WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:00.880 Well, good morning. 00:00:00.959 --> 00:00:02.479 Uh my name is Keel Compton. 00:00:02.640 --> 00:00:05.040 I'm serving here at Redeemer as our student pastor. 00:00:05.120 --> 00:00:08.640 Um we have a fun one this morning, as we see, which Megan read. 00:00:08.720 --> 00:00:12.960 Um for the month of July, we're gonna move into a new series studying the book of Jude. 00:00:13.119 --> 00:00:16.320 And Jude, as you can tell, is a fairly obscure book. 00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:23.120 Um it's found in the New Testament, very end, right before Revelation, probably written 40 to 50 years after the life of Jesus. 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:24.000 And it's short. 00:00:24.079 --> 00:00:27.199 It's only 25 verses, one chapter, one page. 00:00:27.359 --> 00:00:40.560 And so with the four weeks we have to study it over these next weeks and the rest of the summer, I'm excited to be able to take it a little bit slowly and see all the nuances and everything that Jude has for us. 00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:45.039 Um and you can see that this morning um we have a fun one which Megan just read. 00:00:45.119 --> 00:00:50.000 Uh, and this is just proof that I don't I didn't just think, you know, what should I preach on this morning? 00:00:50.079 --> 00:00:51.759 And I decided upon this passage, right? 00:00:51.840 --> 00:01:02.960 That's why we preach through the Bible book by book and all these things, so that we are confronted with some of these passages that we maybe, uh, I'll confess, wouldn't choose on my own if it were up to just me. 00:01:03.200 --> 00:01:17.840 Um, and as you've seen, Jude alludes to dozens of Old Testament passages all throughout his letter, to prophecies, to promises, and most notably in our passage, the Exodus from Egypt and the account of Sodom and Gomorrah from Genesis. 00:01:18.079 --> 00:01:34.000 And there are times where, like almost any parts of the Bible, anywhere you turn, if we were to take one verse or one passage or one little phrase out of its surrounding context, you could arrive at some conclusions that may be a little troubling, maybe a little unsettling, and probably would not be very helpful. 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:41.120 It reminds me of the moment in the movie Jaws, I'm sure you've seen it, one of my all-time favorite movies, um, and and Fourth of July Spirit, right? 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:48.719 There's a moment early on, after the first shark attack, spoiler, when Chief Birdie decides to close the beaches out of an abundance of caution. 00:01:48.959 --> 00:01:52.640 However, the mayor has some feelings about closing the beaches, right? 00:01:52.719 --> 00:01:55.920 There's some tourists who are going to come to the island, which are very valuable. 00:01:56.079 --> 00:01:58.000 Their money is very valuable to the island. 00:01:58.159 --> 00:02:05.200 So he doesn't want to close the beaches and understands that in doing so, this one time it will detract valuable tourists for the summer. 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:08.639 So let's watch a short clip of their first conversation. 00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:18.879 A summer girl goes swimming. 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:20.560 Swims out a little far. 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:23.439 She tires, fishing boat comes along. 00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:24.240 It's happened before. 00:02:24.479 --> 00:02:27.599 I don't think you appreciate the gut reaction people have to these things. 00:02:27.919 --> 00:02:29.120 Harry, I appreciate them. 00:02:29.199 --> 00:02:30.800 I'm just reacting to what I was told. 00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:31.759 Martin. 00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:33.759 It's all psychological. 00:02:34.240 --> 00:02:36.080 You yell barracuda. 00:02:36.479 --> 00:02:37.759 Everybody says, huh? 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:38.560 What? 00:02:39.840 --> 00:02:41.520 You yell shark? 00:02:42.879 --> 00:02:46.080 We've got a panic on our hands on the 4th of July. 00:02:48.400 --> 00:02:49.360 Such a good clip. 00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:50.800 Such a good line, right? 00:02:51.039 --> 00:02:53.680 If you yell barracuda, everybody says, huh? 00:02:53.919 --> 00:02:54.319 What? 00:02:54.639 --> 00:02:59.199 But if you yell shark, we have a panic on our hands on the 4th of July. 00:02:59.439 --> 00:03:07.599 And so when I sat down with this text in Jude and began to pray about it and chew on it, meditate on it, and began to write, I felt similar to Mayor Martin. 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:10.000 If I say Jude, right, everyone says, huh? 00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:10.240 What? 00:03:10.400 --> 00:03:11.280 What's that letter? 00:03:11.520 --> 00:03:18.800 But if I say punishment of eternal fire, if I say the word hell, we have a panic on our hands on the 5th of July. 00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:26.400 It's scary, and we can be off-kiltered by some of the sharp language we see in the scriptures. 00:03:27.039 --> 00:03:46.719 And we, I say we because I'm included, would rather talk about maybe the grace and mercy and rest and forgiveness of the gospel and ignore the other equally and equally true part of the message of Jesus, which is the reality of God's judgment and his punishments and his wrath and his righteous judgment of evil and sin. 00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:52.159 So what I hope we see this morning is that these two ideas are not at odds with each other. 00:03:52.400 --> 00:04:04.719 We don't have to choose one side of God, but instead we can see in the counsel of the word that God has given us that they work together, and that God is good, and He's only good if both of these are true. 00:04:04.960 --> 00:04:07.680 His righteous grace and his holy justice. 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:15.280 And so my sermon this morning is not primarily about reconciling these two ideas together, neither is Jude's message about that. 00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:26.079 But I think it's important to recognize because whenever we're confronted with the reality of sin and death and its necessary punishment that we see in the Bible, we ought to listen. 00:04:26.319 --> 00:04:30.639 And I know, because I'm the same way, that we tend to shy away from these. 00:04:31.360 --> 00:04:38.720 But in many ways, I find how Jude talks about God's judgment just as significant as what he has to say about it. 00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:45.519 From the very outset, from the very first words, Jude's heart and intention is clear. 00:04:45.759 --> 00:04:48.000 Let's read together in verses one and two. 00:04:48.639 --> 00:05:01.839 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ, a brother of James, to those who are called, beloved in God, the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ, may mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. 00:05:02.319 --> 00:05:12.000 The author, Jude, is writing to his original audience and to us today from a place of hope and peace and love, not of condemnation, not of threats. 00:05:12.399 --> 00:05:19.439 Jude's letter was not written as a fire and brimstone sermon on a street corner yelling, repent or perish, or turn or burn. 00:05:20.319 --> 00:05:39.519 It's a letter written to those who were called, beloved, and kept, to the body of Christ who already calls Christ Lord, and who needs to be reminded of the peace and security that we already have in him, that we're not threatened into, but we have because of what he's done for us. 00:05:39.759 --> 00:06:01.120 So if you're a believer in this gospel, if you trust the work that Jesus did on the cross, and trust his resurrection from the dead, and trust that it was necessary and sufficient for your life with God, and there is nothing in this letter or nothing anywhere else in the scriptures that intends to challenge your standing as beloved before God. 00:06:01.600 --> 00:06:04.959 This is not to make you question whether God loves you or not. 00:06:05.680 --> 00:06:08.560 To those who are called beloved and kept. 00:06:09.600 --> 00:06:16.079 Because we know, the words of Paul in Romans 8, that there is therefore now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. 00:06:16.560 --> 00:06:26.160 The entirety of the wrath and judgment of God that our sin does rightfully deserve was already paid once and for all on that cross on Calvary. 00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:38.000 Therefore, the condemnation and holy wrath of God is reserved for evil, for sin, for death, for the enemies of the gospel, the things working against God's glory and working against our good. 00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:44.639 So we can view the judgment of God that He has on evil as a good thing. 00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:48.959 Something to be celebrated and hoped for, something to be anticipated even. 00:06:49.839 --> 00:06:52.240 And Jude knows this as well as anyone. 00:06:52.800 --> 00:06:57.600 Jude knows that there are powers working in opposition to the glory of God and the good of his people. 00:06:57.759 --> 00:06:59.120 He's seen it firsthand. 00:06:59.600 --> 00:07:02.879 Because, see, Jude was an eyewitness to the life and ministry of Jesus. 00:07:02.959 --> 00:07:04.800 That's the account we're given. 00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:06.879 We don't know much about him as a man. 00:07:07.199 --> 00:07:09.519 He's one of the more obscure figures in the New Testament. 00:07:09.600 --> 00:07:11.199 He doesn't share much about himself. 00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:14.319 He doesn't have an overwhelming presence in the Gospels. 00:07:14.560 --> 00:07:17.120 But we do learn one thing about him that's quite significant. 00:07:17.279 --> 00:07:18.000 His first words. 00:07:18.079 --> 00:07:20.000 I promise we're going to get out of verse one eventually. 00:07:20.319 --> 00:07:24.560 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James. 00:07:25.120 --> 00:07:26.959 Servant of Jesus, brother of James. 00:07:27.040 --> 00:07:32.079 And if you know your family tree, then you know that James is one of Jesus' brothers brothers. 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:38.160 So some quick math, we put it together, shows us that Jude and Jesus were brothers. 00:07:38.800 --> 00:07:57.120 So Jude, like James, would have seen Jesus grow up, would have seen him be raised by Mary and Joseph, live a life, be lost in the temple, start his ministry, grow in popularity, see the Pharisees and the Romans move against him, watched as his brother lay dead on a cross. 00:07:57.360 --> 00:08:02.079 And Jude was as confused as anyone, I'm sure, when that tomb was empty. 00:08:02.639 --> 00:08:04.959 Because he was not one of the twelve disciples. 00:08:05.360 --> 00:08:10.000 In fact, John writes in his gospel, not even his, Jesus' brothers believed in him. 00:08:11.600 --> 00:08:20.639 In the life of Jesus, before his resurrection, James and Jude and his brothers didn't believe him as Lord, knew him as a brother, but not as a savior. 00:08:21.120 --> 00:08:30.399 It was not until after the resurrection of Jesus, after his earthly ministry, that Jude placed his faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior for life. 00:08:30.639 --> 00:08:41.519 And this change so radically changed Jude's world and identity that Jude now sees himself more accurately described as a servant of Jesus than a brother. 00:08:42.559 --> 00:08:46.240 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James. 00:08:47.120 --> 00:08:49.519 And I think this shows us two quick important things. 00:08:49.679 --> 00:08:57.440 One is that genuine faith does not come solely from proximity to Jesus, that being around him is not the same as trusting in him. 00:08:58.399 --> 00:09:03.919 But secondly, that Jude's faith in Jesus and care for his church is deeply genuine. 00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:06.720 We see that bubbling out of these pages. 00:09:06.960 --> 00:09:09.519 He cares for Jesus and cares for his church. 00:09:10.399 --> 00:09:16.320 And if there's a thesis for the whole message of this letter that we'll be studying this month, it can be found in verse 3. 00:09:17.519 --> 00:09:26.799 Jude says, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 00:09:27.679 --> 00:09:29.120 Contend for the faith. 00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:36.080 This passage presents, I think, two main questions that we'll go through for the rest of our time together. 00:09:36.399 --> 00:09:40.000 First is, what is this faith that we're contending for? 00:09:40.159 --> 00:09:42.320 And secondly, how do we contend for it? 00:09:42.639 --> 00:09:46.480 How do we live out this command, this thesis that Jude has? 00:09:46.639 --> 00:09:49.360 So, first, what is the faith that we are contending for? 00:09:49.600 --> 00:09:56.720 Well, most plainly, he says it's the faith of the gospel, the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 00:09:57.120 --> 00:10:05.440 See, at this point in history, probably around 70 AD, there was a collective assumption in the early church that an established faith exists. 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:08.240 Sure, they didn't have the Bible the same way we do now. 00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:14.240 They had the Old Testament, and some of these letters were moving around, but Jude was not in the Bible yet because he was writing it. 00:10:14.559 --> 00:10:28.720 So the collection of the 66 books of the Bible may have not existed, but we do can tell that there are certainly letters and books and an understanding of faith that was accepted as authoritative in the early church. 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:36.879 And we know this, and it's primarily because there was a fixed and established faith that there was something to fight for and defend against. 00:10:37.279 --> 00:10:41.679 When he said contend for the faith, these people knew what he was talking about. 00:10:42.480 --> 00:10:45.200 They knew what it meant to believe in Jesus. 00:10:45.519 --> 00:10:55.919 And so Jude is charging the early church and the contemporary church to hold fast to the confession of faith that the work of God for salvation in Jesus is sufficient. 00:10:56.320 --> 00:10:57.840 That Jesus is enough. 00:10:58.480 --> 00:10:59.840 To not add anything. 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:02.720 There's nothing more to do, nothing more to change. 00:11:03.279 --> 00:11:07.600 The faith that the early church confessed is the same faith we confess today. 00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:09.919 And so what faith do we contend for? 00:11:10.080 --> 00:11:13.600 We contend for a faith that confesses Jesus is enough. 00:11:14.480 --> 00:11:15.519 Simply put. 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:22.399 Or in other words, as we say often here at Redeemer and especially in the Student Ministry, Jesus plus nothing equals everything. 00:11:22.879 --> 00:11:25.519 Which pretty much means Jesus equals everything. 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:28.960 So how do we contend for this faith? 00:11:29.120 --> 00:11:33.279 If this is what we're holding on to, what does it mean to contend for it? 00:11:34.799 --> 00:11:37.279 See, there's this movement kind of happening in the world of movies. 00:11:37.360 --> 00:11:39.679 I mean a lot of movies today, I'm showing you who I am. 00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:46.159 Um it's this thing happening where artists and even fans are petitioning for the directors to have full control over their movie. 00:11:46.320 --> 00:11:47.600 Final cut is what it's called. 00:11:47.840 --> 00:11:58.559 Maybe the most recent and mainstream example, I kind of can't believe I'm gonna talk about this in a sermon, but was a 2021 when DC fans were able to leverage their voice and release the Snyder Cut, right? 00:11:58.720 --> 00:12:09.120 I don't know if you've heard of this Justice League movie directed by Zack Snyder, but they got him, the studio, to release his intended design for the movie. 00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:16.879 See, in many cases, for large budget, important movies, the studio may come in and executives come in and limit the director's creative decisions. 00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:23.120 They may control aspects of the movie before it gets released because they're fearful this movie won't make them money. 00:12:23.279 --> 00:12:25.519 So they do what they can to control it. 00:12:25.759 --> 00:12:37.600 But in this case, in 2017, the outrage from the public and the DC fans was so overwhelming that four years later the studio released the director's final cut version, the Snyder Cut. 00:12:37.840 --> 00:12:45.840 Had a different color grading and some different character design, but most importantly, the runtime extended from two hours to four hours long. 00:12:46.159 --> 00:12:48.080 Snyder cut, four hours long. 00:12:48.559 --> 00:12:51.919 The hashtag release the Snyder Cut movement was a success. 00:12:52.159 --> 00:12:57.360 And in my professional opinion, the movie went from being a two-hour mess to a four-hour mess. 00:12:57.519 --> 00:12:58.480 Both bad. 00:12:59.440 --> 00:13:00.399 Both bad. 00:13:01.120 --> 00:13:02.639 That's not my point necessarily. 00:13:02.799 --> 00:13:11.679 My point is that for as long as movies have existed, or really even art and studios and whatever case have existed, there's been a push for more control by the creatives. 00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:13.200 And I'm for this. 00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:23.519 I don't think it's good or bad, but in the streaming age, when movies don't have to go to theaters, it's become possible for directors to kind of re-release their movies as they go along. 00:13:23.759 --> 00:13:27.519 New versions of movies after it released in theaters. 00:13:27.759 --> 00:13:31.120 Maybe you know the movie Blade Runner from uh 1982. 00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:36.480 Ridley Scott has now released three versions after the original uh theatrical cut. 00:13:36.559 --> 00:13:42.559 In this case, the 2007 Final Cut is the second of the third released versions. 00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:53.039 There's a possibility for movie creators to tinker with their projects, to change this, to edit that, to go cut this thing out, to update the way this looks. 00:13:54.240 --> 00:13:56.320 And I'm not necessarily saying I'm for or against it. 00:13:56.399 --> 00:13:59.440 Many of you probably couldn't care less or don't know what I'm talking about. 00:13:59.679 --> 00:14:06.080 But I think it helps illustrate the kinds of dangers that Jude is talking and warning us about here at the beginning of his letter. 00:14:06.320 --> 00:14:11.039 This tinkering with something that has already been released, already been given. 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:13.440 Jude verse 4. 00:14:13.919 --> 00:14:20.639 For certain people have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were designated for this condemnation. 00:14:21.120 --> 00:14:28.559 Ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God and his sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ. 00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:41.360 See, the call is to defend our confession of faith by rejecting anything that is being added or taking away from the gospel of Jesus that says, Jesus is enough and sufficient for me. 00:14:41.840 --> 00:14:46.240 Any of the tinkering, any of the adding, the taking away, the supplementing. 00:14:46.720 --> 00:14:49.679 Jude's saying, No, don't listen to these teachers. 00:14:49.919 --> 00:14:54.000 What we have been given and the faith we have is enough. 00:14:54.960 --> 00:15:10.159 From the beginning of the church, the church has faced threats of leaders and teachers coming into the church walls and taking advantage of people and listeners who are hurting, who are vulnerable, and or who are susceptible to be led astray by a false teaching. 00:15:10.559 --> 00:15:27.519 And you can find this all throughout the New Testament, everywhere you look, in all the accounts of the early church, many of Paul's letters to his churches, Galatians, Colossians, Ephesians, even his letter to Timothy, they're full of warnings and judgments on these kinds of teachers and teachings. 00:15:28.080 --> 00:15:33.200 Here's how he describes it to Timothy, 2 Timothy 4, verses 1 through 4. 00:15:34.320 --> 00:15:45.440 I, Paul, charge you, Timothy, in the presence of God in Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing in his kingdom, preach the word. 00:15:46.799 --> 00:15:54.080 Be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with complete patience and teaching. 00:15:55.200 --> 00:16:10.000 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but have itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 00:16:12.480 --> 00:16:20.480 The call to preach the word and the call to contend for the faith, they have the same heart, the same urgency. 00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:31.360 Paul and Jude have a deep urgency and care to keep the purity of the church in our confession pure and real and strong. 00:16:32.080 --> 00:16:39.039 To not listen to these the other teachers or these messages that come and subvert the sufficiency of Jesus. 00:16:39.519 --> 00:16:41.840 Because look at the way these people are described by Jude. 00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:45.039 Certain people have crept in unnoticed, he says. 00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:49.919 These people did not arrive loud or obvious. 00:16:50.240 --> 00:16:51.919 They probably didn't demand attention. 00:16:52.000 --> 00:17:07.039 They probably weren't in a formal leadership position, but rather through their own deceitful strategy, they began teaching things that they knew people wanted to hear in order to serve their self-interest, to serve their agendas for whatever reasons. 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:10.799 Author and teacher Jackie Hill Perry makes this point. 00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:14.880 False teachers have come and will stay as long as they can. 00:17:15.599 --> 00:17:23.599 It is their going unnoticed that allows them to continue leading and wooing Christians away from the faith that was delivered to them. 00:17:25.200 --> 00:17:26.480 That resonates. 00:17:33.279 --> 00:17:33.440 Right? 00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:34.559 Jude 4. 00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:38.880 These people who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality, right? 00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:42.000 Deny our Master, our only Master. 00:17:42.960 --> 00:17:55.359 Meaning God's free gift of grace, found only in Jesus, has been perverted into something that appeals more to your senses than what God has revealed about Himself. 00:17:56.000 --> 00:18:09.039 Namely, that the teachings of Jesus and His grace, they can now be used as a free pass to indulge in anything you'd want to, to indulge in any sin or desire that your body may crave. 00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:14.400 And the teaching that what you feel in any given moment is the most true thing about you. 00:18:15.759 --> 00:18:18.079 These are what these teachers were teaching. 00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:21.839 And in some ways, I think they're what we want to hear. 00:18:22.400 --> 00:18:25.279 And that's what makes it so deceitful. 00:18:25.839 --> 00:18:29.519 The examples that Jude gives make this clear. 00:18:29.839 --> 00:18:32.319 Let's read verses 5 through 7. 00:18:33.039 --> 00:18:43.920 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 00:18:44.400 --> 00:18:55.759 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority but left their proper dwelling, he is kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgments of the great day. 00:18:56.240 --> 00:19:10.319 Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, served as an as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. 00:19:11.519 --> 00:19:28.880 Harsh words to these teachers and these examples, the Exodus from Egypt, the rebellion of angels, an account of Sodom and Gomorrah, all familiar narratives to us today, if you've been around church for a while, but even more visceral to the original audience of whom this was a much nearer history. 00:19:29.440 --> 00:19:37.680 Jude recalls that after the Israelites were freed from Egyptian slavery by the hand of God, by the hand of Jesus, he says, I find that interesting. 00:19:42.640 --> 00:19:51.119 He uses the example of angels who history past had rebelled against the lordship of Jesus and sought out a power and authority of their own. 00:19:51.359 --> 00:20:10.000 And finally, he cites Genesis 19 in the account of Sodom and Gomorrah, where God brings judgments on a people who had fully given themselves and rebelled against their God and given themselves over to their own sin, to their own desires, rebelled against the lordship of their creator. 00:20:10.640 --> 00:20:12.160 All of these examples. 00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:27.039 No different from the Egyptians, no different from the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, no different from the rebellious angels, and their judgment will be the same. 00:20:28.640 --> 00:20:36.079 See, since the beginning of creation, across time, across history, God has been moving toward his people in love. 00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:42.799 He's been orchestrating history, his redemptive history, in order to live and dwell among his people. 00:20:43.039 --> 00:20:47.759 What the Bible shows us is that you, his people, are what God cares about most. 00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:56.640 And the key to understanding most of the Bible is that God is always working for his glory and for our good, and that these two things go hand in hand. 00:20:57.039 --> 00:21:02.400 That's what's happening throughout all of redemptive history and our history now. 00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:12.240 But, Church, as you know, it is remarkably easy for us to be led astray. 00:21:13.359 --> 00:21:32.160 See, two thousand years ago, the Son of God took on flesh in human form in Jesus, lived a perfect life of obedience, and died a perfect death reserved only for the disobedient, died in our place, really died, and on the third day resurrected in power and glory and victory over sin and death. 00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:33.920 That is a closed case. 00:21:35.119 --> 00:21:44.559 There's nothing to be added or subtracted from that, nothing to be added or subtracted for what Jesus has done for you and for me and his people and his church. 00:21:45.359 --> 00:21:52.880 But as you know, many of you with painstaking truth, the final and ultimate defeat of sin has yet to come. 00:21:53.519 --> 00:21:58.559 We live in what many people call the already but not yet at our point in history. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:02.799 Christ has died and raised, but not yet has he returned. 00:22:03.039 --> 00:22:09.279 Sin already defeated on the cross in a way that has secured us life in Jesus, but is not yet. 00:22:09.519 --> 00:22:18.400 It is not yet the day of the Lord where He will return in judgment and destroy finally and ultimately any remnant of evil and suffering. 00:22:19.599 --> 00:22:30.000 As we live in the middle, I think the message that Jude has for us is that we ought to not underestimate our ability to drift, to be led astray. 00:22:30.559 --> 00:22:36.960 See, I played in a golf tournament a few weeks back and I shot the highest score, bad thing in golf, since I played in high school. 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:38.480 Highest score since high school. 00:22:38.640 --> 00:22:54.559 And I'm not going to share what that score was, but some quick math taught me that it is 4.5 standard deviations away from my average, if you care, which equates to a 0.0003% chance that I am capable of playing that badly again. 00:22:56.160 --> 00:23:02.079 And I would have thought on the first T, on my drive there, on my drive home, if you told me that score, I would have been like, no what? 00:23:02.160 --> 00:23:04.480 I can't, I'm not capable of that anymore. 00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:07.359 I've grown past it, I've graduated from it. 00:23:08.160 --> 00:23:10.000 But I I shot it. 00:23:11.039 --> 00:23:11.680 I did. 00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:15.200 And it happened fast, as you know, if you play golf. 00:23:16.720 --> 00:23:25.279 In church, it is natural for us to think that we don't have the capability or the capacity to drift or to fall for false teaching. 00:23:25.519 --> 00:23:28.319 We can think there's no way I would fall for that. 00:23:28.559 --> 00:23:30.000 I would never fail in that way. 00:23:30.079 --> 00:23:32.000 I would never fall into that sin again. 00:23:32.160 --> 00:23:34.400 That kind of evil is beyond me. 00:23:36.160 --> 00:23:38.240 But the data would say otherwise. 00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:50.720 Thousands of teens leaving the faith after high school, church attendance dwindling across the country, deconstruction and drifting everywhere you look, pastors and leaders falling into moral failures around every corner. 00:23:51.519 --> 00:23:55.599 We are capable of much more drifting and much more sin than we think. 00:23:55.920 --> 00:24:06.160 And Jude is urging us as a church, not just individually, but together as a church, to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 00:24:06.319 --> 00:24:09.519 That same faith then is the same faith we contend for now. 00:24:09.839 --> 00:24:23.519 And that faith we fight for, it's not a confession of strong willpower or be stronger, do better, but to confess the sufficiency, the enoughness of Jesus and his grace. 00:24:24.480 --> 00:24:28.400 See, the world around you and false teachers are going to whisper in your ear. 00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:34.559 They're going to make nice sounding, but ultimately hollow arguments that you should abandon this old religion of Christianity. 00:24:36.079 --> 00:24:46.799 These messages have crept into our devotionals, our churches, our social media timelines with messages of live your truth, evolve past these old ways of the Bible. 00:24:48.160 --> 00:24:53.519 But the commands and the call and encouragement from Judas to contend for this faith. 00:24:53.759 --> 00:24:58.400 It's the only faith that has lasted the scrutiny and suffering of Christianity. 00:24:58.640 --> 00:25:00.640 Thousands and thousands of years. 00:25:01.759 --> 00:25:03.279 Contend for the faith. 00:25:03.680 --> 00:25:06.480 I want to close with three quick points for us to walk away with. 00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:13.839 The first being, hold fast to the faith that everything we could ever need or desire is found in Jesus. 00:25:14.319 --> 00:25:16.880 It's simple but remarkably hard to believe. 00:25:17.039 --> 00:25:18.960 Hold fast to that faith. 00:25:19.440 --> 00:25:24.400 Secondly, there are evil forces working restlessly to convince you otherwise. 00:25:24.720 --> 00:25:27.680 It's out there, Jude knows it, we know it. 00:25:29.200 --> 00:25:35.039 And third, and finally, contending for the faith does not mean adopting an us versus them mentality. 00:25:35.359 --> 00:25:37.039 God is the rightful judge. 00:25:37.279 --> 00:25:41.680 We are called to love our neighbor and long for the day he makes all things new. 00:25:43.119 --> 00:25:50.400 In the face of doubt, suffering, temptation, appealing, and shiny new teachings, cling to Jesus. 00:25:50.640 --> 00:25:51.680 That's the command. 00:25:51.920 --> 00:25:53.680 Collapse in his loving arms. 00:25:53.839 --> 00:25:55.440 Let him hold you fast. 00:25:56.240 --> 00:25:58.400 The gospel is worth fighting for. 00:25:58.799 --> 00:26:02.960 And praise God that our hope is in him and not ourselves. 00:26:03.119 --> 00:26:06.559 That is the good news of Jude and the good news of the gospel of Jesus. 00:26:06.799 --> 00:26:10.240 If you have any questions about the sermon or need prayer, I'll be down front afterward. 00:26:10.319 --> 00:26:11.759 Let's pray together. 00:26:13.839 --> 00:26:16.799 Jesus, we thank you for your word. 00:26:17.920 --> 00:26:26.079 You are the word, became flesh, and you have lived a magnificent example of what it means to contend for the faith. 00:26:27.039 --> 00:26:28.480 Jesus, we need you. 00:26:28.720 --> 00:26:30.160 Your church needs you. 00:26:30.480 --> 00:26:31.920 Lord, we are imperfect. 00:26:32.160 --> 00:26:36.960 We fulfill our roles as sons and daughters of God very imperfectly. 00:26:37.359 --> 00:26:40.400 But the good news is that you do not love us based on that. 00:26:40.640 --> 00:26:47.440 You don't love us based on our resume, how much we have succeeded or failed, but you love us because you love us. 00:26:47.759 --> 00:26:52.079 Lord, I pray that you would give us a zeal for your house, a zeal for your word. 00:26:52.799 --> 00:27:02.799 Lord, that we would contend for the faith, not in a way of stirring up arguments for arguments' sake, not to tear other people down, but Lord, to hold fast to your gospel. 00:27:03.039 --> 00:27:05.200 Hold fast to the truth that you are enough. 00:27:05.359 --> 00:27:10.160 I pray that that message would permeate every corner of our heart. 00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:13.519 We pray this all in the name and blood of Jesus. 00:27:13.759 --> 00:27:14.400 Amen.