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Jude, our focus this morning 
will be on Jude 3, The Lord willing, we'll get to 
a study in the Acts of the Apostles in a few weeks' time, but this 
morning we're going to look at Jude 3. The necessity for us 
to contend earnestly for the faith does tie in with what we 
saw in Matthew's gospel in terms of the church's responsibility 
to maintain an emphasis on evangelism in terms of disciple-making. 
baptizing in terms of the practice of the sacraments, and then on 
teaching, providing a context in the life of the church to 
teach the people of God so that they may be more conformed unto 
the image of Christ. Well, Jude sets forth an additional 
responsibility that the people of God are to engage in, they 
are to contend for the faith. But I want to read beginning 
in Jude verse 1. Jude, a bondservant of Jesus 
Christ and brother of James, to those who are called, sanctified 
by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ. Mercy, peace, 
and love be multiplied to you. Beloved, while I was very diligent 
to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it 
necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for 
the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. 
For certain men have crept in unnoticed who long ago were marked 
out for this condemnation, ungodly men who turn the grace of our 
God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus 
Christ. But I want to remind you, though 
you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people 
out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 
And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left 
their own abode, He has reserved an everlasting chains under darkness 
for the judgment of the great day. as Sodom and Gomorrah and 
the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given 
themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, 
are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal 
fire. Likewise also these dreamers 
defile the flesh, reject authority and speak evil of dignitaries. 
Yet Michael, the archangel, in contending with the devil, when 
he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against 
him a reviling accusation, but said, the Lord rebuke you. But 
these speak evil of whatever they do not know, and whatever 
they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they 
corrupt themselves. Woe to them, for they have gone 
in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam 
for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. These are 
spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, 
serving only themselves. They're clouds without water, 
carried about by the winds, late autumn trees without fruit, twice 
dead, pulled up by the roots, raging waves of the sea, foaming 
up their own shame, wandering stars for whom is reserved the 
blackness of darkness forever. Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, 
prophesied about these men also, saying, Behold, the Lord comes 
with ten thousands of His saints to execute judgment on all, to 
convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds 
which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the 
harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him. These 
are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts, 
and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain 
advantage. But you, beloved, remember the 
words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, how they told you that there would be mockers in the 
last time, who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. These 
are sensual persons who cause divisions, not having the spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves 
up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves 
in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ 
unto eternal life, and on some have compassion, making a distinction, 
but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating 
even the garment defiled by the flesh. Now to Him who is able 
to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before 
the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, 
who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, 
both now and forever. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
Father, we thank you for the written word of the living God. 
We thank you that you've given us this light in a dark world. 
And we would pray now that the Holy Spirit who gave us the word 
would guide us in our study of it. Help us to be a faithful 
people that do contend earnestly for the faith. Help us to do 
so in a dependence upon the living and the true God. And help us 
as individuals and as a church do these things to maintain your 
the purity of your word in our own hearts and in our own lives. 
We ask that your spirit would as well work in all of our hearts 
to show us the glory and the majesty and the excellency of 
our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you, Father, for that 
one who came into this world, sinners to save. We thank you 
that you made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we 
might become the righteousness of God in him. And what a privilege 
is ours to contend for the faith. What a joy and what a delight 
that we have been given life eternal in Christ Jesus, that 
we've been given this great deposit of sacred truth, and we have 
been called to defend the doctrine that is set forth in Scripture. God, may we see it as a privilege, 
and may we see it as a joy, and may we be enabled by the Holy 
Spirit to comply with these things. Forgive us now for our sins and 
our transgressions, cleanse us in the blood of the Lamb, And 
for any and all who have come here this morning outside of 
Christ, we pray that they would indeed see that Christ alone 
is the way of salvation, and they, by grace, would believe 
on Him. And we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Well, Jude 3 is a 
most important verse in this particular book, so I want to 
open up the verse, look at other portions of Jude, and then other 
portions of the Word of God under three considerations this morning. 
First, the exhortation to contend for the faith in verse 3. Secondly, 
the reason given to contend for the faith in verse 4. And then 
finally, the preparedness of those who contend for the faith 
in verses 20 and 21. So in other words, the exhortation, 
the reason for the exhortation, and how the persons who obey 
the exhortation are to look after, by the grace of God, their own 
hearts and their own souls. But note in the first place the 
exhortation. You ought to see who it's addressed 
to. He says, Beloved. He doesn't say pastors. He doesn't 
say seminary professors. He doesn't say doctors in the 
church. He doesn't say teachers. He says Beloved. Those beloved 
are described in verse 1. Notice, he says, to those who 
are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in 
Jesus Christ. In other words, the elect, who 
by the grace of God believe the gospel. Those who are affectionately 
called out of darkness into marvelous light, who believe on the Lord 
Jesus Christ as the only way of salvation for sinners. Those 
are the ones addressed here. In other words, it's for all 
of us. If you go back for just a moment 
in 1 Peter chapter 3, you see the emphasis of Peter there is 
on the same thing. He doesn't stop and in chapter 
3 verse 15 address the seminary professors and the elders of 
the church, but he's still talking to the people of God. And in 
verse 15 he says, but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and 
always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason 
for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. This is every 
Christian's, not just responsibility, but it's every Christian's privilege. 
I think that as we approach, say, a Jude 3 or a 1 Peter 3 
15, we look at that and we say, oh man, that's another thing 
that I'm going to have to do in my Christian life. Brethren, 
we have been gifted the pearl of great price. We have been 
graced by God with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places 
in Christ Jesus. He has saved us from death, from 
damnation, from the devil. He has brought us into communion 
with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and He gives us the great privilege 
of testifying to our Lord Jesus Christ. May God stir up in all 
of us something of the Apostle Paul in Romans 1.16. He said, I am not ashamed of 
the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation, 
for everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the 
Greek. For in that gospel is revealed 
the righteousness of God from faith to faith, that just as 
it is written, the just shall live by faith. Paul wasn't embarrassed, 
Paul wasn't ashamed, Paul rather saw it as a great privilege to 
be able to testify to both Jews and Greeks of the one way of 
salvation, by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Brethren, this 
is, in fact, a responsibility. James does exhort rather earnestly. I'm sorry, Jude does exhort rather 
earnestly and calls upon us to engage in a particular activity. 
So yeah, on the one hand, it's a duty. On the one hand, it's 
a responsibility. On the one hand, it's a command. 
But on the other hand, it's rather an assumption that a godly man 
makes concerning other godly men. In other words, it is something 
that the people of God want to do. We've been given this great 
deposit of truth. It's worth fighting for. It's worth engaging the enemy 
on. It is worth resisting heresy. 
in our own lives and in our own hearts. So beloved, this is addressed 
to each and every one of us. Now note the exhortation in Jude 
3, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our 
common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting. 
Now, some take this in this way. He was going to write perhaps 
a theological treatise or something for their common encouragement, 
something that focused on the great truths of the gospel, those 
things that are connected to our common salvation. But as 
he goes to put pen to paper, he is mindful of the fact that 
these apostates have infiltrated the church, these unbelieving, 
ungodly men have infiltrated the church. So he's changed up 
his position, and now he needs to write this polemical fighting 
letter. Or it might just be the sense that this further x explains. I was very diligent to write 
to you concerning our common salvation. I found it necessary 
to write to you exhorting you. Not that there's two purposes. 
I was going to do this, but now I'm going to do this. I was going 
to do this, and this particularly is what I want you to hear. This 
is particularly what I want you to know. This is particularly 
what I want you to understand. I found it necessary to write 
to you, exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith." Now, 
this word, exhorting you, speaks this way. It is to urge strongly, 
to appeal to, to urge, exhort, or encourage. See, Jude is fired 
up. I think Machen said it best with 
reference to Paul's epistle to the Galatians. He says, Galatians 
is a fighting epistle. Well, I would submit that Jude 
is a fighting epistle as well. Now, let me qualify. I don't 
mean physical. I don't mean buy guns today and 
go out and conquer the city for Jesus, but fighting in terms 
of polemics, fighting in terms of precision of doctrine, resisting 
heresy, confuting errorists and heretics. That's what I mean 
by a fighting epistle. Jude is fired up. He wants the 
people of God to be fired up. The reason why he gives the exhortation, 
I'm just going to jump ahead for a moment, is because there 
are apostates in the church. In other words, Jude is not telling 
the people of God, you need to be on guard concerning the leaders 
in the Roman Empire. You need to be on guard for the 
Richard Dawkins of this particular age, or Dawkins of this particular 
age. You need to be on guard for the 
tenured professor at your local university who's an atheist. 
The problem is not without that Jude is dealing with. The problem 
is within. It is these men that have snuck 
into the church and have sought to teach another way. In other 
words, this affects the people of God in a way that being ready 
to contend outside the church may not affect you. Isaac certainly 
has to deal with atheistic teachers at the university, but perhaps 
you never will. Not to say you shouldn't know 
how, but this is a problem affecting all of us. Beloved, within the 
context and confines of the local church, there are errorists and 
heretics that find their way in. And because of that, we need 
to be able to spot them, and the best way to spot the errorists 
and the heretics is by so knowing the truth that we're able to 
identify them and not join their Bible studies, not give them 
access to pulpits. not give them the opportunity 
to traffic in their ungodly doctrines. This is something Jude takes 
seriously, something our church could learn a lot of. I don't 
mean our church in particular, though ours for sure, the church 
in general. We're just not as earnest in 
contending for the faith as the brothers in the New Testament 
era were, the fathers were, the reformers were. More often than not, it's like 
pulling teeth to get people to show up at a Bible study where 
we discuss things like justification by faith, or we look at the doctrine 
of the Trinity. You see, brethren, Jude's exhortation 
assumes that the persons to whom he writes have a knowledge of 
the truth. They're able to identify heresy 
and error, and they want to fight for it and contend for it. So 
we see Jude's earnestness, but let's look at the believer's 
responsibility. I want to draw out five things 
here before we move on, not five that are going to take us till, 
you know, 5 o'clock tonight, just five observations first 
before we move on. Note that the believer must contend 
earnestly. It's one word, but it means that, 
contend earnestly. In fact, BDAG says it means to 
exert intense effort on behalf of something, contend. In other 
words, think about anything in your life that you really like 
to do. You know what it's like to contend earnestly. So Judah's 
saying, do that with the truth. You are an earnest contender 
for the nicest garden on the block. Do that for the faith. 
You are an earnest contender to make the best cakes in your 
neighborhood. Do that with reference to the 
faith. You contend earnestly to be the best employee at your 
shop. Again, these aren't bad things. I'm not saying have the 
worst garden, bake the worst cakes and be the worst employee. 
You know me better than that. I think we ought to be the best 
at everything we do. Ecclesiastes, whatever your hand 
finds to do, do it with your might. See, Jude is saying it's 
not just baking cakes that the believers ought to be excelling 
in. It's not just in the factory 
that believers ought to be excelling in. It's in the purity of their 
churches. It's maintaining doctrinal fidelity. Now, it's a different word utilized, 
but the same concept is present in 1 Timothy 1.18. What does 
Paul tell Timothy he is supposed to do? He is to wage the good 
warfare. Why? Because there's heretics 
that are attacking the very truth of Jesus Christ. And if you value 
it, and if you prize it, then you're gonna contend earnestly 
for it. Secondly, the believer must contend 
earnestly for the faith. This is not your subjective hold 
on Jesus Christ. This is the objective truth of 
the Christian religion. In other words, you're not contending 
for my personal belief system in Jesus. There's a place for 
that. Certainly sing hymn number 429 
and mean it. That's not what Jude is talking about here. You 
are to contend earnestly for the faith, the Christian system 
of doctrine, the truth of Jesus Christ, the truth of God's holy 
word. Manton explains. He says, faith 
is taken for sound doctrine, such as is necessary to be owned 
and believed unto salvation, which he presseth them to contend 
for, that they might preserve it safe and sound to future ages. As I mentioned this in our studies 
in the Great Commission, we need to think not only of this generation, 
but of the coming one. If we don't contend for the faith 
that was once for all delivered to the saints, what do we have 
to hand our children? Brethren, all of us as parents 
and grandparents probably want to rise up and be able to hand 
our children many good things. Here's a plot of land, here's 
a house, here's a job, whatever it is that we can pass on to 
them. But if we're not passing on to them the faith, we're failing 
to do our jobs. We're failing to do our jobs. 
Gordon Clark says, Christianity is not a romantic religion where 
feeling and emotion suffice, nor is it an aesthetic religion 
where faith and sermons are unnecessary. Christianity is a definite faith. I love this. It includes the 
doctrines of the atonement and the resurrection, and it requires 
a knowledge of these doctrines and intellectual assent to them, 
a faith that can and must be preached. So this is what the 
believers, the beloved, Jude's readership, us, are supposed 
to do. We're supposed to contend earnestly, 
the way we do in our gardens, the way we do in our kitchen, 
the way we do in our workplace, but we are to do so as well with 
reference to the faith, the Christian system of doctrine. Notice he 
says, thirdly, the believer must contend earnestly for the faith, 
which was once for all delivered to the saints. Now, we often, 
as Protestants, recoil against the notion of tradition. We, 
as Protestants, ought not to recoil against tradition. Bad tradition, to be sure, but 
good tradition? Jesus upbraids the religious 
leaders of his day in Matthew 15 because they hold to their 
traditions. Paul delivers to the church in 
Corinth that which he had received. There is a positive aspect or 
impact with good tradition. There's a sacred deposit of the 
truth that has been once for all delivered to the saints that 
we are to jealously guard and protect. John Gill makes the 
observation, by them, apostles, it was delivered to the church, 
both by word and writing, and this delivery of it supposes 
that it is not an invention of men, that it is of God and a 
gift of his, and given in trust in order to be kept, held forth 
and held fast. See, God's entrusted this to 
our care. What are we going to do with 
it? Neglect it, forget it, throw it aside, or let heretics destroy 
it? Or are we going to fight for it, contend earnestly for 
it, seek to defend it, and propagate it? He also goes on to say, there 
is no alteration to be made in it or addition to it, no new 
revelations are to be expected. This once for all delivered to 
the saint's nest of this body of doctrine, interestingly enough, 
argues against the charismatic mania where tongues and prophecy 
is still going on in the church today. It's not. The Lord God 
Most High spoke through the prophets and the apostles. When that word 
is inscripturated, the canon is closed, we ought not to look 
for revelatory gifts anymore. We ought to be looking, of course, 
for the gift of the Holy Spirit to fall upon the preaching of 
the word to bring that great gift of eternal life to sinners 
dead in their sins and trespasses. But brethren, tongue speaking 
and prophesying were for a time. It was to communicate God's Word 
to the early church that having been done, this sacred body of 
doctrine has been delivered once for all. Ours is not to alter 
it. Ours is not to add to it. Ours 
is not to supplement it by any fresh or fancy new revelations. Ours is very simply to contend 
earnestly for it. That's our job. It's what God's 
called us to do. It's what you are supposed to 
be, beloved, a contender for the faith. Mountain says, it 
is given to be kept. It is not a thing invented, but 
given, not found out by us, but delivered by God himself and 
delivered to our custody that we may keep it for posterity. Again, you see a similar theme 
in Paul's emphasis with reference to Timothy, 1 Timothy 6, verse 
20. Oh Timothy, guard what was committed 
to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions 
of what is falsely called knowledge. By professing it, some have strayed 
concerning the faith. Timothy, guard what was committed 
to your trust. Again, the idea is good things 
have been handed over by Paul to Timothy. What's Timothy supposed 
to do? He's supposed to treasure those 
things. He's supposed to hold on to those things. The Protestant 
rejection of tradition isn't accurate. It's the rejection 
of bad tradition. Praise God we have the tradition 
of the Nicene Council informing our confession of faith and informing 
us in terms of an accurate biblical Christology. Praise God for the 
tradition that we have inherited from the forefathers that have 
gone before us. Praise God that Jesus has ascended 
on high, led captivity captive, given gifts to men, and he gave 
some as pastors and teachers. Praise God that we have that 
body of apostolic doctrine handed down by them, cared for and preserved 
by the church, and given to us in this 21st century situation. Praise God. We have been greatly 
blessed and inheritors of a good thing. Notice in 2 Timothy 1.13, 
hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from 
me in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. That good thing 
which was committed to you, keep. by the Holy Spirit who dwells 
in us. You see, this is a recurring 
theme in the New Testament. And, of course, Timothy was a 
pastor, but Jude tells every Christian, beloved. Again, this 
is going to flesh itself out in different ways. I don't think 
Jude says, okay, I want everybody today to drive to downtown Vancouver, 
find the highest place in the city, and stand there and preach 
like George Whitefield. I don't think that's what Jude 
means. But in your goings about on a 
daily basis, persons that mock the faith or persons within the 
professing church entertain heresy, contend for the faith. You know, brethren, there's something 
to be said about a church being instructed in the word of God 
and a church answering the heretics that arise in her midst. It shouldn't 
just be the pastor's job. Pastors aren't always with everybody 
when they're spouting off heresy. If you hear somebody spout off 
heresy, contend for the faith. Call them to repent. Tell them, 
that's not what the Bible teaches. That's not the real deal. That's 
not legit. It's certainly not what pastors 
Porter or Butler believe, and if you keep on propagating this 
sort of thing, it's gonna be necessary to turn you in. I don't 
know if you say it quite like that, but. Can't jeopardize the 
health and the safety of the church of Jesus Christ. You see, 
brethren, we have been given a duty, but it's a privilege. 
Do you want to fight for it? Imagine if you were walking on 
the street with your beloved and somebody insulted your wife. 
It would be your duty to protect her and it would be your privilege 
to protect her, wouldn't it? Wouldn't it? Well, I'm doing 
this because it's my duty, and it's also making me very happy 
to shut your mouth up because you said vile things about my 
wife. Brethren, you can have joy in duties. You can have fun 
in doing what God calls you to do. And I'm not saying with a 
big smile on your face, we found a heretic, let's get him. That's 
not necessarily it either. There's gotta be a balance there, 
but the idea is, beloved, everyone's called to do this. Fourth, the 
believer must know the faith in order to contend for it. I 
write to you, or wrote to you, I write to you exhorting you 
to contend earnestly for the faith, which was once for all 
delivered unto the saints. If you don't know the faith, 
you're not gonna contend earnestly for it. I mentioned at the AGM, 
we try to tailor the church's ministries to provide a healthy, 
well-balanced, nutritional life in terms of what persons get 
with reference to Scripture. In other words, it's not just 
hobby horse theology. We only focus on this one particular 
area. Our Confession of Faith makes 
sure we don't do that when we teach through the Confession 
of Faith. Thirty-two chapters of those things most surely believed 
among us, beginning with the Holy Scriptures and ending with 
eschatology and dealing with all the cardinal truths in between. 
It's a great way or means by which we teach doctrine. We have 
Old Testament studies on Wednesday night. We're going to start the 
Pentateuch in a few weeks. That's going to probably take 
us until the Eschaton, or at least my Eschaton. I don't see 
getting past the Pentateuch in my lifetime. Brethren, I don't 
see it happening. Now, maybe it will, but I'm not 
a prophet or the son of a prophet. I kind of hope it doesn't because 
I'm not sure where to go after we finish the Pentateuch there. 
But you see, it's all calculated so that the people of God in 
this particular church know the faith. so you can contend earnestly 
for the faith, so that you can say with Paul, I'm not ashamed 
of the gospel of Christ, for it is the salvation of Jews and 
Greeks, those who, by God's grace, come to faith in the Lord Jesus. And then I would suggest fifthly, 
and I've taken this right from Manton, the believer must, quote, 
own the profession of the truth, whatever it costs them. The believer 
must own the profession of the truth, whatever it costs them. In other words, it's not popular 
today, for instance, to believe in the young earth. It's not 
popular today to believe in creation ex nihilo. It's not popular today 
to believe in biblical ethics and condemn abortion or euthanasia 
or sodomy. It's not popular today within 
some professing churches to uphold justification by faith alone. 
It may not be popular, but that's what it means to contend for 
the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. 
In other words, our job is not to try to soften it and make 
it more palatable. Our job is not to try to tailor 
it to make it more acceptable. Our job is to contend for it. back to the previous illustration, 
say to the guy who says nasty things to our wives, well, if 
you got to know her, perhaps you wouldn't say such nasty things. 
You only saw. We don't try to make her more 
acceptable to the thug. We shut the thug's mouth, brethren. I see this happening all over 
the place. We are marketing Jesus in such 
a way that we don't want to cause any offense. If we're not offending 
people, we're not preaching the gospel. The gospel is an offense 
to carnal man. Every single man, including women, 
wants to be able to commend themselves to God. The doctrine of free 
grace is a direct assault upon that concept. It is in all of 
us, and I think that we need to be aware of this. It is in 
all of us, not only to stray practically, but to stray doctrinally. Manton says elsewhere, we need 
to know the danger we ourselves are in, because we're all born 
as Pelagians, Libertines, and Papists. We all have that default 
mechanism there. And as we become saved, or as 
we are saved by God's grace, and as we grow in the grace and 
in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus, it's not just practical 
violations of the Decalogue that present themselves as temptations 
to the people of God. He noted his theologian, Clark 
Pinnock. The man ended up denying, basically, 
God. Not in terms of atheism, but 
everything unique about God became denied by Pinnock. He started 
off as an Orthodox, Calvinistic theologian. You see, there is 
in us a proneness to wander and a proneness to leave the God 
we love. That's not just, you know, I want to go out and commit 
murder, I want to go out and commit adultery, I want to go 
steal, I want to go lie, I want to go covet, I've got to fight 
against these sins, I've got to resist these temptations. 
Brethren, why is it that potpourri is so popular? Because there 
is an appeal to a system where we can go sin, confess it to 
a priest, and then go do it all over again. where we can rationally 
argue in our own thoughts. Well, if I go do this, he's going 
to give me 10 Hail Marys and an Our Father. I like sinning 
a lot more than I like God, so I'm going to go out and do that, 
and I'll go ahead and do my 10 Hail Marys and Our Father. Why is 
it that so many people are drawn to false religion? Because we're 
messed up. We're twisted. We're bent. We're dark. We have a downward 
tendency, and it's true within the context of the professing 
people of God. If you are not on guard, if you 
don't know the faith, if you are not contending for it, you 
are going to be susceptible to fall prey to the heretical notions 
of our own day. So the believer must own the 
profession of the truth, whatever it costs them. Samuel Miller 
said, the church has to fight for every inch of ground. And 
whenever she ceases to contend for the truth, she ceases to 
advance. She may contend with an improper 
spirit. If she does this, it is her mistake 
and her sin. But to contend no more is to 
disregard the command of her master in heaven and betray his 
cause to the enemy. Miller's right on there. What 
about the other examples in the context of the New Testament? 
The Lord Jesus said, beware of false prophets. The Lord Jesus 
cautions his disciples against the leaven of the Sadducees. 
Remember that scene in Matthew 16? They're wondering, whoa, 
is it because we don't have any bread? They finally figure out he's 
not talking about bread, he's talking about the leaven of the 
Sadducees. You know how leaven works? You don't need to take 
a bucket full of leaven to pour it into something in order to 
influence that something. It's just a little bit, and it 
takes off, and it finds its way completely in that substance. Pharisaism is like that. Judaizers 
are like that. The various heresies and attacks 
that have plagued the church are like that. You swallow a 
little bit of heresy and it may not be long before you're denying 
the faith altogether. You see, this is reality, and 
I think Miller's right. The example of the Apostle Paul, 
just one, I have several. If anybody's interested in more 
New Testament emphases on this theme, email me and I'll send 
you the notes and you can look them up. Acts 20 is one particular 
place that we ought to see here. Notice in Acts 20, Paul addressing 
the Ephesian elders. Verse 28, therefore, take heed 
to yourselves and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit 
has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased 
with his own blood. For I know this, that after my 
departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing 
the flock. Again, the problem here that 
the apostle is addressing, isn't it, you know, the civil hall 
He's not talking about, you know, the empire. He's not talking about, you know, 
the political avenues where the godless all live. No, he's talking 
about the church. For I know this, that after my 
departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing 
the flock. Also from among yourselves men 
will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples 
after themselves. Therefore watch and remember 
that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone, night 
and day with tears. You see, it's a reality that 
within the context of the local church, there are threats. And in this instance, from among 
you, elders in the church became wolves to destroy the flock. 1 Timothy chapter 4, 1 Timothy 
chapter 4. Now the Spirit expressly says, 
verse 1, that in latter times, some will depart from the faith, 
giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking 
lies and hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a 
hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from 
foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by 
those who believe and know the truth. For every creature of 
God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received 
with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the Word of God 
in prayer. Paul says this is going to happen. You're going 
to have heretics. I mean, wouldn't it be wonderful 
if everybody in the church always just thought the same and did 
the same and lived the same? And again, I don't mean by that 
you all have to have a, you know, 2013 Jetta. That's not what I 
mean. Departures from the faith are 
bad. As well, you have examples in 
Peter, you have examples in John, you have this recurring emphasis 
in Revelation 2 and 3 by our Lord to the seven churches in 
Asia Minor. Brethren, it is our blessed duty 
and privilege to contend for the faith, to earnestly contend 
for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. 
Now, notice secondly the reason given. because of the apostates. Verse four, it's very obvious. 
Four, here's the reason. Contend earnestly for the faith 
which was once all delivered to the saints. Why? Four, tells 
you, verse four. For certain men have crept in 
unnoticed who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly 
men who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the 
only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Again, brethren, we ought 
to take notice of the rise of Islam, and we ought to take notice 
of godless political leaders and their various and sundry 
agendas to make things more difficult for the professing people of 
God. But brethren, while we're looking out there, we mustn't 
neglect in here. These men are sneaky. The first 
point we ought to observe with reference to these false teachers. For certain men have crept in 
unnoticed. They don't typically walk down 
the aisle on a Sunday morning and say, I'm a heretic and I 
want you all to follow me. They don't do that. They're sneaky. They're subversive. They are 
covert. They are camouflaged. They are 
like the chameleon. They blend in. It's typical of 
these particular persons. Look at 2 Timothy 3. 2 Timothy 
3. Verse 6, after Paul tells Timothy 
the kinds of people that are going to punctuate the last days, 
which Timothy was living in, he then gives him this admonishment 
in verse 5, having a form of godliness, but denying its power, 
and from such people turn away. Now note verse 6. Of this sort 
are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible 
women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts." Now, 
you need to understand that this is the kind of people that are 
religious in nature. They have a form of godliness, 
but they deny its power. You see, the apostles primarily 
aren't writing about the horrors of the Roman Empire. They're 
not writing primarily about the horrors of the unbelieving Jews. 
The apostles are writing primarily concerning the health and the 
integrity and the maintenance of Christ's church. and the reality 
that there will be those who assault that, who try to batter 
that, who try to distort and twist and destroy that, and so 
the apostle says you need to be on guard. These are the kinds 
of people that have a form of godliness, and yet they deny 
its power. For of this sort are those who 
creep into households. You see them, can't you? I can. 
They got cheap suits and bad breath and big mustaches, and 
they come in and they say, hello, sister. I'm here to help you. I'm here to help you. I'm not 
sure that's exactly what they look like, but that's kind of 
how I envision it. I certainly don't think that's how Paul envisioned 
it. However, this is what they do. They creep into households. 
They make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, 
led away by various lusts. That's wicked. Protect these 
poor sisters. Feed them the truth of God's 
word so they know the faith and are able to identify these charlatans 
and repel them and flee from them. Always learning, these 
kinds of people, verse seven. Always learning and never able 
to come to the knowledge of the truth. It's always disturbing 
to me. I've been studying for 100 years 
and I still don't really have it all figured out. You need 
to figure it out. You need to get these things 
right. You gotta identify the faith. And then he compares them 
to Janus and Jambres. They resisted Moses, so do these 
also resist the truth. Men of corrupt minds disapprove 
concerning the faith, but they will progress no further, for 
their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was. I love that in Paul there. He 
makes sure that we don't ever think they're gonna win. Jude 
doesn't either. Just know that. Jude gives a 
warning, Jude gives caution, Jude gives a detailed description 
of these apostates plaguing the church, but he never, ever, ever 
gives us any thought to consider that they're going to win. They're 
not going to win. Brethren, Jesus builds his church 
in the gates of hell, shall not prevail against it. Christ will 
indeed preserve, keep his people. Jude tells us that on a couple 
of occasions here. So they're sneaky. They're ungodly. They're ungodly men, is what 
Jude says. For certain men have crept in 
unnoticed who long ago were marked out for this condemnation. Ungodly 
men. There is a doctrine which accords 
to godliness, the apostle Paul says in 1 Timothy 6, verse 13. In other words, when we believe 
the truth, we're justified by faith alone. Our confession rightly 
indicates, but that faith that justifies us, that is alone, 
is always accompanied by all other saving graces. In other 
words, when we are justified, we enter into the life of sanctification. 
We live in conformity by the power of the Holy Spirit to the 
will of God, revealed in His law. The Spirit works in us, 
both to will and to do, according to His good pleasure. Brethren, 
this is part and parcel of a godly, faithful teacher. He's godly. Not perfect, but godly. These are ungodly men. Their 
doctrine accords with what they believe. You cannot promote good 
fruit with a dead tree. Can you? If so, that's an engineering 
marvel for this generation. You cannot produce apples with 
a dead apple tree. You need a living apple tree 
to provide or produce the apples, and the same thing is true here. 
Thirdly, they are perverters of the grace of God. Probably 
an antinomian heresy, an antinomian error, this idea that we can 
continue in sin, that grace may abound, which Paul says, may 
it never be in Romans 6. Paul knew in his own experience 
that some were slanderously reporting this of himself. You could hear 
it, couldn't you? Paul was preaching in a Jewish 
synagogue and he said that we're justified by faith alone. Can't you imagine the Scottle 
after the fact? Well, if he thinks that, then 
it doesn't matter what we do. We can go out and live like the 
devil. We can do whatever we want. We can go and sin, sin, 
sin. Paul has to counter those objections in Romans chapter 
3 and then 6, specifically, may it never be. Some may slanderously 
report that my doctrine of justification by faith leads to license and 
lasciviousness and godlessness, but it doesn't. The truth of 
God's gospel has everything in control. God knows what to do 
when it comes to the saving of sinners. And then notice, fourthly, 
they deny Jesus Christ. They deny the only Lord God and 
our Lord Jesus Christ. On 2 John 9, Calvin said, I'm 
sorry, from 1 John chapter 2, John Calvin said, Christ is denied 
whenever those things which peculiarly belong to Him are taken away 
from Him. I think that's the best definition 
that you'll ever get. Let me just repeat that. Christ 
is denied whenever those things which peculiarly belong to him 
are taken away from him. It's a denial of Christ if we 
reject his deity. It's a denial of Christ if we 
reject his humanity. It's a denial of Christ if we 
reject blood atonement. It's a denial of Christ to mess 
with the doctrine of Christ. And this is the point. These 
heretics are sneaky, these heretics are ungodly, these heretics are 
perverters of the grace of God, and these heretics deny Jesus 
Christ. Now, I want to move to our final 
point, but I just had mentioned that Jude wants to make sure 
that we know that he doesn't let, or that these heretics don't 
win. That next section, verses five 
and following, five to seven, he tells us that just as the 
Lord destroyed murmuring, unbelieving Jews that came out of the Exodus, 
just as the Lord dealt with these angels, these fallen angels, 
just as the Lord overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, So the Lord will 
destroy those who plague his church. In fact, verse four, 
notice in the description of the heretics, for certain men 
have crept in unnoticed. Now that next clause may perplex, 
puzzle, and perhaps scare you, but you need to take it in, who 
long ago were marked out for this condemnation. without getting 
into the particulars of reprobation and election. Suffice it to say, 
that underscores God's sovereignty. Suffice to say that the heretics 
will never ever win. They may win some battles and 
some skirmishes. They may be successful in closing 
down particular local churches. They may be the cause of leading 
some others astray, but destroy the church of Jesus Christ, they 
will never do. The way that God destroyed the 
unbelieving murmurers in the wilderness that came out in the 
exodus, God will destroy them. The way that God consigned fallen 
angels to hell, the way that God's going to deal with these 
heretics. and the way that he dealt with the cities on the 
plain. Sodom and Gomorrah, that's the 
way God's gonna deal with these heritage. They were marked out 
long ago for this condemnation. So in other words, they will 
plague the church. They will be present. The people 
of God need to be vigilant. You need to know the faith, and 
you need to protect the faith. You need to defend the faith. 
You need to contend earnestly for the faith, but you ought 
never be paralyzed to the point of inactivity. You ought never 
to conclude, well, it's just too hard. It's an impossible 
reality. It's an impossible task. No. Ask the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Ask the fallen angels. Ask those 
murmuring, unbelieving Jews. God will vindicate his bride. So never forget that. So the 
last point, the preparedness of those who contend for the 
faith. It's found in verses 20 and 21, and we'll just keep this 
brief. But essentially what we have 
is a strategy for how we always ought to live. I mean, what verses 
20 and 21 tell us aren't, you know, just some battle-ready 
mentality. Of course, it is, because every 
day is battle-ready mentality for the people of God. But it 
is, in this particular context, a way for us to acknowledge the 
fact that we are prone to wander and prone to leave the God that 
we love. to acknowledge with Manton that, yeah, you know, 
we were born Papists and Libertines, or Pelagians, Libertines and 
Papists. I'm trying to say those groups 
three times fast, you'll get tongue-tied. To acknowledge that, 
To resist that, how do we live as the people of God in our desire 
to contend earnestly for the faith? Now note, verse 21 begins 
with a command. It says, keep yourselves in the 
love of God. That particular command is surrounded 
by three participles in verses 20 and 21. Notice in verse 20, 
you beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith. praying 
in the Holy Spirit, and then at the end of verse 21, looking 
for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. So 
this is the way I understand it. Jude says, keep yourselves 
in the love of God. We're gonna deal with that in 
just a moment. And the manner of compliance, the means by which 
people do that is reading their Bible, praying, and looking to 
Jesus. See, it's a beloved task. It's 
not a seminary professor task. It's a beloved task. It's not 
a pastor task. Do you hear how, at least practically 
and rationally, how easy this is? Jude doesn't say in verses 
20 and 21, go down to your bank, borrow $100,000 and go pursue 
or buy the best theological education there is. You know, tune in to 
James White every single day, and if you miss, you're really 
going to falter. He says, keep yourselves in the love of God. 
The way that persons keep themselves in the love of God is by reading 
their Bibles, praying, and looking to Christ. Simple. Everybody 
with me? Easy peasy, as they say, right? 
Simple stuff. This isn't rocket science. Well, 
I don't know if I can contend for the faith. Brethren, everybody 
must contend for the faith. Whether you think you can or 
not, this is your job. You signed up for this. Now note this command. He says, 
keep yourselves in the love of God. You know what this does 
not mean? Keep yourself in the sphere where 
God loves you. It's not what it means. Make 
yourselves more attractive to God. By your Bible reading, by 
your praying, and by your looking unto Jesus, you make yourself 
so attractive that God loves you. Brethren, God loves His 
people with an unchangeable love. It is the doctrine of immutability 
and the doctrine of impassibility that secures the confessional 
statement that God is most loving. He cannot increase in His love, 
and He certainly cannot decrease in His love. Remember that great 
sort of antiphonal praise at the end of Romans 8. Paul says, 
I am convinced there is nothing that can separate us from the 
love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. It's a beautiful 
statement, isn't it? or consider the blessed reality 
of 1 John 3.1. Behold, what manner of love the 
Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called children 
of God. It wouldn't be so praiseworthy if it diminished, if it increased, 
if it was like ours, if it fluctuated, if it moved about. The reason 
why the love of God is so praiseworthy is because it's most loving. 
Because when God elects, and God saves, and God redeems, God 
doesn't let anything stop Him in His love for them. What about 
that blessed statement in Ephesians 3? What does Paul want the scholars 
in Christ to learn? Not scholars like seminarians, 
but the people of God in Ephesus. I want you to know what is the 
height and the depth and the breadth and the width and the 
love of Christ Jesus our Lord. You couldn't say that apart from 
the doctrine of impassibility. You couldn't say that if God's 
love fluctuated, if God's love increased or diminished. So what 
Jude is saying here is not you live in such a way as to put 
yourselves in the love of God. In other words, court His favor 
each and every day, read your Bible so that you know that keep 
yourselves in the love of God has to do with us. seeing in 
the first place the great love that He has for us. See, brethren, 
I'm of this mind that the most encouraging thing in our striving 
against sin is the power of the Christian gospel and the majesty 
and the excellency and the glory of God's love. In other words, 
we ought to be like that man in history that kept a picture 
of his father in his wallet, and once in a while he'd take 
that picture out and he'd look at it and he'd remember how much 
his father loved him, so therefore he wasn't going to go out and 
dishonor him. We think about how much our Father loves us. 
We think about how glorious the Gospel is. We think about the 
beauty of the empty tomb, of a risen Savior, of a Savior who 
hung for us, a Savior who was broken and bruised and battered 
for us, a Savior who took for us the wrath and fury of His 
Father. It's that that motivates godly 
living. It's that that drives the people 
of God. It's that which shows the lie 
of Romans 6.1. What shall we say? Shall we continue 
in sin that grace may abound? May it never be. That has never 
been the logic of the Christian gospel. The logic of the Christian 
gospel is always, you died, you were buried, you've been raised 
with Christ. Therefore, no longer present 
your members as instruments of unrighteousness. What's true 
of you because of Christ ought to affect you in the here and 
the now in terms of your pursuit of Christ. Brethren, it's not 
God's love for us that we keep ourselves in. It's the reality 
that God loves us, and we constantly, constantly see that and see our 
relationship to that. So, the manner of compliance. How do we keep ourselves in love 
with God? By reading your Bible. Learn 
more about God than you already know. Does that ever happen to 
you? You read your Bible and it goes, 
wow, I never even thought of that aspect of salvation. I never 
even thought about it that way. Praise God Almighty, from whom 
all blessings flow. You see, we are to build ourselves 
up on our most holy faith. How do we do that? It's not through 
experience. It's not through ecstasy. It's 
not through feelings and emotions. It's through sitting in a chair 
and opening our Bibles and reading it. It's just so hard to learn Christian 
doctrine, said by everybody who doesn't read their Bible. It's 
an amazing thing, isn't it? So hard to learn how to tell 
time, said by everybody who won't learn how to tell time. So hard 
to bake a souffle, said by everybody who's never taken time to learn 
how to bake a souffle. You get the point, right? Christians 
who whine and moan and grumble that it's so hard aren't persons 
that typically read their Bibles. Well, I will admit that's a Herculean 
task to try to learn something from this book if you're not 
going to read the book. Do you know what the remedy is? Read 
the book. Keep yourselves in the love of 
God. How? By building yourselves up in your most holy faith. Praying 
in the Holy Spirit. Show me a prayerless man, I'll 
show you either A, a heretic or somebody on the way to heresy. Prayer is an act of dependence 
upon God. You say, if God's sovereign, 
why do you pray? Well, in the first place, because 
he commands me to. I love that. You know, we want to rationalize 
and philosophize on this whole, you know, God's sovereign, I'm 
not, and why do we pray? Because he tells you to. That's why you do everything, 
isn't it? But as well, it's an act of worship. I think we'd 
all acknowledge that, but it's an admission of our dependence 
upon him. Isn't this what our Lord teaches 
us to pray? Lead us not into temptation, 
but deliver us from the evil one. The Pope recently condemned 
that particular language because it almost sounds like God's leading 
people into temptation. The people of God has always 
seen it or have always seen it as their lifeline and their benefit 
that they get to pray to a sovereign God who has the power to keep 
them from temptation. They don't complain about it, 
they use it. And they say, God, keep me from 
temptation and the power of the evil one. And then, of course, 
the need to always look for the mercy of Christ. Probably the 
future is referenced here. Notice at the end of verse 21, 
looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal 
life. John Gill has a helpful section 
here. There's a past mercy, covenant of redemption, that eternal transaction 
between the Father and the Son and the Spirit, with reference 
to the salvation of people. There's the mercy of Christ in 
time, the incarnation of our Lord, the life and the ministry 
and the death and the resurrection. But Gil says it's probably the 
future that's in view here, the future reality that Christ is 
coming again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and 
we are safe and sound in Him. Gil says, there is the future 
mercy of Christ, which will be shown at death, in the grave, 
and at the resurrection, at the day of judgment, and in the merciful 
sentence he will pronounce on his people. And this seems to 
be designed here. We're always looking at the mercy 
of Christ. Yes, in the past. Yes, in the 
present. But in the future as well. Not 
in terms of a final justification, a second justification. You're 
justified. But what glorious thing did the 
believers know on that day of judgment in a way that perhaps 
they hadn't known previously? That mercy of Christ. I mean, 
we know mercy now, don't we? And the fact that we are here 
redeemed by God's grace. But when he consummates the age 
and he separates the sheep from the goats, and we happen to find 
ourselves there among the sheep, and the great judge of all the 
universe comes down and tells us, well done, good and faithful 
servant. We'll know mercy then like we 
didn't quite know it before. Again, not that it's absent from 
us now or we don't know it, The fact that we're actually entering 
into the presence of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, 
world without end, amen. That's a future mercy the people 
of God ought to be looking forward to. So brethren, that is the 
way or means by which those who contend for the faith are prepared. It's not hard. It's not difficult. 
It doesn't require a PhD. It just requires a commitment 
to our Lord in order to contend for the faith. Well, brethren, 
we ought to remember that the recurring attacks on the Christian 
faith demand of us that we contend earnestly for the faith. Manton 
again says, there are fundamentals and essentials in religion which 
challenge the choicest of our care and zeal, that they may 
be kept entire and without violation. The ignorance of them is damnable 
and the denial heretical. Turretin, in a very helpful section 
dealing with the fundamentals of the faith, they indicate righteously 
so that not everything demands the same attention in terms of 
a response. You know, not everything should 
get us as fired up as other things. In other words, we can't have 
fellowship with believers who disagree with us on, you know, 
secondary matters. I know some will say, there's 
no secondary matters. Brethren, how high the tabernacle 
was constructed is secondary to the doctrine of justification 
by faith. I'm not saying it's not important. 
The tabernacle shows us and teaches us many good things, even about 
the doctrine of justification by faith, but there are certain 
truths that, to deny, lands one in the pit. Turretin says, so 
some articles of faith are primary and immediate, as the articles 
concerning the Trinity, Christ the mediator, justification. 
I think we need to be aware of that. It's not just something 
Jude had to contend with. It's not just something that 
the early church had to contend with. It's not just something 
that the Reformers had to contend with. It is something we have 
to contend with as well, the rejection of the authority of 
Scripture. And in some sense, that's kind of a new one. You 
know, you go back in history, and even pagans believed the 
Bible was the Word of God. They didn't bow or submit themselves 
to Christ, but there was a general understanding, you know, say 
in England and on the continent and that sort of a thing, that 
even unbelievers treated the Bible as if it was the Word of 
God. We don't live in those sorts 
of days today. Certainly the pagans don't treat 
it as the Word of God, but even a lot of professing Christians 
don't treat it as the Word of God. Adam and Eve weren't real. You know, many things weren't 
real, it was written for, you know, the stories they teach 
us and they shape us, and they provide those sorts of things 
that we need to become better at. No, the authority of Scripture 
is always attacked. And there's a certain wisdom 
to that. I'm not saying it's a good wisdom, but it's a devilish 
wisdom. You cut out the throat of the 
authority of Scripture and then everything else just follows, 
right? There's no Adam and Eve. There's no blood atonement through 
our Lord Jesus Christ. If there's no federal theology 
in the garden, there's no federal theology later. You see, brethren, 
these things stand or fall together. Secondly, the distortion of the 
doctrine of the Trinity, the doctrine of God. That's definitely 
a cardinal primary belief. That is certainly something that 
persons must be correct about. Pastor Porter read Psalm 115. 
You know, that's one long psalm that mocks the idols of his age. You know how he keeps reading, 
they have eyes, they have ears, they have noses, they have, we 
get it, right? That's the point. I'm gonna just 
parade these monstrosities for the monstrosities that they are. 
It would make the point, they have eyes but they don't see. 
But it really makes the point when he goes, you know, piece 
by piece on the anatomy of the idol to show us the futility 
involved. That's what we need to understand 
with reference to the truth of God. Everything not scripturally 
informed as to who God is, is an idol that is to be rejected. There is this minimizing of the 
depravity of man. A minimization of the depravity 
of man. That always goes hand in hand 
with heresy. We're not as good as people suggest. And we're probably a whole lot 
worse than the most rabid reform preacher could ever even describe. 
We need to understand there is this distortion of the mediatorial 
office of Jesus Christ. This happens recurringly. There's 
nothing new under the sun. These things keep raising their 
ugly heads every now and then, and it's the church's job to 
contend earnestly for the faith. And then, of course, the confusion 
concerning the way of salvation. Justification by faith plus works. This is what the Reformation, 
at least in part, was about. Justification by faith plus. 
Nothing. This is oftentimes where you 
see the twin heresies of legalism and antinomianism raise their 
ugly heads in the discussion concerning justification, in 
a discussion concerning what happens after we're justified. 
It's a discussion on how do we get justified? The legalists, 
of course, tell us, it's by the works of the law. Paul says, 
no, it's not. See, these are recurring errors 
in the history of the Church, and they're recurring today, 
and we need to contend earnestly for the faith. We need to have 
an understanding of the Trinity. We need to have a defense of 
the authority of Scripture. We need to know who Jesus is, 
defined by Scripture, and by the best that the Church has 
offered in terms of that definition. We need to understand the way 
of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ 
alone, so that when we see the error of the heresy, it's so 
crystal clear, we don't get sucked into it. And then finally, note 
the encouragement involved in Jude's letter here. He encourages 
the people of God. He says the Lord, or rather he 
says that the Lord has furnished examples of the destruction of 
his enemies. The Lord provides earnest contenders 
to fight against his enemies. It's interesting, if you look 
at those particulars, you'll see at times there were men involved 
that were doing God's bidding. Just a quick for instance, in 
1 Kings chapter 17, It just comes after chapter 16. And chapter 
16 is a great detailed account of some terrible, horrible, wicked 
kings in the north. Ahab is the last one spoken of 
in chapter 16. Ahab takes idolatry to a level 
that it hadn't been taken to before. And in 1st Kings 17.1, 
guess who shows up? No sort of, hey, I want to introduce 
you to this fellow named Elijah. He has a wife. He had four kids. 
They have goats. They have chickens. Elijah just 
shows up. 1st Kings 17.1. Elijah the Tishbite. Right there. What's God showing 
us or telling us, at least by way of application? That when 
evil flourishes, God has his answers. God has his men. God 
will combat the heretics of the age. Manton had something helpful. He said, every age that hath 
yielded the poison hath also yielded the antidote, that the 
world might not be without a witness. If there hath been an Arius, 
there hath been an Athanasius. If a Pelagius, there is also 
an Augustine. God does protect His church, 
and Jude says He preserves, verse 1, and He keeps them from stumbling 
in that great doxology in verse 24. So the letter does call upon 
us to contend earnestly. The letter does describe what's 
happening in terms of the apostates and unbelieving heretics that 
have plagued the church. The letter doesn't let us despair. 
It doesn't say, go ahead and just freak out and whine and 
cry and don't do anything because these guys are going to win. 
No. God preserves. God's going to keep you from 
stumbling. Be faithful to your God. And before. We move, we 
ought to see what he does with ungodly sinners. Verse 15 is 
a bit of a terrifying verse, isn't it? A lot of ungodly there, 
to execute a judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly 
among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed 
in an ungodly way and of all the harsh things which ungodly 
sinners have spoken against him. See, there is a judgment coming 
and Jude makes sure that we know that. And if you're here this 
morning and you are not a believer in Christ, you need to internalize 
that fact. The world may tell you there 
is no God, there is no Christ, there is no judgment to come, 
there is no soul, there is no eternity, there is only death 
and grave and a sleepless nothing at the end. The Bible everywhere 
tells us that is a lie from the pit. There is an eternity. There is a heaven by grace to 
be won or a hell to be suffered because of a rejection of the 
Lord Jesus Christ. So do not perish with the ungodly 
on the day of judgment, but rather flee to the Lord Jesus Christ 
now to look in faith to him who is altogether lovely and chief 
among 10,000, that one in whom there is both the forgiveness 
of sins and the imputation of his righteousness, and it's received 
by faith alone. Don't continue in your sin and 
rebellion. Don't continue in your unbelief. Verse 15 describes your end if 
you persist in ungodliness. Come to the Lord Jesus and join 
the ranks of those who contend earnestly for the faith which 
was once for all delivered to the saints. Let us close in a 
word of prayer. Father, thank you for your word. 
Thank you for the clarity of Jude's epistle. I pray that you'd 
help us to take these things to heart. Help us to grow in 
the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus. Help us to 
understand the truth so that we may indeed contend earnestly 
for it. I pray for your blessing upon 
all the believers here, that you would uphold each one, that 
you would encourage each one, that all of us together, God, 
would seek to build ourselves up in the most holy faith, to 
pray in the Holy Spirit, to always be looking for the mercy of Jesus 
Christ our Lord. God, give grace to those who 
are unsaved to be saved. Open hearts and give the graces 
of faith and repentance that they may close with the Lord 
Jesus Christ. And go with us now, we pray, 
in his most blessed name. Amen. We'll close with a brief 
time of meditation and then be dismissed.