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Jude Session 1 (Verses 1-4) - Chuck Missler

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welcome to our study of the book of jude

this little tiny book that's almost the vestibule

vestibule

to the book of revelation written by one

of the four

half-brothers of jesus christ himself

and it's full

of mysteries you probably didn't even

know existed

illusions that we find nowhere else

and it's a book that you will find

entertaining as well as provocative in

terms of its insights

we hope you enjoy this [Music]

we're going to undertake a study

of the epistle by jude

i have wanted to do this book for a long

time frankly out of mischief

there is so much spooky weird

stuff in the how in 25 verses

you could cram so many mysteries and

enigmas and stuff

fascinates me but the real reason i'm

taking it on

suggesting we dig into this is because

as i

really understand the epistle it's written

written

for us today

it's a very very unusual book with a

very very timely message

the acts of the apostles was the

beginning of the church

jude is the acts of the apostates it's

written for the end times

for the end of the church era

and so it's an interesting book in terms

of its illusions

we're going to go to the dawn of human

history we're going to be

going all the way through eden through the

the

ancient early stages of israel's history

we'll be talking about princes and

prophets of saints and sinners

we'll be talking everything from the

eternal fires to the everlasting

darkness and strange ways that you

probably have

not seen in the scripture unless you're

a very diligent student

about past judgments of strange beings

and future glory we're going to travel

in the unseen world and see

and deal with angels

that apparently got involved in some

bizarre happenings we're going to

that's going to take us of course into

genesis 6.

it's going to take us into well some

really creepy areas this is really a

halloween series i suspect

um we're also going to study a dispute

between the archangel michael and the

former cherub that covereth

a guy by the name of satan and how they

disputed of all bizarre things

over the body of moses jude flips that

off like you all knew what he was

talking about

and uh i used to believe that you

couldn't really deal with the book of

jude without getting into the apocrypha

there's a book called the book of enoch

in fact there are several of them and

there's the assumption of moses in a

bunch of strange books and we'll deal

with that when we get there so

the the study of jude is going to take

us into some

strange traffic now the other irony of

the book of jude fascinating as it is

it's neglected

you know how many of you've been to a

bible study in the book of jude you know

i've been a christian for you have okay

good i

i've been a christian for a long time

and have not been to a you know study

per se

of this folks in the book of jude it's

also interesting as i study the commentaries

commentaries

you can get 25 volume sets of

commentaries that have maybe three pages

on the book of jude you can go through

some of the most venerated commentaries

and it's amazing how little

they have on this very very unusual book

so it's

all all that having been said it's a

book of some substantial neglect

now you know my style we generally go at

a chapter

a week and uh that would you know

so i have threatened to yeah

i've threatened to make this a a verse a

week it won't be quite that bad but

we're not going to finish i give you

first of all you can

relax we're not going to complete the

book of jude tonight

so one chapter book of 25 verses

we'll do more than a verse tonight but

probably not a lot better

okay the epistle of jude first of all why

why

take the book of jude well i mentioned a

couple of things the beginning of the

church you might call the acts of the apostles

apostles

the subtitle to jude might be the acts

of the apostates

we're going to talk about what apostasy

is how it happened in the past

and how we can anticipate prophetically

the great

apostasy before the lord just before the

lord comes

in fact the lord poses the rhetorical

question when the lord returns will he

find faith on the earth

or talk about that we're also

one reason the book seemed particularly timely

timely

there is a specific heresy

that's emerging throughout the body of christ

christ

it's happening in the charismatic

movement it's happening in the fundamentalist

fundamentalist

movement it's happening in the

apologetic level and at the

grassroots level it is involving some of

the most

distinguished leadership in america and

secretly many of the leaders in the

so-called christian church in america secretly

secretly

espouse a doctrine that is

not only a heresy but maybe laying the

very philosophical foundation

for the great tribulation and we'll talk

about that

the timeliness of this and what's going

on is

one of the motives uh

into undertaking this book at this time

we're going to study a book that has a

message for you and i personally

and a book that has a message i believe

to the believing body

uniquely to the euro that we live in

right now and so those are the

those are assertions to challenge you

those of you that are taking notes i

will of course

indulge what probably is becoming my trademark

trademark

in the upper right hand corner of your

notepad put acts 17 11. it'll never be

more important than in this series

acts 17 11 is essentially where luke

tells you not to believe anything chuck

missler tells you

but to search the scriptures daily to

prove whether those things are so

jude by the way is the only book that's

devoted virtually entirely

to the subject of apostasy and in luke

18 8

jesus says shall the son of man find

faith on the earth a very interesting

rhetorical question

we might just pause here and take a look

a little we talk about apostasy it's

apostasy it's a word that gets kicked

around a bit let's look at a couple not

a lot but a few of these critical

passages turn with 2nd thessalonians

chapter 2. it's very hard to hit some of

these references without spending an

evening on them because there's so much background

background

that's so visible but the particular

verse i would like to focus on

there's chapter 2 thessalonians 2 is a

classic chapter

among students of prophecy because it's

full of all kinds of insights some of

them quite technical

i'll try to sidestep those for tonight

and just focus on verse 3

where paul tells the thessalonians let

no man

deceive you by any means

for that day shall not come

except there come a falling away an apostasy

apostasy

first and that man of sin be revealed

the son of perdition

and then he goes on and talks about the

antichrist in a lot of ways

and i'm using the term antichrist in the

colloquial sense

your sophisticated students know that

that's not one of his titles he has 50

titles that ain't one of them but it's

the one everybody uses so

you know who i mean but the main point

is an apostasy precedes the end times

it's associated

it sets the stage for this leader to emerge

emerge

so 2nd thessalonians 2 is a key passage

i won't derail our study in jude to get

into that more tonight but for those of

you that are

diligent you can dig out your notes and

background on 2nd thessalonians 2

and both the precedent and subsequent

events that surround

the lie and the man of sin and so on

let's take some more practical uh focus

on this turn to first timothy four

just turn to your right a little bit a

few pages and you come to first timothy

chapter 4 paul is writing a practical letter

letter

to his buddy equipping him for the ministry

ministry

and first timothy 4 now the spirit

speaketh expressly that in the

latter times some shall depart

from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits

spirits

and doctrines of demons

and from here you can go into a whole study

study

of false doctrine false doctrine is not

just superstition it is not just

deviations from the truth it's not just

any of a lot of things

it's engineered deception

by the host of darkness himself

doctrines of demons that phrase comes

out of first timothy 4

1. you can go on from there i won't take

that i'm just trying to give you just

some high points to get a flavor of this

turn to second timothy 4 verse 3 for the

time will come when they will not

endure sound doctrine but after their

own lust they shall heap to themselves

teachers having itching ears and they

shall turn away their ears from the

truth and shall be turned to fables

and which what's really fascinating is

when someone rejects the truth of jesus christ

christ

the stuff they turn to

the most bizarre things but again i i

don't want to derail here the

unwillingness to endure sound doctrine

is another characteristic of what this

this whole area of apostasy and um let's

uh let's also turn and i just in the

sort of highlight quick survey

some of this is really by way of review

second peter 2.

let's first of all take 2 peter 2

chapter 2 verse 1.

the apostle peter says but there were

false prophets also among the people

even as there shall be

false teachers among you who secretly shall

shall

bring in damnable heresies even denying

the lord

that bought them bringing them on

themselves swift destruction

bringing in damnable heresies

let's talk about some of those that go

on chapter 3 of that same letter ii

peter chapter 3

let's pick verses 3 and 4 knowing this

first that there shall come in the last

days scoffers

walking after their own lust and saying

where is

the promise of his coming for since the

fathers fell asleep

all things continue as they were from

the beginning of creation now by the way

this may seem strange

because on the one hand the

characteristic of these false teachers

is they're going to

cast doubt about the second coming of

jesus christ

part of the viewpoint or doctrine

of this they're saying where is the

promise of his coming it's a skeptical

rhetorical question about

denying the second coming their argument

here doesn't seem linked at first blush

at all

he says for since the fathers fell

asleep all things continue as they were

from the beginning of creation

what's not obvious by the structure that

sentence is there's a link here

in a doubt of creation with the second coming

coming

what is the second coming got to do with

evolution and so forth and it's this

whole idea this this

disparagement of the idea that there is

a god who on the one hand created the

universe in the first place and secondly

intervenes in its history by returning and

and

involving himself and one of the

fascinating links

that's not obvious but it's worth your

consideration is to recognize

that a faith in the creation is linked

to a faith in prophecy

and uh it has to do with

uniformitarianism it has to do with the

recognition that there is a creator who

has a purpose and an involvement in your

life as

well as mine and that's the whole idea behind

behind

god's purpose in the first place and his

willingness and interest and involvement

in interfering in man's history

in intervening and in fact intruding

none other than his son to on a very

special mission

and one in which he will again intrude

upon history

by returning and so forth so the whole

idea of second coming

is related to the genesis 1 is related

to revelation 22.

it's all linked okay so jude by the way

we've just

seen peter here we're going to discover

the epistle of jude has a close relationship

relationship

to the peter's letters in several ways

and we'll come to that when the time comes

comes

but it's probably most of all parallel

to james the epistle of james the

epistle of jude have some very bizarre parallels

parallels

james essentially deals with good works as

evidence of faith james is often

misunderstood james emphasizes works

not a faith by works but an evidence of

your faith by your work so

james emphasizes good works as an

evidence of saving faith

jude structures this letter to point out

that evil works

are evidence of apostasy or a false faith

faith

and so there's an interesting parallel

one reason it's also parallel which may

have nothing to do with anything is that

they were brothers

so we'll get to that in a minute too

jude is in many

respects the vestibule of the book of revelation

revelation

jude comes just before the revelation

and it's

it turns out for lots of reasons

structurally that's very

handy it sets the stage if you will for

the book of revelation

jude will be fun for us as we get into it

is because it gives us an excuse to peek

in the dark corners of the book of the

old testament

jude makes all kinds of offhand

references to things he assumes you know

and uh that causes us to scramble for

our concordances and what have you to

find out

what on earth he's talking about so

that'll be kind of fun

one other thing before we get into the

the book itself

i i'd like to give you an outline and

this is one of those times that i almost

wish i was using a view graph but i got

away from that years ago because it

forces me to put more on the tape

so i want to give you an outline i'm

going to try to describe how to do this

is i i'm going to give you about

six indentations and then come back out

so you'll go

in other words we're going to go we're

going to have 11 lines

there's 11 parts to the book of jude but

structurally it's quite interesting

if you can make 11 lines the first and

the last

line is the assurance for the christian

it opens with assurance for the

christian and it closes

with assurance for the christian that's

no surprise

he's going to talk about apostasy but

he's going to talk to you people

not the apostates so one thing he wants

to do is give you assurance both up

front at the end

the second section from the beginning

is the same idea as the second from the end

end

the believer and the faith so your

second and tenth in other words

the second one from the front and the

second one in the back the title would

be the believer in the and the faith

the third from the front end is

apostates described

and the third from the back end is

apostates described

the fourth subject so to speak and i'll

go over this again and give you the verses

verses

as apostasy in old testament history the

fourth from the end

is apostasy and old testament prophecy

the fifth section or

part is apostasy in in the supernatural realm

realm

and the fifth from the end is apostasy

in the natural realm

and the middle section is

a trio a very select trio of apostates

that he focuses on

so to go once again we're going to go

six down and then back in the first one

is assurance for the christian that's

verses one and two

the second section is the believer and

the third part is apostates describe

verse four

the next section is apostasy and old

testament history and that's verses five

through eight

that'll be quite an interesting survey

the next section is apostasy in the

supernatural realm

verses 9 and 10. that's the spooky stuff

then we have verse 11 which is sort of

the fulcrum for the whole

structure here an ancient trio of apostates

apostates

the next section apostasy in the natural

realm verses 12 and 13.

apostasy and old testament prophecy

verses 14 through 16.

apostates describe verses 17 through 19

the believer and the faith verses 20

through 23 and assurance for the

christian verses 24 and 25.

what fascinates me about that there's

lots of outlines you can take any book

and find it you know seven authors will have

have

seven different outlines but this one

kind of intrigues me because it

shows that there's an underlying

structure to this book that's uh

really quite provocative okay so so much

for that that gives us our

25 verse thing so at this point we're

ready to jump in the book

so usually i spend the first uh 80

minutes of the first 90

minutes in ancient history and diagrams

of kings and stuff we never get in the

verse we have to

we this is pretty good just in hardly

any time at all we're in verse 1.

the first word is the word jude [Music]

[Music]

okay you notice that

why are you laughing right the name jude

in the greek is judas

here's a book about apostasy whose name

happens to be synonymous with traitor

it's interesting you know we call our

kids samuel

paul peter john matthew

how many have you named your kids judas

that's a little you know jude and judas

was a very

common name in christ's day there's four

or five of them in the new testament alone

alone

and yet because of one by the name of iscariot

iscariot

the name has gotten sort of tainted it's

not a popular thing you know you name

your dog you name your kids peter paul and

and

so whatever you can name your dog nero caesar

caesar

you don't even name your dog judas i

don't think [Music]

[Music]

the only pet that i know his name is

judas i happen to have the opportunity

in my consulting days to

survey the largest meat packing

operation in south dakota pajama meat coming

coming

i was fascinated to discover there

really is

a goat when they get ready they have these

these

cattle to go up the ramp into the

slaughterhouse there's a goat that leads

them up the goat turns right they turn

left it's a judas goat and you hear that

expression there really is in the in today's

today's

modern culture part of the operation of a

slaughter operation a meat packing plant

is a judas

but other than that i don't think we use

the name normally except as an idiom for

being a traitor so it's interesting that

the book of jude i'm not trying to

disparage the particular writer

don't misunderstand me but i think the

holy spirit does

in fact more often than not

indulgent puns not not for humor but for

a message

when we in the old testament read the

read the book of joshua

the name yehoshua is a is the hebrew for

jesus and when you realize that there's

a name in the old

book of the old testament whose name in

effect is a

namesake or lord it causes our attention

and all kinds of things surface from

that as we look at that sort of thing

and so on so the fact that here's a book

about apostasy who hat which happens to

carry the name

judas is a provocative

jude the bondservant of jesus christ

now most of you as students of scripture

understand that what a doulos

is in the greek a bond slave a slave for life

life

now incidentally we're going to discover

shortly well i'll get ahead he

we we believe that jude here was the

brother of james

both of which were the brothers of the

lord i'll come to that in a minute we'll

get into that but it's interesting

he does not use that link

as an identity he's not that

presumptuous if we understand it right

the four brothers of jesus christ didn't

believe in

him until after the resurrection this is

we don't believe this is the jew that's

listed in the apostles

different jude different james

james is the head of the church in

jerusalem james and jude were brothers

they were linked to the family of jesus

christ some feel they were actual

brothers some feel they may have been

step brothers from a form of marriage

there's all kinds of i don't get into

that here because the language isn't

that clear but we do he links himself

obviously then

thus to to james it's interesting

that jude says jude the bond servant of

jesus christ

and this book sits just before the book

of revelation

and to get what i'm after turn the page

and let's refresh our memories as to the

first verse

of the book of revelation first of all

let me reemphasize it's a singular word

it's amazing how many ministers i even

hear on the radio speak of revelations

plural it's not it's a singular it's not

a collection of revelations it's a

singular revelation

the first sentence the revelation of

jesus christ

that's the singular revelation of jesus christ

christ

which god gave unto him unto whom to

jesus christ

now revelation seems a little strange in

its style it's because the father

talking to the son but

which god gave unto him for what purpose

to show unto his duelos

his servants things which must shortly come

come

to pass so the revelation is written to whom

whom

to the judes to you and i to the extent

that we're in his shoes

jude the servant the doulos the bond

slave of jesus christ

and that's what the book of revelation

is all about is a very very final

climactic appendage to the scripture

to inform the servants okay jude the

servant of jesus christ the brother of james

james

now this is a great departure to go from

here we go into 17 hours of background on

all the four different james as we find

in the gospel zoeth i'll spare you all that

that

the brother of james who is the head of

the church in jerusalem he remember that

he shows up prominently when they have

this dispute

that that gets resolved and you can

chase that down on your leisure

he's also the author of the epistle of james

james

also in scripture there are some

interesting structural parallels between

james and jude and he is

recorded in galatians chapter 1 verse 19

as the lord's brother

now i i personally think he was the

large brother but i should share with

you candidly there are some scholars who

believe that the term

is broader than a direct brother as you

and i would use it

and so there's that it's it's not

tightly conclusive but

for lots of reasons not the least of

which you might want to take a look at

either matthew 13 55 or mark 6 3 they're

pretty much similar let's take mark 6

3 because it does include one other

interesting little thing

mark chapter 6 verse 3 it says

verse 2 it says from where hath this man

these things and what wisdom is this which

which

is given unto him that giveth such

mighty works as i wrought by his hand

this is the crowd sort of responding

here in verse 3

is not this the carpenter the son of mary

mary

the brother of james and joseph and of

judas and of simon

and are not his sisters here with us and

they were offended at him

that was you know that that was the response

response

now i won't get into mark and the whole

situation but in incidental to this

passage it lists

four brothers and some sisters and some people

people

especially of catholic background have a

real hang up for that well i'm not here to

beat it to death and there are some uh

you know uh

competent scholars who jesus goes on

says you know is a prophet is not

without honor

except in his own country and among his

own kindred in any case though we believe

believe

that well first of all this james was

the j

the head of the church in jerusalem and

there was a brother by the name of judas

or jude

this jude is the writer who identifies

himself as the brother of

james and to the readership who is james

the head of the church in jerusalem the

lord's brother

okay so that's why i don't think there's

a big mystery and we don't need to be it

to death

uh we'll just keep moving on and if you

study john chapter 7

verse 5 you'll come to the conclusion

that the brothers did not believe in him

until after the resurrection

and so it was after the resurrection of

jesus christ

that they seemed to grasp who he really was

was

and and certainly um james and jude at least

least

became active for his gospel

james very distinguished and jude

obviously the author of this epistle and

so on so

it's interesting that neither one of

them were numbered among the twelve

that james james the less all those are different

different

caster characters the best of our

understanding next we're going to check

our equipment before we plunge into the book

book

let's finish verse 1 it says wait in the

king james to them

that are sanctified by god the father

and preserved

in jesus christ and called finishes

verse 1

okay there are three concepts here and

the order depends on your translation

they're called beloved and kept okay

incidentally there's a trinity there

there's a calling

there's a loving and there's a keeping

who called you the father through whose

love are you

for god so loved the world that he etc

gave his own son so you the love you

associate jesus christ you can

and who preserves keeps you

the holy spirit so it's interesting and

you can look at that several different

ways but basically there is a trinity of

ideas there

let's first of all take this word called

i'm assuming all of you in this room

i'm going to operate on the presumption

that all of your diligent students the

word i'm assuming that the very fact

that you're hearing my voice

whether it's on tape or here in the room

says that god is calling you

but jesus says i have chosen you you

have not chosen me

that's john 15 6 16 and john 6 65

to mention but a couple of the places

that idea shows up

you don't choose him he chooses you

second thessalonians again in chapter 2

the chapter we just looked at we won't

take the time now but verses 13 and 14

points out that god hath

from the beginning chosen you when were

you you were chosen by god you didn't

choose them he chose you when did he

choose you

there's so many places to deal with this

i'm going to pick my favorite one rather

than all these others i'll allude to

those but i'll pick the one that i'll

enjoy the best which is romans 8

so make pause here and you'll discover five

five

verbs in romans 8. romans chapter 8 is a

chapter you should have

tabbed if your life is as hectic as mine

you refer to it frequently to see that

we all know verse 28 if you don't you

should memorize it it'll see you through

a lot of difficulties for we know that

all things work together for good

to them that love god to them who are

the called according to his purpose

there's that concept of calling

but paul goes on in verse 29 on to

elaborate a structure

for whom he did for no he did also

predestinate to be conformed to the

image of his son that he might be

the firstborn among many brethren

moreover whom he did predestinate

them he also called whom he called them

he also justified

whom he justified then they also

glorified five steps

foreign predestined called justified

glorified that happens to be the

structure of the book of genesis

abraham isaac jacob i missed one

joseph abraham was anyway

foreign predestinated isaac his seed was called

called

if he can justify jacob he can justify anybody

anybody

and of course in joseph comes to

glorification as a type of christ

so paul has in mind here a structure if

you will

apparently of the book of genesis as an

aside now if you're foreknown and

predestinated and called

is he faithful and just to finish what

he starts

you bet so justification glorification

are the steps that that continue so

having said that let's get back to

notice what

what jude is saying here is that okay you're

you're

you're called we've talked about that also

also

you're beloved and i'm dealing here from

the authorized rather than the king

james but the word is beloved

and and who are they beloved the church

you can find john 14 23 john 16

27 john 17 20 and 23 who

are the beloved let's take a look

well let's just let's this is too

important let's hold our finger here

turn to john 14

and understand who to whom jude is

writing and what we mean by the beloved

john 14 verse 23 if a man love me he

will keep my words and my father will

love him and we will come

unto him and make our abode with him

turn over to john 16. a couple of pages

we just hit a couple of these to get the

flavor of it john

for the father himself loveth you

because ye have loved me

and have believed that i came out from god

god

interesting ideas that are linked there

god loves you

right because you have loved me

see it's it's elliptical it's reflexive

okay turn with me to john

17. this is the highway this is the high

the high ground

john 17. intimate prayer between the father

father

between the son to the father he's

praying for his disciples it's awfully

hard just to select a piece of this but

let's uh

pick over verse 20 jesus saying to the

father neither pray i for these alone

but for them

who also who shall believe on me through

their word so jesus here in john 17 this

intimate prayer between jesus and the

father it's the most intimate prayer

that you'll find between jesus the

father in the scripture

john 17. and he's praying for you

your name is in verse 20. and skipping

on down here

we're just keeping on verse 20 verse 21

that they all may be one as thou

father art and me and i and thee that

they also may be one in us

that the world may believe that thou has

sent me in the glory

which thou gavest me i have given them

that they may be one even

as we are one and i in them and thou

and me that they may be made perfect in one

one

and that the world may know that thou

has sent me and hast loved them

as thou hast loved me that's a lot of

love the love that you and i share is

the love that the father has for the son

by the time you're through with this you

get the sense that they're very very

um inseparable this whole chapter is

worth your reading if you're ever in a

meditative mood and don't know where

else to go

plunge into john 17 and read the prayer

this this dialogue if you will between

the father and the son or between the primary

primary

it's jesus words to the father but it's

it's it's clearly a reflexive

fabulous area beloved

we're going to see shortly that the

letter of jude is written

not to the unbeliever but to you and i

and the beloved

okay called beloved the third verb or

category or attribute here is

kept and this is strange because this is

the only salutation

in any epistle in the new testament that

has this word in the salutation

kept the word in the greek implies

watchful care

close attention it's a present possession

possession

it actually means continually kept

okay the same word is used in acts 12

and and 25 of peter and paul's imprisonment

imprisonment

the verb and the structures that they

were kept they're confined they're

preserving the same word is used in

first peter chapter one

of our heavenly inheritance

i don't think our heavenly inheritance

is very vulnerable

that's the term that's used here okay

we're kept

now the same word we're going to find out

out

in verse 6 in this epistle is used of

the fallen angels

who are kept who kept not their first

estate so whatever is binding them

you know they are kept okay and the same

word is used the book of revelation

about in revelation to the church in philadelphia

philadelphia

he will keep us from the hour of trial right

right

that word keep or preserve so forth now

we're also by the way now that's his

side of it he keeps us

right before we're through with his

pistol we're going to discover we have

to keep

ourselves verse 21 we're going to

discover we have to keep ourselves in

the love of god whatever that means

we'll talk about that when we get to

verse 21 we are to be kept blameless

unto the coming of our lord and savior

that's in first thessalonians chapter 5.

so those are all ideas that are embodied

here in this word kept

so we're we've got we've done really

well so far we've gotten through verse one

one

okay okay so we're

called loved and kept that's the category

category

then he goes on to give his benediction

or his salutation

he says mercy unto you and peace and

love be multiplied

now you students of the pauline letters

are probably surprised we're so used to

what grace

and peace right this is mercy right it's

interesting that this letter on apostasy

speaks of mercy rather than grace

they're very

close cousins we want both we

desperately need both

what's the difference between grace and

mercy most of you know grace

is getting something that you don't

deserve right

mercy is not getting that which you do

mercy is

not getting that which you do deserve

grace is getting

that which you don't deserve so they're

both very desirable

mercy implies failure on the part of its object

object

you and i need god's mercy because of

our failure

we welcome his grace because that gives

us that to which we're not entitled

unmerited favor is one glib definition

mercy is not getting that which we do deserve

deserve

now why is it mercy rather than grace

because it suits the message

it's interesting how the holy spirit in

the very

subtleties of the styling of the less it

anticipates the central message

of the epistle the epistle is written by

a guy who changed his mind

we're going to discover the next verse

that he sat down to write something

quite straightforward and was

constrained was pressured was forced

to write something totally different

jude is

taken over but the subtleties are

already showing up early

of the message is coming mercy rather

than grace now here we could get into an

easy digression

about the law and grace and between

works and faith and so forth

wherever we have the law we have death

numbers 15

verses 32 through 36 as an example a guy

collects some sticks in the sabbath day

and he's put to death god commands that

under moses he breaks he was teaching

them that you break the law

the answer comes crisply the law

speaks of death the law speaks of

failure james 2 10 and lots of other

verses that we've talked about

okay works trips leads to the same

chambers of horrors

galatians chapter 5 details the results of

works verses 5 19-21 and again in each

of the time we won't digress with all

these things

god's grace is the antithesis of that

rather than digress too much on that

let's take the second word

mercy we've talked about peace we not we

talk a lot about peace

how do we have peace in romans 5 1

we have peace with god through whom lord

jesus christ

exactly there is no peace for the wicked

isaiah 57 tells us

the whole ideal is to worry about

nothing pray about everything and give

thanks for anything

okay that's philippians 4 6

crudely summarized worry about nothing

pray about everything and give thanks

for anything authority for that is

philippians 4

verses 6 and 7. be anxious for nothing

do you know what a worry is a sin

i worry a lot i'm a big sinner i got a

lot of anxiety it's all unbelief my wife

and i pray a lot about that

i'm worrying less and less because he's

just taking over more and more and

i wish i'd learned that a long time ago

they don't pay me by the hour they pay

me by the ulcer [Music]

[Music]

and but he sees us through and what's

what's interesting he sees us through

never early always at the last minute

because he's got to get us to the point

where we finally give up and realize

it's all in his hands and when we do

that he comes through and fixes things and

and

you'd wonder why don't we ever learn and

just stop worrying and

and we pray about everything and then

whatever happens we give thanks and so

forth so that's what it's all about

philippians 4 6 okay mercy unto you and

peace and love be multiplied

now love shows up

in the first three verses of this

epistle so i assume it's important

it's our badge of identity john 13 tells

us that that's how men are to recognize

us as christians that we love one

another it's also interesting

that it's the lack of love that goes

from philadelphia to laosia in the seven churches

churches

those of you the students of the seven

later seven churches and understand

that's a chronology of church history

understand that philadelphia brotherly

love gives rise to

what's the next one anyway it's when

laodicea comes down we've got problems

okay something else that's worth

studying is ephesians of the seven later

seven churches the church at ephesus was commended

commended

that they were very rigorous and

straightforward on their doctrine

however where do they lose

their first love very good right and we

study the

what happened to the church at ephesus paul

paul

john both both warned them what was

coming they obviously didn't hear

because their lamp stand was removed how

many of you have visited the church at everest's

everest's

okay incidentally these elements here

also show up in verses 20 and 21

so the structure of the epistle will be

preserved but we'll take that on when we get

get

there but that's interesting okay so

we've got

mercy peace and love mercy is upward

peace is inward and love is outward so

there's something very structurally

fundamental going on here in the

interest of getting at least another

verse or two we'll keep moving

we could spend more time on this but

with a with an experienced sophisticated

group like yourselves i'm covering

uh very very familiar ground so we'll

move on we get to verse three and we

discover a strange thing

the first question is to whom is the

epistle written it's very important when

you read these epistles

to try to understand who is the audience

and why was it written that sort of

thing this

this is being written to beloved

believers this is not written to

unbelievers this is not an evangelical piece

piece

this epistle will have very little

meaning to you

unless you're born again and abide in

jesus christ

if you're not in that position this

epistle is going to be strange and

boring and unrelated and

not mean much have very little meaning

to those who are not born

into the family of god first corinthians

2 14 the natural man receiveth not the things

things

right and so forth okay and obviously

the the

the word here is comes from the verb

agapeo which means to be totally given

over to

now the structure is a little hard to

unravel he says jude says when i gave

all diligence to write unto you of the

common salvation

it was needful for me to write unto you

and to exhort you when he goes on

what the language in the english doesn't

get across

is what he's really trying to say here

when i gave all diligence to write unto

you of the common salvation that's what

he started to do

what he's really saying is i sat down

with all straightforwardness to write

you a letter

about our common salvation in other

words g we're believers and i was about

to write you

i infer that it's probably a letter like

paul used to write

he'd be away on a trip and he'd write

his churches to encourage them and pray

for them and

you know just write about her comments

sometimes include some theological

tidbits but basically one of just encouragement

encouragement

when i was going i see jude saying i

beloved when i i gave all diligence to

write unto you of the common salvation

there was that salvation that's common

to you and i that's what he started to do

it was needful for me that language in

the english doesn't carry

the intensity of the greek there was

a divine compulsion

something changed jude's mind as he

started to write

and he was forced to write what he wrote

the word in the greek means to compress

or to put pressure on

the word is used in act let's let me

show you how strong a word in the greek

it is turn to acts 17

3. paul is preaching he says opening and alleging

alleging

that christ must needs have suffered

and risen again from the dead that word

must needs is the same

compulsion how urgent

was it for christ to suffer and die and

be born

raised again pretty urgent

the word in the greek is pretty intense

that's the same word used here

another place first corinthians

chapter 9 verse 16. first corinthians

chapter 9

verse 16 paul is talking about

his calling to preach the gospel

paul says for though i preach the gospel

i have nothing to gloria for necessity

is laid upon me

yea woe unto me if i preach not the gospel

gospel

the drive the compulsion the pressure

for paul to preach the gospel something

he couldn't do anything else

you read his life you know that's that's

what he was driven to do that

kind that was the word you see that

necessity is laid upon me

it's that's the king james english

what jude is saying is when i go getting

back to jude here when i give all

diligence to write unto you the common salvation

salvation

i was divinely forced pressured

to write to you and exhort you and then

he goes on this whole letter is one of excitation

excitation

okay now i'm going to suggest

obviously that the use of words is very precise

precise

and my authority that is second peter 1

21. now should we

hit that if you haven't marked it let's

turn to second peter

knowing this first the prophecy of the

scriptures is most prophecies of any

private interpretation verse 21

for the prophecy came not at any time by

the will of man

but holy men of god spoke as they were

moved by the holy

spirit and as you know from my own

from the background these other studies

my own prejudices and other things that

that i really believe that every word

every number

every place name in the original is

there by engineering

of the holy spirit has relevance

if there's such a thing as a new

testament equivalent to the kabbalah

of the old then that's that's at least

the leaning

that i have so i really believe that

these words are not accidental they're very

very

very important that's the only reason i

try to i'm hitting that hard

in any case jude started to write nice

little letter of encouragement but was

compelled to shift gears and he says to exhort

exhort

you that you should earnestly contend

for the faith which is once delivered

unto the saints

and that phrase is going to be the theme

that the whole letter deals with

first the word exhort exhort

in the greek is a verb do you know what

the noun is

paraclete okay the noun of that same

word the noun forms the word we use

pericle which you all recognize as the comforter

comforter

the one that's called alongside to help

the verb of that

is the word that's translated exhort okay

okay

now exhort you that you should earnestly contend

contend

for the faith that's the key to this whole

whole

epistle that's the challenge that you

and i are being given by the holy spirit tonight

tonight

and in this letter now this word

contend for the faith that greek word

means to agonize upon

to contend strenuously

in defense of how are you and i doing that

that

i appreciate the crowd here tonight i

know that time is

just as urgent in your life as it is

mine so you don't give your evening casually

casually

so coming to these bible studies is a

non-trivial commitment

on behalf of your lord that's neat but

it's one thing

for us to sit comfortably it's easy for

me to comfortably go in my library and

collect some notes to amaze and confound

you on a monday night that's one thing

it's quite another for you to whether

you're listening to a tape or on the

radio or

sitting here to you know knock off for a

couple hours and take some notes and

sort of feel good about it that's neat

i'm not knocking that but

is that contending for the faith see

what the holy spirit

asks us to do is to contend for the

faith the word contend there

is an active military word

it doesn't say be contentious that's a

hit different issue

now how can you

faithfully follow this exhortation well

let me give you some ideas of what i'm

getting at

you have to draw a sword and go find a

hill to conquer that's that's the easy part

part

let me give you some examples do you

strengthen the hand of the faithful

pastors you know

here in this congregation we're uniquely blessed

blessed

in the country anything you do to

strengthen his hand

and i don't mean whether it's an

offering or other kinds of support or

personal support

that's contending for the faith

supporting those that uh are faithful

revelation chapter three verse two

strengthen the things etc

which we mean the other thing you can do

the obvious thing you do is an

unflinching witness

you got an opportunity to witness that

you witness

not just by guts and strength but by preparation

preparation

the very fact you're here tonight is

preparing you for a witness

and as you find issues that the holy

spirit leads you to dig into

dig into some books and background being equipped

equipped

to give reason to every man that asketh you

you

of the hope that is within you but with

all meekness and fear

something else you can do that's

withhold support

from those who are off track

who compromise or deny the whole council

of god

there are a lot of ministries around

that should be shut down the lord would

love to shut them down but there's

people that

get in the way you need to be

discriminating you need to understand

when you support something

what are the doctrines that are central

to that

and are they ones that are biblically supported

supported

do you speak out against the preaching

of another gospel

proverbs 19 27 galatians lots of things

about that

it's interesting if we you might turn

with me to nehemiah

nehemiah chapter 4. did you know that

nehemiah had something to say to you tonight

tonight

okay yeah the first question is where's nehemiah

the way you find out is go in front of

the book find the table of contents quickly

and that's why you need pharisees to

i didn't have to go to nehemiah but the

bookstore asked me to see

no i'm kidding okay nehemiah and i want

let's see

chapter four and we're talking here

about building the wall remember after

the re-gathering after babylon they're

coming back they're rebuilding the wall

but verses 17 and 18 are kind of interesting

interesting

and i'm going to infer that that's the

way we should live he says and they who

built the wall and

and who bore burdens burdened themselves

every one

of his hands wrought in the work and

with the other hand did what

held a weapon they were building this

wall under conditions of adversity

so they had a tool in one hand and a

weapon in the other

verse 18 for the builders everyone had a

sword girded by a side and so build it

and he who sounded the trumpet was by me

and so forth

i'm going to suggest to you that's the

job you and i have

there's no work that we can do and i

don't care whether you're

trading international securities or

doing mergers and acquisitions or

engineering high technology stuff or

something more prozac i'm just drawing

up on my own horizon at the moment

whatever you're doing i'm going to

suggest to you

that there's appropriate to have a sword

girded by your side what sort am i

talking about

the word of god right if general david

jones chairman of the joint chiefs of

staff is a believer

and can have a sword by his side he's

generally the air force i don't know

many general air force who have a sword

girded on him but he does

and so it's kind of interesting so

anyway the point is

you have a weapon along with whatever

other tools god has put in your hands to

fight the battle with okay

that's the first exhortation is to contend

contend

earnestly for what the gospel

salvation that's not the word he uses

faith and boy here we could have an exam

with 20 questions on it and we'd be

lucky to answer two right

i thought i knew what the faith was

until i started digging into this

the word faith is a more inclusive term

than salvation or gospel and the holy

spirit didn't use

the term salvation or gospel here he

used a much

broader term and i'm going to just

mention a few things to you to sort of

suggest a few things but there's

actually 18 references that you could

quickly come up with with things that

what's all the faith about you can get

your own concordance and do that but

let's just look at a couple of places

let's look at second corinthians 13

5. second corinthians chapter 13.

and this is when these neat little

passages would scare you when you think

about it

paul says in a second later corinthians

chapter 13 verse 5 examine yourselves

whether you are in the faith ooh

oh boy examine yourselves are you in the faith

faith

gee i thought so prove yourselves

know ye not yourselves how jesus christ

is in you unless you're discredited

and he goes on and and talks about that

what about this faith

we are to examine ourselves to be sure

we're in the faith what do we know about

the faith first of all it's a mystery

what faith really was was not revealed

prior to the new testament

what do i what am i getting at first

timothy 3 9.

we just pop back quickly in the first timothy

timothy

chapter 3. in his in his discussions of

qualifications and so forth for the

ministry he says to timothy in chapter 3

verse 9

it says holding the mystery of faith in

a pure conscience the word mystery there

is mysterian in the greek it means

something was hidden up till now but i'm

now revealing

so there's something about faith it's

not really obvious it's not a glib easy thing

thing

faith is more than belief believe in the

lord jesus christ you shall be saved in

your house great

i can believe that that chair will hold

my weight i don't have faith in it until

i rely on it

faith has to do with not just believing

but relying on that belief

we just read in first timothy 4 1 since

we're on this page i'll call your attention

attention

again just a little over uh now the

spirit ex speak expressly that in the

latter times

some shall depart from the faith

and give he to seducing spirits and

doctrines and demons faith is something

that is going to depart from the earth

in the last days

in some broad way that's what that's why

the epistle to jude is such a last days issue

issue

apostasy is going to be not something

that just happens the last days it's

going to

characterize the last days as long as

first timothy turned to first timothy 5

verse 8.

faith involves duty to others first

timothy 5

8 it says but if any provide not for his

own especially for those of his own

house he hath denied the faith which is

worse than an infidel

hey guys did you know that you had an

obligation to provide for your families

you sort of knew that i mean you read

the book of proverbs and your wife

reminds you of that

did you but first timothy 5 8 is kind of heavy

heavy

if any provide not for his own

and especially for those of his own house

house

he has denied the faith that's kind of

heavy remember that girls and your

husband's worry about trying to find put

bread on the table

it's not that's not materialism it's his

compliance with first timothy 5 8

it's an act of faith what's it he needs to

provide for his own that's an injunction from

from

god himself it shows up lots of places

but this is perhaps

the heavy one because if you don't do it

you're worse than an infidel

faithful teaching establishes the church

in faith we know that from acts

16 5 and

all believers are instructed to stand

fast and continue in faith first

corinthians 16 13 acts 14 22

i don't think we need to take the time

to chase those down those are pretty self-evident

self-evident

instructions in the in the epistles okay

a couple of other things though about

this issue of apostasy

any claim of additional revelation

outside the bible

is uh evidence of apostasy what's my authority

authority

deuteronomy 4 2 and revelation 22 18.

just to give you a couple

let's turn to the torah i like this

because we we

we're familiar with this in revelation

let's look at that in a minute those are

the the bracketing ones there's dozens

of verses like this but i'll take the

earlier one and the last one deuteronomy

the torah

the pentateuch chapter 4 verse 2

god says you shall not add to the word

which i command you neither shall you

diminish anything from it

that you may keep the commandments of

the lord your god which i command you as

typical of many many passages in scripture

scripture

it occurs obviously in the torah as i've

mentioned just here

and let's go to the other end of the book

book

chapter 20 revelation chapter 22 now

verse 18

of 22 speaks specifically of the book of revelation

revelation

but i don't think it's i think it'd be

pretty argumentative to try to argue

that it doesn't apply to the bible as a

whole let's read verse 18

of chapter 22 the book of revelation for

i testify unto every man that heareth

the words of this prophecy of this book

if any man shall add unto these things

god shall add unto him the plagues that

are written in this book

if any man shall take away from the

words of the book of his prophecy god

shall take

away his part from the tree of life and

out of the holy city

and from the things which are written in

this book you want to add anything or

subtract anything

i don't think so i don't think so

now what that really says is somebody

that tries to add to the truths of god

or subtract from them has got a heavy problem

problem

but in the generic that we're dealing if

we're talking about

apostasy now all this gives rise to

an issue that for lack of a better word

i'll call combat faith

hal lindsey just published a book called

combat faith which deals with this issue

too but the whole idea

is that your faith is not just a passive private

private

invisible thing that you that's neat

around the dining room table when you

have a family night with your family

faith isn't just something in the quiet

hours of the morning when you read your

allotted three chapters a day or

whatever program you've set for yourselves

yourselves

faith is a combatant thing and your

passage for that is ephesians section

it's interesting

in our home we have kind of a large

entrance in a library and right between it's

it's

the styling lends itself to a suit of

armor and because of the house we

some time ago acquired a suit of armor

it stands there by the door

and people come to our house and what's

that thing you know and

well that's ephesians 6. and

and if they're a christian they know

right away what we mean if they're not

we give us an excuse to go and say you

know put on the whole armor of god and

defeat shod with the preparation of the

gospel of peace and

so forth so ephesians says in the

interest of time i won't get into the

details but those of you that are

familiar with it

it'd be well to review ephesians 6 that

you put on the whole armor of god

and that's both defensive and offensive

that's what you can withstand a combat that

that

is destined for you and at the same time

you can be an active

warrior for the faith and

so that's not bad we got through three verses

verses

and to set a record we'll we got one

more we'll go through verse four i think

we can make it

and that way we won't be lagging around

here for okay

now the question i'm going to ask then

getting back to jude verse 4

is why did jude have to write the book

we know to whom it's written

we know the holy spirit diverted his

original purpose to another purpose

what is the purpose why is this

necessary because of verse 4

there are tares among the wheat that's

what verse 4 says

verse 4 for there are certain men

crept in unawares who were before of old

ordained to this condemnation

ungodly men turning the grace of our god

into lasciviousness

and denying the only lord god and our lord

lord

jesus christ three marks of an apostate

that we'll get into

but the first thing this is the reason

it's because of verse four that the

letter had to be written

it's because of verse 4 that the holy spirit

spirit

admonishes us exhorts us to contend

earnestly for the faith why because

there are subversives

in our midst now you all know the story

of the tares and the wheat if you don't

you can review refresh your memory in

matthew 13 verses 24 through 30. we

won't take the time tonight

in the parable in the kingdom parables

of matthew 13

we have the same symbols used in several

of the parables the sower goes to swords

to sow seed what is the seed the word of

god in one of those parables the second parable

parable

at night when no one is around an enemy

came and sowed tears or weeds if you will

will

among the thing so when they started

when they sprouted up they found out not

only the good wheat but there's also

weeds and what do you do you let them

grow until the time of the end then

they'll be separated that's the gist of it

matthew 24 matthew 13 24 through 30.

so that's the reason is that there's

false brethren that have stolen into the church

church

let's turn to galatians chapter 2. there

are many many passages you just pick a

few here but galatians chapter 2 verses

4 and 5.

paul writing to galatians says in that

because of false brethren

unawares brought in who came in secretly

to spy out our liberty

which we have in christ jesus that they

might bring us into bondage

to whom we give place by subjection no

not for an hour

that the truth of the gospel might

continue with you

and he goes on okay now as saints are

you in parallel apparently let's take a

look at second corinthians

chapter 11. paul is here talking about

perils and he lists a bunch of these for a purpose in his argument here which i

a purpose in his argument here which i won't get into right now but he just

won't get into right now but he just says

says in journeyings often verse 26 in

in journeyings often verse 26 in journeyings often in perils of waters

journeyings often in perils of waters and perils of robbers in perils of mine

and perils of robbers in perils of mine own countrymen

own countrymen in perils of the gentiles and perils of

in perils of the gentiles and perils of the city in perils of the wilderness

the city in perils of the wilderness in perils in the sea you know paul's

in perils in the sea you know paul's life he was

life he was accident-prone you know

i'm saying that facetiously of course but he was indeed a man that was

but he was indeed a man that was buffeted by many things but you know

buffeted by many things but you know it's the last one he lives here

it's the last one he lives here in perils among false brethren

in perils among false brethren okay so perils come from all shapes and

okay so perils come from all shapes and sizes and he goes on to talk about this

sizes and he goes on to talk about this and i won't don't

and i won't don't belabor it okay saints can be in

belabor it okay saints can be in parallel

parallel and particularly in the latter times and

and particularly in the latter times and uh this is

uh this is again my references there would include

again my references there would include things like the first timothy 4 1

things like the first timothy 4 1 passage doctrines of demons and so forth

passage doctrines of demons and so forth that's going to get increasingly

that's going to get increasingly relevant now the warnings of this

relevant now the warnings of this were written as early as the earliest

were written as early as the earliest dawn of history none other than the

dawn of history none other than the earliest prophet you probably can

earliest prophet you probably can imagine enoch who was the father of

imagine enoch who was the father of methuselah

whose child was a prophecy of the flood warns of these things and and jude is

warns of these things and and jude is going to take that up i won't take it up

going to take that up i won't take it up tonight because we're going to get into

tonight because we're going to get into that

that stuff it's going to be kind of fun

stuff it's going to be kind of fun verses 14 and 15 in the book of jude

verses 14 and 15 in the book of jude okay so the next question is what is an

okay so the next question is what is an apostate as we get into all this and

apostate as we get into all this and here we can go to another parable

here we can go to another parable apparel the sower and the seed we all

apparel the sower and the seed we all know the sower the seed where he has

know the sower the seed where he has good ground and rocky ground and so

good ground and rocky ground and so forth what most people don't do is study

forth what most people don't do is study the words there

the words there it's interesting that the rocky ground

in luke 8 13 the rocky ground receives the word the word is dicomai

the word the word is dicomai receives the word but it has no root the

receives the word but it has no root the seed that falls on the good ground the

seed that falls on the good ground the greek word is

greek word is paradicoma that just receives it it

paradicoma that just receives it it welcomes it

welcomes it there's a different kind of reception

there's a different kind of reception going on the one leads to roots and

going on the one leads to roots and fruit

fruit and good good results

and good good results the others don't understand the word

the others don't understand the word word

word does not bring up forth bring forth

does not bring up forth bring forth fruit this is all matthew 13 verse 23 as

fruit this is all matthew 13 verse 23 as an example

an example we're going to discover that those and

we're going to discover that those and later on we get verse 12 of the epistle

later on we get verse 12 of the epistle we're going to discover that they

we're going to discover that they without fruit they're twice

without fruit they're twice dead and they're plucked up by the roots

dead and they're plucked up by the roots and we're going to get into that what do

and we're going to get into that what do you mean twice dead

you mean twice dead and we'll talk about that when we get to

and we'll talk about that when we get to verse 12

verse 12 that's a little bit ahead of us here now

that's a little bit ahead of us here now this concept of apostasy that we're

this concept of apostasy that we're dealing with is not simply

dealing with is not simply indifference or error

indifference or error or even getting tangled up with a heresy

or even getting tangled up with a heresy the concept of posse is actually a

the concept of posse is actually a rejection

rejection of the truth of god people that received

of the truth of god people that received light but not life

light but not life people that have the written word but

people that have the written word but not the living word in them

not the living word in them and the examples we're going to discover

and the examples we're going to discover obviously include judas iscariot we

obviously include judas iscariot we don't it's not mentioned epistle but

don't it's not mentioned epistle but that's an obvious example of the extreme

that's an obvious example of the extreme apostate

apostate but the three that are going to be

but the three that are going to be mentioned this thing climax is up in

mentioned this thing climax is up in verse 11 will be cain

verse 11 will be cain balaam and korah and we'll deal with

balaam and korah and we'll deal with that when we get there but those

that when we get there but those k the earliest apostate is kane cain and

k the earliest apostate is kane cain and abel what's really going on there we're

abel what's really going on there we're going to take this issue all the way to

going to take this issue all the way to the gates of eden

the gates of eden and start there and what is balaam all

and start there and what is balaam all about this strange character the surface

about this strange character the surface in the book of numbers that is

in the book of numbers that is featured so prominently in the book of

featured so prominently in the book of revelation we'll talk about balaam a bit

revelation we'll talk about balaam a bit and of course kara which uh you know

and of course kara which uh you know discovers what how god enforces his

discovers what how god enforces his authority in some interesting ways

authority in some interesting ways now what manner of men are these these

now what manner of men are these these are men that creep in privately

are men that creep in privately privately secretly they settle down

privately secretly they settle down alongside false teachers that bring in

alongside false teachers that bring in damnable heresies and we saw that in ii

damnable heresies and we saw that in ii peter 2 1 earlier

peter 2 1 earlier there are three identifiers of these

there are three identifiers of these apostates

apostates they're ungodly whatever that means

they're ungodly whatever that means they pervert the grace of god into

they pervert the grace of god into lasciviousness

lasciviousness and they deny our lord and savior

and they deny our lord and savior those are the three identifiers and by

those are the three identifiers and by the way those three identifiers fit the

the way those three identifiers fit the three that are gonna climax the epistle

three that are gonna climax the epistle in verse 11.

in verse 11. cain of ungodliness balaam and

cain of ungodliness balaam and perverting

perverting the grace of god and kara denying god's

the grace of god and kara denying god's appointed leader at that time

appointed leader at that time so there's a parallelism of the three

so there's a parallelism of the three that they're chosen with these three

that they're chosen with these three identifying characteristics of the holy

identifying characteristics of the holy spirit

spirit lays out for us we use the term ungodly

lays out for us we use the term ungodly what do we really mean

what do we really mean someone's destitute of a reverential awe

someone's destitute of a reverential awe of god

of god that's what being ungodly means it

that's what being ungodly means it doesn't have to be a militant atheist to

doesn't have to be a militant atheist to be ungodly

be ungodly it's just somebody who does not have a

it's just somebody who does not have a reverential attitude of awe

reverential attitude of awe toward god look around at our society

toward god look around at our society you don't have to be guilty of

you don't have to be guilty of pornographic films on cable tv to be

pornographic films on cable tv to be ungodly

ungodly all you have to do is be a secular

all you have to do is be a secular humanist who doesn't really

humanist who doesn't really acknowledge or recognize the existence

acknowledge or recognize the existence of god in operative in our lives

of god in operative in our lives the word ungodly it can be someone

the word ungodly it can be someone according to second timothy 3

according to second timothy 3 5 who has the form but knives the power

5 who has the form but knives the power of

of god it's romans 1 16 it's someone who

god it's romans 1 16 it's someone who denies the gospel of christ that's easy

denies the gospel of christ that's easy someone in philippians 3 10 someone

someone in philippians 3 10 someone denies the transforming power of new

denies the transforming power of new life

life and i would someone could be ungodly if

and i would someone could be ungodly if he isn't embracing

he isn't embracing the essential truths of god now

the essential truths of god now the interesting thing um from set from

the interesting thing um from set from from the old several old testament

from the old several old testament reference it's the heart not the outward

reference it's the heart not the outward appearances that's the key

appearances that's the key it's not the appearance of god and this

it's not the appearance of god and this is where are they at really

is where are they at really now let me give you an example of

now let me give you an example of something that appears

something that appears pleasant and rational this whole you we

pleasant and rational this whole you we hear a lot about the brotherhood of man

hear a lot about the brotherhood of man all men are brothers not a pleasant easy

all men are brothers not a pleasant easy idea

idea very comfortable very popular the

very comfortable very popular the brotherhood of man how many

brotherhood of man how many apparently worthwhile charities and

apparently worthwhile charities and efforts are under that manner

efforts are under that manner the only problem with that is well

the only problem with that is well there's several problems with it

there's several problems with it in john chapter 8 verse 44 jesus christ

in john chapter 8 verse 44 jesus christ speaks speaking to part of the crowd the

speaks speaking to part of the crowd the pharisaical part of the crowd

pharisaical part of the crowd ye are of your father the devil and the

ye are of your father the devil and the works of your father ye will do

works of your father ye will do remember that the term would be to

remember that the term would be to johnny i love john 8 because it's so

johnny i love john 8 because it's so tactful

and it's so tactful john 8 is kind of fun because when you

john 8 is kind of fun because when you get down about verse 19

get down about verse 19 there's a little dialogue going on with

there's a little dialogue going on with jesus christ and the pharisees and in

jesus christ and the pharisees and in the

the politeness of the king james you miss it

politeness of the king james you miss it in verse 18 jesus said i am the one that

in verse 18 jesus said i am the one that beareth witness of myself the father

beareth witness of myself the father that sent me beareth witness of me and

that sent me beareth witness of me and then they say to him

then they say to him where is thy father now what you miss is

where is thy father now what you miss is the implied

the implied snide crack as they're calling him a

snide crack as they're calling him a bastard

bastard they're alluding to his illegitimate

they're alluding to his illegitimate illegitimacy visas joseph and mary

illegitimacy visas joseph and mary and jesus just answers you know neither

and jesus just answers you know neither me nor my father and it goes on

me nor my father and it goes on and this builds up so that by the time

and this builds up so that by the time before the chapter is over

before the chapter is over he gives them a le he doesn't defend

he gives them a le he doesn't defend his legitimacy but he comments on theirs

and this all builds up pretty neat because it gets uh to verse 44

because it gets uh to verse 44 where he says ye are of your father the

where he says ye are of your father the devil and the lusts of your father

devil and the lusts of your father ye will do he was a murderer from the

ye will do he was a murderer from the beginning and about and wanted who did

beginning and about and wanted who did he murder

he murder adam you bet the first murder wasn't

adam you bet the first murder wasn't cain and abel the first murder was

cain and abel the first murder was satan's murdering of adam by getting

satan's murdering of adam by getting adam to

adam to become mortal if in effect uh

become mortal if in effect uh and but not in truth because there is no

and but not in truth because there is no truth in him when he speaketh a lie he

truth in him when he speaketh a lie he speaketh of his own and for he's a liar

speaketh of his own and for he's a liar and the father of it

and the father of it and he goes on here and so forth and i

and he goes on here and so forth and i and

and i love the way it ends where he claims

i love the way it ends where he claims to be the voice in the burning bush

to be the voice in the burning bush he says you know abraham rejoiced to see

he says you know abraham rejoiced to see my day verse 56 your abra

my day verse 56 your abra your father abraham rejoiced to see my

your father abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and was glad

day and he saw it and was glad that you said to them you're not yet 50

that you said to them you're not yet 50 years old how can you see

years old how can you see how can you say you've seen abraham

how can you say you've seen abraham jesus said verily i say unto you

jesus said verily i say unto you before abraham was i am and he's using

before abraham was i am and he's using the very structure that

the very structure that the voice of the burning bush said to

the voice of the burning bush said to moses and that's really uh

moses and that's really uh uh it's the i am statement the gospel of

uh it's the i am statement the gospel of john's build about seven

john's build about seven around seven i am statements by jesus

around seven i am statements by jesus christ now you and i missed that but

christ now you and i missed that but they didn't because in verse 59 they

they didn't because in verse 59 they tried to stone them

tried to stone them they understood that that was what he

they understood that that was what he was saying

was saying anyway um universal brotherhood of man

anyway um universal brotherhood of man it's interesting to me that

it's interesting to me that uh first of all we need to understand

uh first of all we need to understand that all men are not brothers

that all men are not brothers there are members in the family of god

there are members in the family of god and the members that are not

and the members that are not and that's sounds bigotry it sounds

and that's sounds bigotry it sounds narrow but that's

narrow but that's what god tells us and that's the

what god tells us and that's the brotherhood of man sounds appealing but

brotherhood of man sounds appealing but is

is denies the gospel of jesus christ it's

denies the gospel of jesus christ it's very interesting to me that in europe

very interesting to me that in europe there's a confederation of nations

there's a confederation of nations we call it the common market more

we call it the common market more property called the european community

property called the european community you may know they have a parliament they

you may know they have a parliament they have a budget they have things did you

have a budget they have things did you know they have a national anthem

know they have a national anthem you didn't know that did you know what

you didn't know that did you know what the national anthem of the european

the national anthem of the european community is

community is schiller's owed to joy under beethoven's

schiller's owed to joy under beethoven's ninth

ninth the next time you get a chance to read a

the next time you get a chance to read a libretto of beethoven's that fabulous

libretto of beethoven's that fabulous music we sometimes we have a hymn that

music we sometimes we have a hymn that goes the same music you know all a

goes the same music you know all a mentioned bird and brooder

mentioned bird and brooder all men are brothers shiller's owed to

all men are brothers shiller's owed to joy

joy it's an eloquent exclamation of the

it's an eloquent exclamation of the brotherhood of man

brotherhood of man how interesting it is that this

how interesting it is that this federation of nations

federation of nations that comprise the original roman empire

that comprise the original roman empire are emerging as a confederation built on

are emerging as a confederation built on world trade

world trade as revelation 17 18 suggest and maybe a

as revelation 17 18 suggest and maybe a precursor to

precursor to a lot of other interesting things it's

a lot of other interesting things it's interesting that their national anthem

interesting that their national anthem is the brotherhood of man so i thought

is the brotherhood of man so i thought it'd short they'll show that way

it'd short they'll show that way moving on ungodly is the first part of

moving on ungodly is the first part of apostasy secondly it perverts the grace

apostasy secondly it perverts the grace of god and lasciviousness

of god and lasciviousness it's not hard for us to visualize how

it's not hard for us to visualize how someone can pervert

someone can pervert ephesians two eight and nine for the by

ephesians two eight and nine for the by the grace of god we are saved so

the grace of god we are saved so therefore we have liberty in christ

therefore we have liberty in christ therefore

therefore it's anything we do is alright and how

it's anything we do is alright and how easy it is to use the liberty of christ

easy it is to use the liberty of christ to be turned into lasciviousness what

to be turned into lasciviousness what does

does the grace of jesus christ call the

the grace of jesus christ call the christian

christian to really do turn to titus 2.

to really do turn to titus 2. nothing else we'll break open your

nothing else we'll break open your bibles and turn to pages you may not

bibles and turn to pages you may not even turn to you

even turn to you titus chapter 2 let's talk about the

titus chapter 2 let's talk about the grace of god you know we talked a lot

grace of god you know we talked a lot in our studies about the difference in

in our studies about the difference in grace and works and so forth

grace and works and so forth great grace is our liberty in christ

great grace is our liberty in christ but what should that lead to what should

but what should that lead to what should that freedom in christ

that freedom in christ lead to freedom from the law freedom

lead to freedom from the law freedom from works

from works reliance entirely on jesus christ

reliance entirely on jesus christ completed work

completed work on the cross what does that lead to

on the cross what does that lead to titus tells us in chapter 2 verse 11 and

titus tells us in chapter 2 verse 11 and 12

12 for the grace of god that bringeth

for the grace of god that bringeth salvation

salvation hath appeared to all men teaching us

hath appeared to all men teaching us that denying

that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts

ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and

we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present age

godly in this present age and looking for that blessed hope and

and looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of that great god

the glorious appearing of that great god and our savior jesus christ

and our savior jesus christ and he goes on what do we mean by

and he goes on what do we mean by perverting the grace of god

perverting the grace of god well number one a christian walk that's

well number one a christian walk that's constructive but also i might suggest

constructive but also i might suggest that

that the rejection of the word of god occurs

the rejection of the word of god occurs whenever it's displaced by

whenever it's displaced by tradition custom loyalty

tradition custom loyalty to some other organization very

to some other organization very worthwhile things

worthwhile things very attractive things when they

very attractive things when they displace

displace the primacy of the word of god in your

the primacy of the word of god in your life that's perverting the grace of god

life that's perverting the grace of god interesting isn't it tradition custom

interesting isn't it tradition custom creed loyalty to an organization you

creed loyalty to an organization you name it

name it anything that gets in the way anything

anything that gets in the way anything that yields your loyalty

that yields your loyalty to something other than his word

to something other than his word is dangerous i know i've been loyal to a

is dangerous i know i've been loyal to a lot of things that caused me a lot of

lot of things that caused me a lot of introspection now

introspection now there's only one thing you and i want to

there's only one thing you and i want to be primarily loyal to and that's his

be primarily loyal to and that's his word

word ungodly perverts the grace of god the

ungodly perverts the grace of god the third thing the obvious thing is he did

third thing the obvious thing is he did not that the

not that the apostate denies our only master and lord

apostate denies our only master and lord jesus christ there are four

jesus christ there are four ideas embodied in this denial our only

ideas embodied in this denial our only lord god and our

lord god and our lord jesus christ and if you really

lord jesus christ and if you really dissect that you discover there's four

dissect that you discover there's four items in there one is a sovereignty

items in there one is a sovereignty pre-existent creator of all things

pre-existent creator of all things you go into colossians and elsewhere to

you go into colossians and elsewhere to establish that secondly

establish that secondly he is the lord of all true believers the

he is the lord of all true believers the name

name jesus refers to jehovah the savior

jesus refers to jehovah the savior our martyr substitute he who died for us

our martyr substitute he who died for us his role as our savior

his role as our savior that's different than being our lord he

that's different than being our lord he can be your savior but is he really the

can be your savior but is he really the lord of your life that's whole

lord of your life that's whole thing i'll leave you with and of course

thing i'll leave you with and of course christ is a title

christ is a title the mashiach of israel the messiah the

the mashiach of israel the messiah the appointed one

appointed one of the old testament prophecy and

of the old testament prophecy and obviously if we deny him he'll deny us

obviously if we deny him he'll deny us and there's plenty of verses on that

and there's plenty of verses on that matthew 10 33

matthew 10 33 second timothy 2 12 1 john 2 22 and 23

second timothy 2 12 1 john 2 22 and 23 to name a few where if we deny him

to name a few where if we deny him he will in fact deny us first four

he will in fact deny us first four verses of

verses of jude we've completed next time we'll

jude we've completed next time we'll obviously pick it up at verse five let

obviously pick it up at verse five let me give you your homework assignments

me give you your homework assignments there'll be a quiz numbers 14

there'll be a quiz numbers 14 you might find it interesting to look at

you might find it interesting to look at numbers 14 and find the answered prayer

numbers 14 and find the answered prayer what happened to israel in the

what happened to israel in the wilderness is extremely important

wilderness is extremely important we know that from the amount of new

we know that from the amount of new testament epistles who focus on

testament epistles who focus on it so in edition numbers 14 which you

it so in edition numbers 14 which you might find fruitful to read before next

might find fruitful to read before next time you might turn to first corinthians

time you might turn to first corinthians 10

10 the first 12 verses which deals with all

the first 12 verses which deals with all of this

of this and if you still got some time to dig

and if you still got some time to dig hebrews chapter 3 and chapter 4

hebrews chapter 3 and chapter 4 deal with this the lessons of israel in

deal with this the lessons of israel in the wilderness as they

the wilderness as they pertain to you and i in terms of our

pertain to you and i in terms of our faithfulness

faithfulness those of you that are really ambitious

those of you that are really ambitious and want to prepare for

and want to prepare for what probably won't occur next time but

what probably won't occur next time but might but more likely maybe the time

might but more likely maybe the time following would be i suggest when we get

following would be i suggest when we get to jude 6 you'll want to read genesis

to jude 6 you'll want to read genesis chapter 6.

chapter 6. first few verses second peter chapter 2.

first few verses second peter chapter 2. you might also want to review the

you might also want to review the the origin and career and ambitions and

the origin and career and ambitions and destiny of satan in terms of isaiah 14

destiny of satan in terms of isaiah 14 and ezekiel 28

and ezekiel 28 because we're going to get in the creepy

because we're going to get in the creepy stuff as we go into that stuff let's

stuff as we go into that stuff let's stand for a closing word of prayer

jude's going to be fun a lot of stuff in it but

it but the central issue the central issue

the central issue the central issue is apostasy the central issue for you

is apostasy the central issue for you and i is are we contending earnestly for

and i is are we contending earnestly for the faith

the faith are you contending earnestly for the

are you contending earnestly for the faith when you find a ministry you find

faith when you find a ministry you find responsive do you support it

responsive do you support it with a letter of encouragement or an

with a letter of encouragement or an offering if the lord leads you that way

offering if the lord leads you that way whether it's a church you attend a

whether it's a church you attend a fellowship that has a need

fellowship that has a need a broadcast whatever that's one of the

a broadcast whatever that's one of the ways

ways can you support the ministries that are

can you support the ministries that are true to the whole council of god

true to the whole council of god you speak out when you see a challenge

you speak out when you see a challenge to god's truth

to god's truth or the role and ministry and completed

or the role and ministry and completed work of jesus christ

work of jesus christ the challenge that the lord would have

the challenge that the lord would have for all of us tonight and as we go

for all of us tonight and as we go through this epistle is are we

through this epistle is are we and how are we faithfully

and how are we faithfully agonizingly contending for the faith

agonizingly contending for the faith let's borrow hearts father we praise you

let's borrow hearts father we praise you that you have indeed called us

that you have indeed called us to be your own we thank you father you

to be your own we thank you father you have loved us

have loved us so much as to give us our lord and

so much as to give us our lord and savior

savior we also thank you father that you have

we also thank you father that you have pledged to keep us

pledged to keep us in your forever family we would ask you

in your forever family we would ask you father to just

father to just help us to grow in grace in the

help us to grow in grace in the knowledge of our lord and savior jesus

knowledge of our lord and savior jesus christ we would ask you father to

christ we would ask you father to make us more sensitive more aware of the

make us more sensitive more aware of the ways that we should indeed

ways that we should indeed be earnestly contending for the faith

be earnestly contending for the faith we would ask you father to help us

we would ask you father to help us prepare for those unique ministries you

prepare for those unique ministries you have for each and every one of us

have for each and every one of us forthcoming we'd ask you father to

forthcoming we'd ask you father to increase in us a hunger for your word

increase in us a hunger for your word and increasing sensitivity to those

and increasing sensitivity to those things that will equip us

things that will equip us for the warfare ahead in all these

for the warfare ahead in all these things father we would ask that you

things father we would ask that you would

would feed us encourage us strengthen us

feed us encourage us strengthen us that we indeed might be more effective

that we indeed might be more effective bond slaves of jesus christ that we

bond slaves of jesus christ that we might be more pleasing in thy sight

might be more pleasing in thy sight o lord our strength and our redeemer

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YouTube Transcript:Jude Session 1 (Verses 1-4) - Chuck Missler

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Jude Session 1 (Verses 1-4) - Chuck Missler