last week about Nyquil and everything like that. She said, "I didn't appreciate that." I did. He doesn't say that we're just tolerated. He doesn't say that we're barely accepted. He calls you beloved by God the father and that means that you too you can say I am loved by my

father who is in heaven and you're also kept for Jesus which means that God throughout this life he is exercising his preserving power until he returns. He is keeping you he is keeping you safe. So it doesn't matter the valley that you're going through. It doesn't matter what the circumstances of life are that you're walking through. God, he has you and he will keep you if you are in Christ. And Jude, he tells us these things before he gives us a warning. Before he he starts to explain the reasoning, he grounds us in the assurance and the security that God, he will help us to be courageous and to do these things that he's going to talk about. He begins with that stability. And then he talks about the urgency. But even before then, if you look at verse two, he gives us three gifts that we have. Mercy, peace, and love. You notice that he's he's listing out these three things over and over again. And what's interesting is that all the epistles, they include grace in the opening except for this one. That's because this letter is a warning. And so he's not emphasizing grace because he's going to be talking about contending for the faith. He's going to mention grace later, right? And and we'll talk about that. But right now he's going to be talking about contending for the faith. And he tells us what he intended to write about our common salvation. Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, as Baptists, we emphasize having a personal relationship with Christ. Amen. But that doesn't mean that you have a secret way to Christ. That doesn't mean that you have a private way to Christ. We all must enter through one path,

one way. And that is the commonness of our salvation. But but something prompted Jude to change the topic of writing from our salvation, the commonness of our salvation, the thing that he was eager to write about, that wonderful, majestic eternal lifegiving gift of salvation with all of its beauty and all of its wonder. And it's what on earth would be so pressing to change that topic? I mean, imagine to that you're planning on sitting down and and writing out uh I don't know um around Christmas people they they write uh letters uh annual letters about what's happened in their family, right? Anybody get those? I always like reading them. If you write them, I I I always take time to read them. They're always uh really good. Uh but imagine that you sit down to write that letter that's going to go out and instead of writing that joyful family me there is something much more pressing and urgent for you to communicate that the the tone will change immediately and it's not because the love disappears it's because the love protects and it's about this non-negotiable gospel Jude he urges them to contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints. And so this is essential for us to settle what is the faith? It is the core of the gospel message, but it also includes what Jude has said. It includes Christ being fully God. He is our Lord and Master, fully God, fully man. It includes Christ's substitutionary atonement for you. It's the resurrection, the true bodily resurrection of Christ. It's the truth of salvation by grace alone through faith alone. It's the fact that Jesus Christ is Lord and submitting to that lordship. It's the holiness of God. It's the coming judgment. And why do we

know this? Because that's what he's talking about throughout this entire book. Because Jude, he immediately warns the church that there are some that want to pervert the grace of our God and change it into sensuality. He immediately points out that they deny our only master and lord Jesus Christ. And so it's a proper understanding of grace that he's trying to defend here. Grace and forgiveness does not give us a license to sin. The faith includes a a change of mind and a change of heart. It includes a total transformation. It's more than simply do you believe Jesus loves you? Did you pray this prayer when you were little? Did you ask Jesus into your heart? That's not the core of the gospel message. That's a great place to say amen. By the way, it's about objective faith, the content of belief, not simply belief itself. We're not saved by belief in belief. We're saved by trusting in Jesus Christ. This this faith has been once for all delivered. That means it's complete. It's final. There is nothing that needs to be added to the gospel message and nothing that can be taken away. It's not a a living document like the UK. They've got a a living document, a living constitution that they can amend and change and all that kind of stuff. The gospel is not that. It's not something that we can get bits and pieces of or revise. Rather, we're called to contend for it, which is athletic imagery, isn't it? It's a picture of of of a struggle and of and of fighting. There's a sense of preservation and wrestling. You and I, we are called by the Lord to stand with strength and humility against theological drift and moral decay. It is a fight. And many people they misperceive the stand to misperceive the contending and they use grace as a bunker against the word

of God. We are called to stand strong. We are called to give effort. This is contending for the faith. When the gospel of Christ is under assault, Christians, not just pastors, Christians are called to take action and contend for the faith. But why such urgency? Well, let's look carefully at Jude verse four. Certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation. and ungodly people who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only master and lord Jesus Christ. This is a dangerous distortion. Jude, he explains this threat in four layers. Firstly, you you notice that uh there's creeps, right? they they infiltrate the church. This means that they entered in one way other than how they presented themselves. The the word here uh of people crept in is parasudicisan. I think I got that which is the idea of smuggling yourself in. All right. It means to infiltrate with malicious intent. It's sneaking. Now, they wouldn't come in and say, "I reject Christ." They wouldn't say, "I deny the gospel." What they would say is, "I love Jesus. I love grace. I love the freedom." Jesus, he warned about people like this. Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. In the Pilgrim's Progress Christian, he enters through the the narrow wicked gate. He comes through it by responding to the gospel. Evangelist shared the gospel with him. And he's walking on that narrow road when he comes along this this this guy, his name is Hypocrisy. And this other guy named Formalist. They say, "Hey, we're on the same road. We're going to the celestial city." And and

Christian tells him, "Hey, did you go come in through the the wicked gate?" They said, "No, we just hopped the fence." They they looked like pilgrims. They they talked like brothers. They were on the same road, but they bypassed the narrow, wicked gate. And that's the picture that Jude is giving to us. These malicious men didn't come to Christ through repentance and faith in the gospel. They didn't want submission to Christ. They didn't want to come by the narrow gate, so they hop the fence. And many Christians are too naive to notice or or are too unloving to confront or do anything about it. Infiltration doesn't look like a Satanist going through a membership class. It's a It's a charming teacher that looks for excuses for their sin. It's a member that talks about grace but resists authority. It's someone that emphasizes love and grace but rejects truth and discipline. That's why the the ministry of elders is vital to a healthy church. Titus, he writes this. He says that these men talking about elders should be able to give instruction and sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. These men also they distort grace. Our passage says they pervert the grace of our God into sensuality. In other words, grace was employed in the service of their lust, not in their holiness, not towards the Lord. Going back to why grace was left out of the greeting, Jude, he has to be sure and emphasize quickly that grace, Christian grace, has been weaponized by the people who crept in to pervert the grace of God. And I want you to think about that for a moment. I want you to really think about the gift of God's grace. How wonderful it is. How pure it is. How it is only good and wonderful. And yet these ungodly people, they have taken it and they have

twisted it. This word in the Greek is metatythent, which means to exchange or to alter. We're not talking about a slip up. We're not talking about misbehavior. We're not talking about occasional sin. Not that that should be made light of. We're talking about intentional alteration, rewriting it to suit their own purposes, changing the unmmerited favor of God, the deliverance from his wrath, the freedom from sin's penalty and power. and they were changing it into sensuality. That word sensuality in the Greek is asa which means moral license, unrestrained sexual immorality, shameless behavior. You know, when we and this is a big problem actually in the church today, misusing the grace of God, perverting it. It's when someone says, "I know in my heart that God is okay with this." That's a redefinition of grace. Some people, they might get angry and say, "How dare you tell me how I have to live my life?" Others might say, "I'm not as bad as others that I know." All it is is perversion. It's a mutation of God's good gift. Grace is there for our daily use and our benefit and our blessing. It's not there for our abuse and our overlooking and our twisting of it. Here's what God Paul he tells us that God's grace has appeared bringing salvation for all people training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled upright and godly lives in the present age. But there's also another layer to this, a denial of the lordship of Christ. As I've said, this this isn't like a verbal denial. It's a practical denial by the way that they live their lives. And there's a tension that we live in as

Christians where we believe that salvation is by faith alone. But we also believe that salvation brings a change. Sometimes it's quick, sometimes it's not. But there should be growth. There should be life. But what about a person who says that they have Christ, but they're not in submission to God? There is no relationship there. There's no desire to know God. There is no fruit. There is no growth. There is no submission or desire. In in the parable of the swer, Jesus, he warned that not everyone who appears to receive the word actually belongs to him. In the parable, some receive with joy, but they have no root. Others, they look alive, but they're choked out by worldly desires. It's the good soil that bears fruit. And that means profession of faith is not proof of faith. It is the fruit that reveals genuine rootedness in Christ. And so you can come to church, you can you can sing loudly, you can go to class, you and you can still deny Christ. If you want Jesus as your savior and you don't want him as lord, he won't be any of those to you. The truth revealed here is that Jesus is the only master and lord. There is no other. We don't get to each make our own little Jesus in our own image. We don't change the gospel for the culture. We have one master. That word in the Greek is uh is literally understood as a sovereign owner. And so if we are slaves, then he is our owner. If he is our master, we do not negotiate terms with him. The fourth layer is a certain judgment. Jude, he writes that long ago they were designated for this condemnation. This is a tough part. Yet, it is God's word. God has already spoken about how he will deal with this kind of rebellion, which we'll get into next week. And he gives

several Old Testament examples. You see, judgment for apostasy is not anything new. They were condemned and they were already condemned because they pervert the gospel and they deny Christ. And so, what do we do? What do we do when we meet people at church and they fall into this? How are we supposed to respond when false brothers do come into our lives? And they and they will and they have. First thing, don't panic. Okay? Uh we need to do what Jude says and we need to contend for the faith. Jude, he isn't trying to spread mistrust among brothers in this church. It's it's not like the thing, right, where everyone's wondering, are you are you like trying to kill me? You know, like it's it's not like that. It's not supposed to be this because he's not presenting it in a negative way. He's presenting it as a positive thing for us to do. His words are meant to encourage Christians to display godliness in in the face of all of the un uh rampant ungodliness in the world. And we do this by contending for the faith. But before we look at others, we first have to look at ourselves. We want to make sure that we don't have a big old log sticking out of our eye while we're working about the speck in our brothers. We have to ask ourselves, am I trying to redefine grace on my own terms? Am I soft on my own sins and harder on others? We're not like Judah's not saying, "Hey guys, let's play a game. It's called spot the wolf, right? He's not saying that." But once we have a good read on ourselves and we've dealt with that, that gives us a good place to launch from by simply standing on the word of God. It's it's like if uh uh you're out on a moonless night and I take my dog out, Charlie, and I take him out and uh

first thing I do when I get outside because it's just dark on our street is I pull out my cell phone and I got my flashlight going, right? I don't want to step on a you know, a snake or anything like that when it's warmer out. Um I I don't want to do those things. And so uh we want it to be brighter, so we shine the light. And if we want our world to be brighter, then we need brighter Christians because the best defense of the gospel is Christians that know and love Jesus. But you may be thinking, okay, all right. Well, how practically does this work out? Uh just kind of re recapping real quick. Firstly, refuse to edit the gospel. Refuse to change the gospel. Stand on the gospel. First Corinthians, it tells us this. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cphus and then to the 12. And he continues on in Acts chapter 2, after Peter preaches the gospel, they say they they were cut to the heart. And Peter and the rest of the apostles, brothers, they said to them, "What shall we do?" And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself." Secondly, refuse to redefine grace. We talked about this extensively, but this means that you need to know what grace is. The best way to know what something authentic is and what is not is to be an expert at it. Just like a a a counterfeit bill.

People, they study the the the the real bill so that way when a counterfeit comes, just by the feel of it, they can tell this is a counterfeit. You don't want a cheap version of grace. You want the true grace that is offered in Christ. Thirdly, refuse to separate salvation from holiness. If you are saved, you will strive for holiness. Holiness does not earn our salvation. Remember that. But it accompanies salvation like breath accompanies life. What does the word say? Strive for peace with everyone and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. James he says this. So also faith by itself if it does not have works is dead. We do not believe in salvation by works but we also reject fruitless salvation. Also live visibly submitted to Christ. This is a growing process for the Christian. We should be growing in holiness. It's why so many of our senior saints, they got it way more together than than a lot of us younger people in this room. Amen. All the senior saints said, "Amen. Love you guys." But the sins that you used to wrestle with, they may crop up from time to time. But you should notice more victory in Christ over your sin. Day by day as you grow, you should see that growth in Christ. And if there is growth, no matter how minimal, even if it's just simply a crawl or a step in a day, is not a wasted day. also protect unity rooted in truth. The risk that this church was running was division over the gospel. And as a church that has seen division wreak havoc, we don't want to unify around catchy phrases or pastoral personalities, we want to we want to rally around the word of God because it never changes and it's a firm foundation for us.

And so, church, be careful and hear this carefully. You are not called to be suspicious and combative or be the theological police. You are called to belong to Christ. In Jude, he starts with identity before this warning. Because you are called, because you are beloved, because you were kept. God's church. It doesn't endure just because we have great arguments or if we're popular. God's church endures because we are kept by the power of Christ. And that truth, it isn't designated to make us uh apathetic. That truth is there to help us get passionate. The truth is is that false teachers, they do exist. Grace still gets twisted. Lordship still denied. But we must resolve ourselves not to drift or to soften the gospel. We do not edit the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. We will contend for the faith. Not in anger, not in malice, not in arrogance or pride, but firmly by faith we will stand in the Lord Jesus as our master. And since he is Lord, since he is our master, we're not going to separate grace and holiness. They're friends. They get along. Since he is Lord and Master, we will not separate salvation and submission or unity and truth. And here's some comfort. Those who distort the gospel are not the ones in control. There's those that are going to creep and they're going to try to creep in from time to time, but they do not threaten Christ's throne. They are not stronger than our shepherd. They're not wiser than our God. You and I, we are kept by the father for the son until the day that Jesus Christ returns. And that means that all of our battles, none of them are uncertain. The church is not just simply getting by.

Christ is not nervous about his throne. The gospel is not on life support as many people will want you to believe. The faith that was once for all delivered doesn't need to be reinvented. Needs to be believed and loved and guarded. The one who called you. He loves you and he keeps you. And he is the same Lord of those who pervert that pervert the gospel. He's the same Lord that they deny. He is the same master that they resist. And he will not lose his church. We will not drift. We will not soften. We will not edit the gospel or surrender grace. We will contend not because we are strong but because we belong to a savior who is strong. And when falsehoods whisper or culture pressures or when compromise seems much easier, we will not stand in pride or fear but in the joyful allegiance that we have to Jesus who is our only Lord and Master until he returns. Head, heart, hand, head. God. He wants you to know that the gospel has already been fully delivered and must not be altered. We have it. It's complete. Does not be need to change to suit ourselves. We live or we die by what we do with the gospel of Christ. Heart God. He wants you to believe that since you were called beloved and kept by God, you must believe that grace transforms you. We don't modify the gospel in order to suit our passions. The gospel is what transforms us. It makes our darkened minds light. It purifies our filthy souls. It brings our dead souls to life. The gospel, it transforms us. in hand. God, he wants you to refuse to edit the truth or excuse sin and to stand firmly and humbly in the faith that was once for all delivered. Father, we do love you and we just ask that your mercy and your

grace would be all over us today. Uh I just uh plead Lord that you would continue to work in us. Uh we are your church and you are our God. Help us to stand firmly in the gospel. I pray Lord that um among us all of us would profess you Jesus Christ as our Lord and our master always seeking to follow you and pursue you all the days of our lives. We're so grateful for the gift of salvation and thank you for the mercy that we have and thank you for the grace. Help us to not misuse it. Help us to never abuse it, but to always stand contending for the faith in the grace and the wisdom and the love and the power that you give to us by your Holy Spirit. We love you so much and as we uh worship you this morning, our all and all, we ask that you would just please uh speak to us today. Help us to be resolved to live for you in Jesus precious name. Amen. Let's all stand and let's respond together. You are my strength when I am weak. You are the treasure that I seek. You are my all in all. Seeking you as a precious stone. You are my only Jesus. Lamb of God, worthy is your name. Jesus, lamb of God. Worthy is your name. Take my sin, my cross, my shame. Rising again, I bless your name. You are my all in all. When I fall down, you pick me up. When I am dry, you fill my cup. You are my only Jesus. Lamb of God, worthy is your name. Jesus, lamb of God,

worthy is your name. Jesus, lamb of God, worthy is your name. Jesus, lamb of God, worthy is your name. >> And so, Lord, we do thank you for this uh day that you've given to us. Uh we just ask that uh uh we would live like that song is true um in our own lives God that you are our all and all. Uh help us God to uh uh abide in you to know you more uh to uh uh rest in the grace that you have offered so freely and to treat it like a gift not uh not collateral so that we can uh just know that freedom that's in you. We love you in Jesus name. Amen.