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you you you you you you welcome to everyone it's good to be back in the house of our god you can turn to psalm 119 for our call to worship psalm 119 we'll start at verse 89. psalm 119 beginning in verse 89 forever o lord your word is settled in heaven your faithfulness endures to all generations you established the earth and it abides they continue this day according to your ordinances for all are your servants unless your law had been my delight i would then have perished in my affliction i will never forget your precepts for by them you have given me life i am yours save me for i have sought your precepts the wicked wait for me to destroy me but i will consider your testimonies i have seen the consummation of all perfection but your commandment is exceedingly broad amen well please turn in your hymn books to psalm 149 psalm 149 be as in bravo and we'll stand as we sing together [Music] is [Music] in [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] glory be [Music] amen well let us pray our father we come again before you tonight and we just bless your great and your awesome name as the apostle says blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in christ jesus we thank you for sovereign grace we thank you for election and predestination we thank you for blood atonement through your son the lord jesus christ and for the power and the efficacy of the holy spirit in taking that finished work by the savior and applying it to your elect god we give praise to you that you've called us out of darkness in the marvelous light to proclaim your excellencies and tonight god as we sing as we pray as we consider the holy scripture may we do so with fear and trembling and with great joy and gratitude for we have been saved by grace through faith in christ jesus our lord and we rejoice in that we ask tonight that you would be exalted and enthroned upon the praises of your people here that your name would be magnified that your kingdom of grace would come through the proclamation of your word we ask as well that your will would be done among us and as well throughout the earth as it is in heaven and we know lord god most high you sustain us and you bless us and you provide us with everything necessary for life and for spiritual truth and and good things that you have given to us and we ask now that you would forgive us for all of our sins and unrighteousness we pray that you would cleanse us afresh and that precious blood of the lamb of god that you would deal with us in your mercy and with your loving kindness and cause us to maintain short accounts with you because as we know the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these two are contrary to one another so god help us in terms of remaining corruption to depend upon the holy spirit to depend upon your grace to acknowledge your handiwork in the conforming of us unto your son and god just help us to resist temptation and help us to pursue holiness without which no man shall see the lord and god our hearts desire and earnest plea is that those who are still dead in their trespasses and sins would be awakened by your powerful voice we read psalm 29 and we stand in amazement at the voice of the lord that is able to crush the cedars of lebanon and we know lord god that if that is the case then certainly the hardened heart of man is no no contest against such a great god so we pray that you would humble sinners under your mighty hand and in your time you would lift them up that you would open eyes and hearts to the reality of sin and to the reality of that gracious savior for sinners and such in the in the case that people would believe on him unto everlasting life we think tonight of our dear brother and sister in honduras we thank you for john and margarita we just commit them to you and pray god that you would sustain them that you would bless them that you would help them to be faithful in terms of ministry in that local body bless the pastors there as they labor in the word and doctrine and bless that congregation and may they know that joy and that thanksgiving at the goodness and the provision of a great and glorious god we thank you for what you're doing in in sorry god it was a great encouragement to see the various new people that have been added to that local church we thank you for the the resource that you've provided and pastor mike we pray that you would continue to bless this young man help him to continue to be faithful and to handle accurately that word of truth and tonight we pray that you'd visit that congregation in particular bless our brother ryan as he fills the pulpit we pray that he would know the presence and the power of the spirit and that you would guide and direct him in terms of preaching the word of truth and calling sinners to repentance and faith and lord bless the work and vernon we pray as well for that work in dryden and god we just acknowledge your loving kindness and we acknowledge the reality that christ is at the right hand of the father on eye and that christ has promised to build his church and that the gates of haiti shall not prevail against it and we pray that as your word goes forth the people of god would be more and more conformed under the image of christ and that more and more people would be saved through the preaching of the gospel of jesus christ our lord we again remember lindsay we just pray for her and her physical health we pray that all would go well in terms of this little one in the womb we also pray for the other ladies that are pregnant we thank you for them and we rejoice in your loving kindness and the kind provision of children as the psalmist says they are a gift given by a gracious god we ask he would bless those in our midst that are not well physically we just pray god in heaven that though the outer man decays day by day that inner man would be renewed and that they would know the joy of the lord even on their bed of affliction and they would rejoice at the reality that when all is said and done there's nothing that can separate us from the love of god which is in christ jesus our lord may this be a great encouragement to them and may they find great joy and delight in the lord god most high and father thank you again for this time that we can gather together we pray now that you would continue with us as we worship you in spirit and in truth and we pray through jesus christ our lord amen well please turn with me again in your hymn books to 560 5 6 0 we'll stand as we sing together [Music] uh [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] and then [Music] is [Music] is [Music] well you can turn with me in your bibles to exodus chapter 36 exodus chapter 36 in the construction phase of the tabernacle detailed instructions are giving given beginning in chapter 25 as i mentioned last week quoting ralph davis the god of the bush in exodus 3 the god of the mount exodus 19 is as well the god of the tent that we find in terms of his dwelling with his people so beginning in chapter 36 at verse 1 and bates allele and a holy ab and every gifted artisan in whom the lord has put wisdom and understanding to know how to do all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary shall do according to all that the lord had commanded has commanded then moses called bates hillel and a holy ab and every gifted artisan in whose heart the lord had put wisdom everyone whose heart was stirred to come and do the work and they received from moses all the offering which the children of israel making uh which the children of israel had brought for the work of the service of making the sanctuary so they continued bringing to him free will offerings every morning then all the craftsmen who were doing all the work of the sanctuary came each from the work he was doing and they spoke to moses saying the people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which the lord commanded us to do so moses gave a commandment and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp saying that neither man nor woman do any more work for the offering of the sanctuary and the people were restrained from bringing for the material they had was sufficient for all the work to be done indeed too much then all the gifted artisans among them who worked on the tabernacle made ten curtains woven of fine linen and of blue purple and scarlet thread with artistic designs of cherubim they made them the length of each curtain was 28 cubits and the width of each curtain four cubits the curtains were all the same size and he coupled five curtains to one another and the other five curtains he coupled to one another he made loops of blue yarn on the edge of the curtain on the selvage of the of one set likewise he did on the outer edge of the other curtain of the second set 50 loops he made on one curtain and 50 loops he made on the edge of the curtain on the end of the second set the loops held one curtain to another and he made 50 clasps of gold and coupled the curtains to one another with the clasps that he might be one tabernacle he made curtains of goat's hair for the tent over the tabernacle he made 11 curtains the length of each curtain was 30 cubits and the width of each curtain four cubits the 11 curtains were the same size he coupled five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves and he made 50 loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in one set and 50 loops he made on the edge of the curtain of the second set he also made 50 bronze clasps to couple this the tent together that it might be one then he made a covering for the tent of ram skins dyed red and a covering of badger skins above that for the tabernacle he made boards of acacia wood standing upright the length of each board was 10 cubits and the width of each board a cubit and a half each board had two tenants for binding one to another thus he made for all the boards of the tabernacle and he made boards for the tabernacle 20 boards for the south side 40 sockets of silver he made to go under the 20 boards two two sockets under each of the boards for its two tenants and for the other side of the tabernacle the north side he made 20 boards and there are 40 sockets of silver two sockets under each of the boards for the west side of the tabernacle he made six boards he also made two boards for the two back corners of the tabernacle and they were coupled at the bottom and coupled together at the top by one ring thus he made both of them for the two corners so there were eight boards and their sockets 16 sockets of silver two sockets under each of the boards and he made bars of acacia wood five for the boards on one side of the tabernacle five bars for the boards on the other side of the tabernacle and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle on the far side westward and he made the middle bar to pass through the boards from one end to the other he overlaid the boards with gold made their rings of gold to be holders for the bars and overlaid the bars with gold and he made a veil of blue purple and scarlet thread and fine woven linen it was worked with an artistic design of cherubim he made for it four pillars of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold with their hooks of gold and he cast four sockets of silver for them he also made a screen for the tabernacle door a blue purple and scarlet thread and fine woven linen made by a weaver and its five pillars and their hooks and he overlaid their capitals and their rings with gold but their five sockets were bronze amen well i think we see something here and at the construction of the temple under solomon concerning the greatness and the glory of god the people of god acknowledged that by willingly giving of their own resources in fact they had given too much that's not because they had to have the best and brightest among the nations around them though that's not far removed they wanted to honor and glorify god and if god is in fact the living and true god and it was the custom amongst the ancient near eastern peoples to have temples to have tabernacles they're not going to cheap out when it comes to yahweh they're going to give and they're going to get profusely and when god gives instruction in terms of the tabernacle he is not giving them leeway to innovate or be creative they are simply to be obedient and does well notice that the spirit of god doesn't simply come upon the priests doesn't simply come upon the prophets doesn't simply come upon those who we might be believe are engaged in full a full-time christian ministry the spirit of god comes upon these artisans comes upon batsalel and aholia they are given wisdom from on high to be able to execute this activity for the glory of god so the spirit is conspicuously poured out upon these men they are gifted by god for the work of construction such that when they engage in service there it does be uh bespeak of the glory of israel's god well let us pray our father we thank you for your word we see the emphasis on details relative to christian worship and we pray that you would help us to be reminded in this new covenant era that we are to be obedient as well in terms of what scripture commands with reference to our approach to god in public worship we thank you also lord god most high that this these things typified and pointed forward and foreshadowed new covenant reality christ is the reason for the tabernacle and then temple he is the antitype for which these things were existent and we give praise to you that we live at the time of these realities and that we know that christ is the one in whom we have redemption through his blood and in whom we have communion with god most high and we praise you in his glorious name amen well for our final hymn before the preaching you can turn to 543 hymn number 543 will stand as we sing together [Music] bye [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] is well you can turn in your bibles to the book of jude the book of jude the second to the last book in the new testament a passage that we have looked at in the past and one that i thought would go well with last sunday night's message in terms of the ministry of the word tonight we'll consider the defense of the faith from jude 3 but i do want to read the book beginning in verse 1. jude a bond servant 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 in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day as sodom and gomorrah in 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 don 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 thank you for the written word of the living and true god thank you for this brief epistle of jude but the great content that it has for us in the church today will you provide for us the holy spirit now would you guide us as we consider this this text and may you encourage and strengthen each of our hearts and cause us to contend earnestly for this faith which was once for all delivered to the saints and we ask this in the name of our lord jesus christ amen well there was a theologian in the early part of the 20th century his name was john gressom machete and he made this observation concerning the church he said in the first place a true christian church now as always will be radically doctrinal it will never say that doctrine is the expression of experience it will never confuse the useful with the true but will place truth at the basis of all its striving and all its life into the welter and that simply means confusion or turmoil into the welter of changing human opinion into the modern despair with regard to any knowledge of the meaning of life it will come with a clear and imperious message that message it will find in the bible which it will hold to contain not a record of man's religious experience but a record of a revelation from god and he was in fact an earnest contender for the faith and he did great service to the church of the living god well as we look at verse 3 i want to consider not just first verse 3 but several verses here in the book of jude we'll notice in the first place 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 17 20 21 and then 24 and 25. i'll review that as we move through the exposition but notice in the first place the exhortation to contend for the faith in verse 3. notice the addresses verse 1 jude a bond servant of jesus christ and brother of james to those who are called sanctified by god the father and preserved in jesus christ how do we typically describe or define or how do we typically understand people that are described as called sanctified by god the father and preserved in jesus christ we call them christians we call them believers we might also call them saints not in the roman catholic sense but in the biblical sense a saint is a sanctified one set apart by god for holy purpose and holy use in other words jude is addressing the people of god he is not simply addressing pastors he is not simply addressing seminary professors he's not simply addressing the men in the church who like to read theology when he says in verse 3 beloved he means every single christian he means every cer every single one baptized every single one that owns christ as lord and savior turn back for just a moment to first peter chapter three you see a similar emphasis in peter's first epistle the same thing is true in this passage it has to do with a defense of the faith as well it's addressed not to just the professors not to just the pastors but to every christian if you notice in first peter 3 15 but sanctify the lord god in your hearts he's not now saying i don't want the rest of the church to listen now i'm just going to speak to the bishops i'm just going to address the pastors i'm just going to address the elders no he's still addressing those he identifies in first peter chapter one at verse one to the pilgrims of the dispersion in pontus galatia cappadocia asia and bithynia elect according to the foreknowledge of god the father in sanctification of the spirit for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of jesus christ so back to 3 15 he says 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 so going back to jude we see a similar emphasis this isn't just the task of gospel ministry this is the task of everybody who is in the church of christ now certainly in terms of god's provision of gift of of grace and those sorts of things there will be others perhaps that are a bit more equipped to do this but the idea being is that every believer must at all times be ready to give a reason for the hope that is within him and in the language of jude we are to be able to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints so the addressees concern all of us not just the ministry and then notice the exhortation proper jude sets off to write them a letter concerning their common salvation he says that in verse 3 at the very beginning while i was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation i wanted to write concerning god i wanted to write concerning the depravity of man i wanted to write concerning the doctrine of justification by faith alone i wanted to deal and trafficking those things most surely believed among us i wanted to celebrate redemptive grace and all of its facets in the lives of god's people he wanted to do that but necessity driven drove him in a different direction and we see that emphasis there in verse three while i was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation i found it necessary in other words there is a threat looming on the horizon it's an imminent threat as we'll learn later in verse 4 because of the threat that exists i'm not going to wax eloquent on the doctrine of salvation in general rather i'm going to give you this specific exhortation 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 now in terms of the responsibility of the believer in the first place he must contend earnestly and i've said it applies to all so it's not just he but he there is inclusive ladies it is a he and a she so the believer must contend earnestly one common dictionary defines it this way to exert intense effort on behalf of something to contend it's a good english translation john gill says it denotes a conflict a combat or a fighting for it a striving even to an agony turn back to first timothy chapter one you see a similar emphasis from paul there to timothy in in verse 18. he says this charge i command to you son timothy according to the prophecies previously made concerning you that by them you may wage the good warfare so it's not simply an exchange of ideas it's not simply a dialogue it's not simply a fireside chat but rather you're to contend earnestly but then notice what jude goes on to say the believer must not only contend earnestly but he must contend earnestly for the faith now in this context for the faith doesn't mean the believers subjective hold on christ it doesn't mean my belief that jesus is in fact the lord and savior so i'm going to contend earnestly for that no in this context especially since the article is there it indicates that it's the objective faith in other words it is the content of christian revelation it is the 31 000 plus propositions that we find in the old and new testament that the believer must contend earnestly for faith is taken for sound doctrine thomas manton writes 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 so when you ponder manton's quote and when you contemplate the context and when you see what jude is emphasizing along with 1st peter 3 and along with the apostle paul and along with the rest of the apostles and along with the lord jesus himself you see that there is an inherent necessity on the part of the people of god to preserve what they have so they can multiply it and pass it down to a future generation and gordon clark makes the observation that christianity is not a romantic religion where feeling an emotion suffice nor is it an aesthetic religion where faith and sermons are unnecessary christianity is a definite faith 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 jude wants his hearers he wants his readers he wants his addressees and by extension he wants each and every one of us to contend earnestly for the faith again not my hold on jesus but rather what the bible says concerning the system of truth that we call christianity notice as well the believer must contend earnestly for the faith he goes on to say which was once for all delivered to the saints it was once for all delivered to the saints another argument here for what is called cessationism we don't look for new revelation now that the canon of scripture is closed we don't need private revelations we don't need tongue speakers in the church we don't need prophets in the guise of or prophets in the understanding that they are receiving a direct word from the lord no this faith was delivered once for all to the saints and when the language or what the language suggests is that it's a rich deposit given to the people of god and it demands our guarding of it go back to ii timothy chapter two second timothy chapter two a similar emphasis there by paul to his protege second timothy chapter two specifically at verse 13. holy i'm sorry first second timothy 1 verse 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 the emphasis by the apostle i have passed this on to you not so you can squander it not so you can abuse it not so you can change it not so you can be innovative but rather so that you can hold fast rather so that you can guard it rather so that you can keep the deposit that has been entrusted to you drop down to ver chapter 2 at verse 1. you therefore my son be strong in the grace that is in christ jesus and the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also the idea ought to be very clear the idea ought to be very evident the church was not to cease in the first century the church was to continue on throughout the centuries until christ returns again in glory so jude says contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints again listen to thomas manton he 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 in other words we want our children and our children's children and our children's children's children and you get the idea going down the generational path to have this faith that was once for all delivered to the saints it is a resource a treasure a great gift given by god to the church and it is our responsibility not only to own it not only to rejoice in it not only to benefit from it but to guard and to retain and to pass on in all of its beauty john gill says by them the 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 there is no alteration to be made in it or addition to it no new revelations are to be expected that is accurate that is faithful exposition that is faithful guarding of the truth and contending earnestly for it it's a rich resource given by god to the church that we're not to waste and with reference to this very practically the believer must know the faith in order to be able to condemn earnestly for it in other words laziness in the christian church is not an option this idea well the pastor and the guys who like to read theology and and those other people that are really spiritual they'll go ahead and they'll contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints remember jude's addresses beloved those who are saved those who have been blessed those who have been called out of darkness in a marvelous light to proclaim his excellencies and to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints you must know that faith in order to contend for it go back again to ii peter chapter 3 this time ii peter chapter 3 verse 17 you therefore beloved since you know this beforehand beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness being led away with the error of the wicked but grow in the grace and knowledge of our lord and savior jesus christ to him be glory of the glory both now and forever amen grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our lord and savior jesus christ one of the imperatives relative to the first and foremost command is to love god with the mind how do we love god with our mind it's by taking the mind and bringing it to the scripture and getting instruction it is by knowing the truths of christianity it is by identifying properly good exegesis good hermeneutics applying that to scripture and uncovering the meaning of the text that the holy spirit put in there such that we not only benefit from it salvifically but we also contend earnestly for it as those who have been blessed by god and put into a position of great joy and it is our great joy to be able to contend earnestly for that faith and then one final observation concerning the believer's responsibility the believer must and this is a quote from manton 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 this is so valuable it is so excellent it is so wonderful we're not to renege on it we're not to be willing to give it up we're not to be willing to say well it's not that big of a deal if we don't have an accurate doctrine of god it's not that big of a deal if we add a few works to the scheme of justification it's not that big of a no it's always a big deal samuel miller an 18 1800s presbyterian made this observation the church has to fight for every inch of ground that's true isn't it the church has to fight for every inch of ground why is that why is it the case that the church has to fight for every inch of ground why don't the elks club why don't the lions club why don't other social institutions have to fight for every inch of ground because they don't have enemies like we do we have a a a devil who roams about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour we have a devil who's who's the father of lies and deception the truth of god just just drives him mad we've got our own remaining corruption we've got a world that we live in of course if the church is going to maintain doctrinal fidelity she's going to have to do it through fighting and not physical fighting i'm not advocating you know guns and knives and and flak jackets and helmets and all that sort of thing spiritual warfare the weapons of our warfare are not carnal paul says in corinthians but they are mighty for the pulling down of strongholds and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of christ back to miller 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 under sin but to contend no more is to disregard the command of her master in heaven and betray his cause to the enemy now that's pretty strong language but when you ponder the implication of passages like these it is consistent language it is not given the ball hasn't been given to us to fumble and to lose the ball hasn't been given to us to throw interceptions the ball has been given to us to advance down the field to put it in the end zone we have been entrusted by god with this sacred deposit of divine truth and jude comes along to tell us as the beloved of jesus to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints now notice secondly the reason given to contend for the faith we see that in verse 4. the problem is from within now in the bible you'll see that the people of god are often times confronted by enemies from without israel had their philistines israel had their hivites israel had their hittites but there's also problems from within israel had her ahabs israel had her manassas israel had awakens israel had her threat from within so as jude writes he tells the people of god to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints not because the beastly civil government has encroached upon you and is trying to take it away revelation 13 essentially says that but here in jude the ins the specific instance of threat are apostates it is persons within the professing church that have wreaked havoc upon her notice he describes these apostates in the first place he says they are sneaking he says in verse 4 for certain men have crept in unnoticed they don't come to the door of the church and say guess what i'm a heretic i want to bring everybody up into the fellowship hall and i want to propagate error i want to deny the deity of jesus i want to deny the doctrine of justification by faith i want to deny the triunity of god i want to lead you astray and take you down to hell that's not typically their way if the devil is the father of lies and works through deception those physical representatives of him on earth are going to work by deception also so they are sneaky for certain men have crept in unnoticed turn back to matthew 7. jesus highlights the same sort of situation matthew chapter 7 at verse 15. beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing they don't dress up like wolves they don't bear their fangs they don't look like those mangy beasts that are destined to tear you apart he says beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly they are ravenous wolves how are we supposed to spot them jesus verse 16 you will know them by their fruits do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles even so every good tree bears good fruit but a bad tree bears bad fruit as well turn to second corinthians chapter 11. just to underscore that these men they creep in unnoticed they are sneaky men and because they are sneaky men you need to understand the truth and you need to contend earnestly for it such that if these sneaky men breach the gates and end up in your midst you're going to be able to refute them and you're able to contradict that notice in second corinthians chapter uh uh chapter 11 and verses 13 to 15 well verse 12 but what i do i will also continue to do that i may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast for such are false apostles deceitful workers transforming themselves into the upon into apostles of christ and no wonder for satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness whose end will be according to their works boy i wish there was a way we could actually know whether they're true or not there is it's called the bible it's called understanding the christian faith it's called understanding the truth of doctrine it's called being able to recognize when a wolf stands in a pulpit and preaches justification by faith plus words you have a written guide to be able to expose those men and to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all con delivered to the saints you see it in second timothy 3. we looked at that passage several weeks ago and then titus chapter 1 as well so back to jude 4 certain men have created crept in unnoticed they are sneaky secondly he says they are ungodly they are ungodly men is what jude tells us concerning these persons paul tells us in first timothy chapter 6 at verse 13 that the truth accords to godliness so ergo we have an ungodly man what does that usually tell us about his doctorate now certainly there are inconsistencies certainly the best of men are men at best certainly those who have by grace receive the truth have remaining corruption they still have a susceptibility to proneness to wander and pronounce to leave the god they love we don't call them ungodly men we don't call people that are struggling with their sin ungodly men but when we have ungodly men we can typically trace it back to the fount of ungodly doctrine and when we have that we are able to see that we're dealing with an apostate notice thirdly they are perverters of the grace of god verse 4 certain men have crept in unnoticed they're sneaky who long ago were marked out for this condemnation ungodly men there's the ungodliness who turn the grace of god into lewdness and deny the only lord god and our lord jesus christ go back to romans chapter 3 for just a moment romans chapter 3 at verse 7 for if the truth of god has increased through my life to his glory why am i also still judged as a sinner and why not say let us do good that or do evil that good may come as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say their condemnation is just most likely this was an argument against paul's doctrine of justification by faith alone you see more of that in chapter 6 at verse 1. what shall we say then shall we continue in sin that grace may abound certainly not how shall we who died to sin live any longer in it so going back to jude 4 this idea of turning the grace of god into lewdness probably means something that the apostle is countering that had been leveled against him this idea that grace may abound or that we continue in sin that grace may abound there were probably persons that actually thought that way they thought this is a wonderful arrangement this gospel of jesus christ god loves to forgive sin and i love to sin this is a wonderful thing so i'm just going to go out and sin and trust in the mercy of god that is turning the grace of god into lewdness it is to distort it it is to twist it the gospel never frees men up to sin but the gospel always restrains men from sin why because those justified freely by grace are sanctified by the power of the holy spirit so they are perverters of the grace of god and then finally in jude 4 they deny the lord jesus christ they deny the only lord god and our lord jesus christ turn over to ii john ii john specifically at verse 7 for many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess jesus christ is coming in the flesh this is a deceiver and an antichrist look to yourselves that we do not lose those things we work for but that we may receive a full reward whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of christ does not have god he who abides in the doctrine of christ has both the father and the son john deals with a denial of jesus he does so here and he does so as well in first john let me give you a hint i think that's what antichrist has to do with was a christological heresy that called into question the bible's teaching concerning specifically the hypostatic union of our lord jesus christ john calvin made the observation christ is denied whenever those things which peculiarly belong to him are taken away from him that is a very simple and a very excellent description what does it mean to deny christ whenever those things which peculiarly belong to him are taken away from him his humanity his divinity his atoning work all those things that are unique to the son of god who came down for us men and for our salvation so it shouldn't surprise us that these sneaky ungodly perverters of the grace of god are those who deny the lord jesus christ himself now before we leave this particular head notice the the assurance that jude gives see jude doesn't write contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints because everything is miserable because everything is horrible because the church is going to lose i think at times the church functions or operates under the mindset that we're going to lose one dispensationalist famously said why polish the brass on a sinking ship well if that's your mindset brethren then go you know sit on the top of mount shaman and just wait for jesus to return jude is not writing in a pessimistic spirit jude is not saying oh these apostates they're going to overtake the church oh these apostates are going to destroy the church they can never do so christ has promised to build his church and the gates of hades itself shall not prevail against it so what jude does in the next section is assure us the beloved who are called to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints that the church is going to win in other words we're on the winning team we're gonna get the ball to the end zone we're gonna make it by god's grace for god's glory as far as those pesky apostates are concerned god's gonna deal with them the way that he dealt with unbelieving israel after he brings them out of egypt he has to destroy a great multitude of them in the wilderness because of their unbelief god is going to deal with these apostates that way according to verse 5. as well god's going to deal with these apostates the way that god dealt with the fallen angels the fallen angels didn't ruin creation the fallen angels didn't win the fallen angels aren't victorious notice what he says concerning the fallen angels in verse six the angels who did not keep their own their proper domain but left their own abode he has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day see there's not only a command given to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints but it's surrounded by encouragement that god will not let you fail he's not going to let you go out and fight for his truth and let you fail miserably as far as the apostates or concerns god's got them so it's like israel in their unbelief whom he destroys verse 5 it's like the fallen angels verse 6 who is reserved for judgment unto that day but as well it's like sodom and gomorrah in the cities of the plain and the overthrow that they knew verse 7 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 so brethren buck up be encouraged understand christ is at the right hand of the father you're not going to fail you may fail miserably from time to time in terms of your faithful witness you may get caught up at times by someone who perhaps knows a bit more than you that happens that's the way it goes that's the ebb and flow in terms of the battlefield but with reference to the war christ has secured the victory and we ought not to forget that but as well the apostates themselves notice in verse 4 for certain men have crept in on notice now notice that next clause who long ago were marked out for this condemnation they're not operating operating untethered they're not renegades or mavericks they're not sort of a glitch in the system god's sovereign brethren remember that he knows the end from the beginning he has decreed whatsoever comes to pass for his own glory at times these apostates creep into the church for good purpose for good reason first corinthians chapter 11 paul highlights heresy in the church as having a remedial effect having remedial benefit so that those who are approved among you may be evident so even in this god's got it so with reference to these apostates and the threat that they pose they may affect a church or some churches at the local church level but they'll never dethrone christ and they'll never stop the onward march of christ's church because he will build it and the gates of haiti shall not prevail against it and then finally notice the preparedness of those who contend for the faith in other words judas giving us an altogether sufficient manual in terms of contending for the faith here's how here's what you're supposed to do here's why you're supposed to do it and here's how you're supposed to do it he doesn't leave you uneducated he doesn't leave you to your own resources he doesn't lead you leave you to try and figure out well how do i contend for the faith he gives us two bits of exhortation in the first place he says we have a duty to remember look at verse 17. but you beloved remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our lord jesus christ they didn't leave you without warning they didn't leave you without instruction jude is taking his place right alongside of them they are telling us what we must be aware of in terms of the threat to the church of jesus christ remember the word spoken by the apostles of our lord jesus it should put you on guard again not a hyper-suspicious attitude where some brother or a sister makes a an unguarded statement and your eyebrow goes up and and your heresy you know uh uh detector goes off it and you start to pray god grant them repentance and bring them to faith and no brethren we're not supposed to be hyper suspicious but man when the heretics walk into the church and assume positions of of responsibility behind pulpits i'd like to think our heresy detectors would have gone off a long time ag ago so notice he tells us where to remember and it's not just the apostles of our lord jesus but it's jesus himself matthew 7 we just looked at matthew 16. he be he cautions his disciples against the leaven of sadducees revelation 2 and 3. christ by the spirit writing to the pastors of the churches telling them to be on the lookout for these heritage for these people that will creep in unnoticed ungodly men who are deniers of christ and those who pervert the gospel of our lord jesus but you see it in paul we see it in the book of acts we see it in the pastoral epistles we see it in peter first peter 3 we've looked at second peter 2 verses 1 to 3 and then the apostle john emphasizes this in first john 4 1-6 and then that bit in second john 6 to 11. so jude tells us to remember to be on your guard to be on the lookout to realize that as good as christian fellowship is as wonderful a privilege as corporate worship is we still need to maintain vigilance in terms of who comes in among us to make sure that we don't sacrifice or we don't uh capitulate with reference to the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints so we are to remember but then notice secondly the command to keep ourselves in the love of god verses 20 to 21. now i want to explain a bit of grammar because i think it helps us to understand verses 20 and 21. there is one command and that command comes at the beginning of verse 21. it says keep yourselves in the love of god more on that in just a moment but here's the grammar so you've got a command or an imperative keep yourselves in the love of god but surrounding that command is what's called participles kids you can explain that to your parents when you get home tonight so participles are used by jude to flesh out the manner by which we comply with the command you see a similar convention in ephesians 5. you can turn there it's good for us to understand what these authors are doing they're not only giving us commands but they're telling us how to fulfill the command ephesians 5 at verse 18. do not be drunk with wine and which is dissipation here comes the command but be filled with the spirit well how do we be filled with the spirit or what does it look like when we're filled with the spirit well here come the participles speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing and making melody in your heart to the lord giving thanks always for all things to god the father in the name of our lord jesus christ submitting to one another in the fear of god notice be filled with the spirit by speaking in tongues no by prophesying no by healing people no it is very regular it is very ordinary it is very normal how the spirit works in his people in the new covenant church so back to jude 20 and 21 so keep yourselves in the love of god that is the command and notice that he tells us as contenders for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints that before we actually guard the fence we need to guard our own hearts we need to make sure everything is right and tight inwardly keep yourselves in the love of god we'll see how he calls us to comply with that in just a moment but keep yourselves in the love of god manton says we are born pelagians libertines and papists we need to watch our own heart now when we look at that command keep yourselves in the love of god the idea that i jim you whoever keep yourselves in god's love is not what the text is saying our confession rightly reflecting upon that statement that god is without pageants describes god as most loving god is most loving to his people that means he doesn't increase he doesn't diminish god is love and that love showered upon his people remains the same so the idea with jude is not keep yourselves in the love of god keep doing those things that makes him love you no the idea is is that the believer continually recognizes god's love for him keep yourselves in that disposition and mindset wherein you ponder the great love that god has for you when all is said and done not just relative to contending for the faith but with reference to a comfortable and happy christian life doesn't a lot depend upon this to reflect upon the reality that that god loves me that jesus loved me and gave himself for me isn't that the impetus on certain days to get you out of bed isn't that the impetus at certain times to keep you persevering not some thought that i've got to earn god's love but the reality and the conviction that god does love me god loves me so much that he gave his only begotten son christ has secured redemptive benefit for me he has blessed me with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in christ he has dumped this on me he has be graced me isn't that the position of comfort and stability that every believer needs that every believer should have again not just when it comes to condemning for the faith but for persevering in the christian life for conducting ourselves one to another so the believer continually recognizes god's love for him he does this by reading his bible he does this by praying and this incidentally is what jude says in terms of the manner of compliance so keep yourselves verse 21 in the love of god let's look at the manner of compliance in verse 20 but you beloved building yourselves up on your most holy faith how do we keep ourselves in the love of god how do we keep ourselves conscious of god's love for us it is by building ourselves up in our most holy faith that's jude's way of saying read your bible that's jude's way of saying get your face in the book that's jude's way of saying contemplate the great love wherewith he loved you you're going to learn it from the book of god notice secondly a means of compliance on keeping ourselves in the love of god the end of verse 20 praying in the holy spirit see this isn't rocket science brethren you say well how can i contend earnestly for the faith it was once for all delivered to the saints understand the faith remember there's going to be threat to it and keep yourselves in the love of god do that by building yourself up on your most holy faith read scripture praying in the holy spirit be persons of prayer be people at the throne of grace this is the best preparedness for those who would enter into the battle to contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints and then notice hope concerning the mercy of christ the end of verse 21 looking for the mercy of our lord jesus christ unto eternal life guilt makes this observation he says it refers to the future and i think he's right and 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 so the idea is is that we have this future orientation we live in light of eternal blessing we live in light of heaven to come that's how we keep ourselves in the love of god by building ourselves up in the most holy faith reading the bible by praying in the holy spirit praying by having that hope that is focused upon the reality of the second coming of our lord jesus christ wherein he will judge the living and the dead titus 2 13 points in this direction as paul there says looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great god and savior jesus christ but then the final emphasis emphasis it's not ultimately on us contend earnestly do so by remembering do so by keeping yourself in the love of god but the ultimate foundation for our assurance the ultimate foundation for our comfort the ultimate foundation for our stability is found in the doxology in verses 24 and 25. notice 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 so certainly we're to use the means we're to engage the enemy we're to understand the apostates creeping in in a in a sneaky way we're too ex engage in remembrance of what our our blessed brothers in the faith have taught us and told us concerning these encroaching threats we're to do so by uh uh keeping ourselves in the love of god through building ourselves up in our most holy faith praying in the spirit looking for that mercy of christ but understand ultimately the one who keeps you is not you the one who keeps you is not you the one who keeps you is god and i think this is a wonderful book and to the introduction or rather the greetings in the epistle look back at jude 1 to those who are called sanctified by god the father and preserved in jesus christ he ends with that preservation in jesus christ verse 24 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 just in a couple of quick thoughts in terms of some application i hope the sermon as a whole was applicatory but there are recurring attacks on the christian faith i don't think that's a a tough proposition to argue for i think you see it out there i think you see it when it happens and we need to be mindful of that but we always need to make a distinction brethren between that which is damnable heresy and that which is perhaps an intramural debate i've said it before you can be an all-millennialist a post-millennialist or a pre-millennialist and end up in heaven you cannot be a denier of the trinity you cannot be a denier of the hypostatic union of christ you cannot be a denier of justification by faith alone and end up well there is a hierarchy in terms of doctrine and those things most surely believed among us manton 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 and then territon says so some articles of faith are primary and immediate and listen to what he says in terms of illustration as the articles concerning the trinity christ the mediator justification in other words contending earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints doesn't mean that every single day on facebook you are arguing vehemently for post-millennialism i mean you may want to do that you're not going to have many friends after that but the the idea isn't that that is an article upon which the church stands or falls justification is christ the mediator is the trinity is those are the doctrines that we must have in view in terms of contending earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints now i think churches are best served when they agree upon a lot of doctrines our confession of faith deals with 32 heads 32 chapters 32 particular topics that is good but notice there's not 62. there's not a hundred and two there are things that christians can disagree upon and still maintain camaraderie still maintain brotherhood still maintain unity and still march to zion in blessed harmony but when it comes to a threat to who god is to who the mediator is or to who or what justification is those are the times when the church needs to get serious about contending earnestly secondly the encouragement of jude's letter he builds on jesus statement in matthew 16. he doesn't write in a vacuum he doesn't write as if jesus never declared that he would build his church and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it so he understands consciously that jesus is in this to win it secondly he furnishes examples of the destruction of his enemies we may not see it now we may not see it in our lifetime but we will see all of the enemies of christ ultimately excluded from the new jerusalem that much we can rest in third the lord provides earnest contenders to fight against his enemies it is again for every christian all of the beloved are to contend earnestly for the faith but praise god that in the history of the church he gave us a matron praise god that in the history of the church he gave us enaphanatius praise god that in the history of the church he gave us a cyril of alexandria praise god that he gave us the nice seen creep praise god that he gave us those who contended earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints mountain says every age that hath yielded the poison has also yielded the antidote that the world might not be without a witness if there has been an arius there has been an athanasius if a pelagius there is also an augustine and then finally the lord preserves his people and the lord ultimately keeps us from stumbling and in that we join with jude in singing and praising god with that doxology to god our savior who alone is wise be glory and majesty dominion and power both now and forever amen let us pray father thank you for warning us thank you for instructing us and informing us in terms of what the threats are facing the church of the lord jesus and we know that as jesus advances the church by his truth that one of the greatest threats is an attack upon or assaults upon that truth and lord god i pray that we would understand the christian faith that we would understand what scripture says concerning you concerning the mediation of christ concerning the doctrine of justification those things necessary for life and salvation and god help us in our spheres to contend earnestly for it to fight the good fight to wage the good warfare to do so independence upon the holy spirit and give us all grace to keep ourselves in the love of god building ourselves up on our most holy faith praying in the spirit looking forward to that coming mercy of our lord jesus at his second coming i ask now that you would go with each one of us cause your face to shine upon us may we know your nearness as our good and we pray through jesus christ our lord amen we'll close with a brief time of meditation you