The Book Of Jude - Part 2

Q: What does the Bible say about common salvation?

The Bible teaches that common salvation is the salvation that all true believers receive through God's sovereign mercy and electing grace. In Jude 3, the author speaks of a 'common salvation,' which reflects the unity among all believers in how they are saved. This salvation is rooted in the sovereign mercy and electing grace of God. Jude emphasizes that all who are saved experience the same grace of God, regardless of when they lived or what specific traditions they may have followed. Whether Old Testament saints like Abel and Abraham or New Testament believers, all are saved through faith in the coming Christ and His redemptive work. This commonality highlights the sovereignty of God in the salvation process.

Q: How do we know the doctrine of election is true?

The doctrine of election is affirmed through various Scripture passages that highlight God's sovereign choice in salvation. The truth of the doctrine of election is deeply rooted in Scripture. In Ephesians 1:4-5, Paul asserts that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, indicating a sovereign decision made by God. Moreover, Romans 8:29-30 details how those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. The uniformity of belief among all truly saved individuals, as indicated in Jude 3, further supports the idea that salvation is not based on human choice but divine election. God's sovereignty ensures that His plans and purposes are fulfilled in the salvation of His people.

Q: Why is it important for Christians to contend for the faith?

Contending for the faith is crucial as it protects the purity of the gospel and ensures adherence to the truths once delivered to the saints. In Jude 3, the imperative to 'earnestly contend for the faith' underscores the importance of defending the gospel's integrity against false teachings. This exhortation is not merely a call to debate but a directive to hold firmly to the core truths of Christianity. The faith mentioned here refers to the complete body of doctrine delivered to the saints, which is vital for the church's health. By contending for the faith, believers actively resist heresies and safeguard the truth of God's word, ensuring that subsequent generations are taught and uphold the authentic gospel. This vigilance is crucial, especially in an age where many are led astray by false doctrines.

Q: What does the Bible mean by ungodly men in Jude?

Ungodly men refer to those who distort the grace of God and lead others away from the truth of the gospel. In Jude 4, the term 'ungodly men' characterizes those who have crept into the church unnoticed, introducing false doctrines while corrupting the grace of God. These individuals often distort the message of grace to justify immoral behavior, thus twisting the biblical understanding of grace and its implications for Christian living. They operate under a guise of piety but lack a true heart for God, and their teachings are marked by self-interest rather than a desire for God's glory. Jude's warning against them emphasizes the necessity of discernment within the church to protect the flock from spiritual danger, ensuring that believers remain rooted in the truth of God's word.

Q: How is salvation through Christ presented in Jude?

Salvation through Christ is foundational and is presented as a result of God's sovereign action rather than human effort. Jude expresses the essence of salvation by highlighting that it is rooted in God's sovereign mercy and grace, involving the work of Christ. The verse stresses that all who are saved have this in common: they are justified through Christ's sacrifice, whether in the Old Testament or the New. Jude refers to the necessity of the Holy Spirit working through the preaching of the gospel, indicating that salvation is a supernatural act of God rather than a human endeavor. This reinforces the historic Reformed understanding that salvation is all of grace, emphasizing God's initiative in choosing and redeeming His people.

Jude now. The book of Jude. In verse 3 of the book of Jude, he said that he wrote unto them,
Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common
Salvation. A common salvation. We looked
at this Wednesday night, but let me just refer to it again. But the common salvation he's
talking about here is salvation that all believers have in common. That's what he's saying. This
is the salvation. that all believers have in common. In other words, all truly saved
people are saved the same way. That's what he's saying. They
all have been saved. They have this in common. They
have been saved by the sovereign mercy and electing grace of God
Almighty. If anyone is saved, it's because
God chooses them. Because God sets his love upon
them, sovereign love. If anyone is saved, they are
saved by God choosing them, by God sending his Son down here
to redeem them. Old Testament saints were saved
by Christ redeeming them. You say, He wasn't here yet.
No, but He's called the Lamb slain before the foundation of
the world. And the sacrifice that Abel brought,
which God said he accepted Abel and his sacrifice. Abel was looking
to the Christ who was to come, who would shed his blood to put
away his sin. And that sacrifice that he brought
was a type of the Christ. Abraham believed Christ. That's
what our Lord said. He rejoiced to see my day. He
saw it and was glad. Everyone who's saved is saved
by God sovereignly choosing them, electing them. Yes, electing.
By God sending his son down here to redeem them, to live a righteous
life and charge it or impute it to
their account, to die to pay for all of their sins, all of
them. By the Holy Spirit, everyone who's saved, God saves them the
same way. He saves them by sending the
Holy Spirit through the preaching of the gospel. He doesn't save
them sitting on a mountaintop. He doesn't save them through
dreams and visions and signs and wonders. He saves them through
the preaching of this. That's what 1 Corinthians 1 verse
20 or 21 says. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. And he said in First
Thessalonians that God called you by our gospel, God the Holy
Spirit. Everybody is saved the same way. They have it in common. It's
common salvation. You see that? That's what he's
talking about. They are called by God's Spirit,
and that's what he said up there in verse 1. Sanctified by God,
set apart by God, chosen by God, preserved in Jesus Christ. That means they're in Christ,
of God are you in Christ, who of God is made unto you, wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, redemption, and called, called
by God the Spirit through preaching the gospel. All right? So he
says it's That's the common salvation. Everybody's saved, saved the
same way. And God teaches them that. They
don't have different conceptions of salvation. No, no, no, no. All these denominations are man-made. Believers don't. You know, I
hate, I really hate to have, these days, to have the name
Baptist on our church building. Because people are so taken up
with denomination and have preconceived notions of denomination. Baptists
years ago, that used to stand for something. Most Baptists
preached the truth. Not now. And there's so many different
kinds of Baptists. There's many different Baptists as there are
weeds. And so I really hate denominations. All of God's people, all saved
people are in the Church, the Church of Christ. It's a shame
that they use that denomination. And they all believe the same
way. John 6, 45, Our Lord said this, They shall all be taught
of God. And he was quoting Isaiah, which
said, All thy children shall be taught of thee. All God's
children are taught by God the Father. Taught what? That He's
God. Not wants to be, not tries to
be and can't, not does things and fails and such. He's God.
And that Christ is salvation. I mean, He's the Savior. He's
Lord. They don't make Him Lord. They know that. Every one of
God's children knows that nobody makes Christ Lord. God made Him
Lord. And they all know that if they're
going to be saved, God has to choose them, has to send Christ,
that all their salvation is up to Him. It's common salvation. All right? OK. Now, I could stay
right there all morning, but we've already preached on that. Where are my notes for Wednesday
night? Maybe I'll just go back and do it again. But no, let's
go on. So he writes here in verse 3,
he says, Now it's necessary, it's needful, for me, see the
middle part there, it's needful for me to write unto you and
exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith, not your
faith, not a faith, the faith, which was once delivered unto
the saints. Or that is, the first faith is
delivered to Abel, Saint Abel. It's necessary, he said, that
I write that you should earnestly stand for, be dogmatic about,
be unbending about, to contend for the faith. The faith. And Paul said in Ephesians chapter
four, listen to me now. He said in Ephesians four that
there's one Lord, one faith. One faith. One way to believe. Somebody said, Oh, I just believe
everybody at different different ways and different beliefs. And
they believe this way and we believe that way. We're all in
that. No, that's not. That's not what God's word says.
Ephesians four, one faith. And he says here, the faith.
That was once delivered on the same and has been passed down
through the year. Same thing. And that and he says we should
contend for We should contend for it. Verse 4. Read with me. May God use it. In verse 4, he
says, There are certain men crept in unaware. Certain men. Now, they're women now. Let me just give you a word of
warning. I think you know this, but do
you see the direction that religion is heading? Do you see how that
women are being more and more in the place of position of authority
in what so-called church? Do you see that? It seems like
every time I read something about some so-called church, it's Reverend
Sally this or Reverend Mary. Do you see where it's headed? It's no insignificant thing that
the church of the great whore is as a woman as its head. Right? In Revelations, the false
church, the Babylonian church, has a woman at its head. People, scriptures are very clear
about this. I don't care how they explain
it away. Scriptures are very clear. 1
Timothy 1. First Corinthians 14. Very, very clear. That women are not to be in the
position of a pastor. In the authority of the church.
And this is a whole other subject. Because a man represents Christ.
As Christ is the head of the man, man is the head of the woman.
And so forth and so on. But it goes without saying that
if a woman's up there, she's false. Anytime you see a woman,
Preacher marker. Immediately. She's one of these
creeps. And she's talking about creeps.
Certain men, and now women, crept in unaware. I believe that's
where we got the word creep. Crept in unaware. How do you
creep in? How does a man creep in? You got a TV? You got a radio? They creep in, unaware. Paul told Timothy, said, these
fellows will creep in, lead silly women captive. That's women sitting
at home with their hair all up in rollers, watching Donahue
or Oprah. And here this creep comes on
another station. And he just mesmerizes her and
got her. She sends her check. Silly women,
captive. These creeps, these fellas, these
false creatures, these false brethren. And before I go on with all of this, unless somebody thinks, somebody
may be in here or somebody hears it on tape, someone thinks I'm
too hard or too judgmental. I hope not, but all I'm trying
to be is true to what God's words say. But unless someone thinks
I'm too hard or judgmental and make too much of false prophets
and false religion, just read the prophets. Just go back and
start reading the prophets. They never had anything good
to say about anybody, about their generation, especially preachers.
Especially preachers, Charles, especially preachers. Oh, they
blasted the preachers of their day. John the Baptist, when he came
preaching, he's called the last of the Old Testament prophets,
isn't he? John the Baptist, you know when he started his message
out on Sunday morning? Or Saturday morning, Sabbath?
You know how he started out? Oh, you generation of vipers!
Snakes! Do you reckon First Baptist Church
of Kalamazoo would sit there and listen to that? They didn't then either. They
cut his head off. At any rate, our Lord came. What
did Christ, Jesus Christ—they call Him gentle Jesus, meek and
mild—how did He preach? What did He say? Vipers, hypocrites,
woe unto you scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites. And he went down
the line, didn't he? Denouncing. In Matthew 23, read
it for yourself. Down the line, exposing and denouncing
their heresy. And John the Apostle, John, listen,
John the Apostle in 1 John 4, he says, try the spirits, didn't
he? Let me say that in 1 John 4,
1. Try the spirits. That means preachers. Try them.
Because he's got reverend in front of his name, don't believe
him. As a matter of fact, if he has reverend in front of his
name, he's already suspect. Right? A man that fears God would fear
to take that title. But just because he's a reverend,
because he stands up in the pulpit, because he went to the cemetery,
doesn't mean that you should listen to him. He says, try the spirit. Judge
him. That's what he said. Judge him.
How do you judge the spirit? And you go home. That's the reason
so important people carry Bibles. You know that most churches don't
take Bibles. People, do you know that? Most
churches, so-called churches, the church does, but most so-called
churches don't carry Bibles with them. The people don't carry
Bibles. Amen, that's so. Everybody I talk to, they tell
me that. That's the way it was in the
dark ages, Roman Catholicism. The Bible was up on the pulpit
for a piece of furniture. The pulpit Bible. And the preacher was saying things
in Latin that then nobody knew, and nobody knew nothing. Preacher
knew less. That's the way it is today, Stan. We need to take a Bible, and
as a man's preaching say, follow along carefully. comparing spiritual
things with spiritual policy. That means Scripture with Scripture.
Don't take his word for one verse. Search the Scripture. See if
what he's saying is so. See if it gels with the rest
of the book. He might have versitis. Versitis. Preachers have that.
They take one verse. and build whole messages and
denominations on it, and take it totally out of context, and
it didn't mean at all what the Scripture said. Well, all right, so that's what
I'm saying. In case you think I'm too hard,
John, Jude, our Lord, John the Baptist, all the prophets, and
so on and so forth, keep warning the people. And I believe that
Christ is coming soon. This is the last days. Judgment
has begun at the house of God, the so-called church. And because
Paul said to Timothy, they turned away their ears from the truth
and turned unto the fable. Because Isaiah said, Judgment's
fallen, or truth has fallen in the street. Cannot enter. Men won't have it. I think this
is the end times. All the more reason to warn us,
hey, Watch out. Watch out. The woods are full of them. Read
on. He says there are ungodly men.
Verse 4. He says there are certain men
crept in unaware before of old, ordained to this condemnation.
What does that mean, preacher? It means what it says. It means
that God Almighty, somehow or another, is determined for these
fellows to be that. If not, he'd have put them out
of it. He'd have done away with them. If God hadn't willed it.
And I read this from the Scriptures. There must be heresies among
you. I read that. There must be heresies
among you that they which are approved might be made manifest.
Why? How? How are they made manifest?
That's what I was just saying. But there must be heresies among
you. And there are. There are ticks everywhere. with
their heresies. Ungodly men, he says, see that? Ungodly men. They might not necessarily
be outwardly immoral. Now listen very carefully. He's not necessarily talking
about outwardly immoral fellows. Can you be ungodly and be an
upright, moral, good citizen, not drink, smoke, I'm not advocating
those things. This is the way they talk. Can
you be ungodly and still be outwardly pious? The Pharisees were. Every one of them. As a matter
of fact, our Lord said, you're careful to clean up the outside
of the cup. He said, but within, they're full of extortion and
excess. Like whited graves. Whited sepulchers,
didn't they? Ungodly. I believe what he says
here. Ungodly. The closest meaning
to this word ungodly is a fellow who doesn't have a heart of God
in him. Like David. Doesn't have the heart. Not a
man after God's own heart. What does it mean to be a man
after God's own heart? What about a preacher? How do you know if
he's a man after God's own heart? I'll tell you. I'll tell you,
how do you know a fellow's a man after God's own heart and not
an ungodly fellow? A fellow's not like God, ungodly. He's not like God. I'll tell
you how. A preacher after God's own heart is concerned with God's
glory. Number one. First and foremost
and primarily, one thing he's concerned with, that he tells
the truth on God, cost what it may. Anybody that's not is ungodly. He's concerned with God's honor,
God's glory, God's Word. He's scared to death to tell
a lie on this. Why? It's God's Word. That's
why. Yeah, but so-and-so doesn't like it. Big deal! This is God's
Word. He's scared to death not to tell
it like it is. And all of it. Paul said, I'm
free from the blood of men's hands. I've not shunned to declare
all the counsel of God. He said, I've become some people's
enemy for telling the truth. But so be it. He said, I don't
count my life, dear, unto me. And so he had his head cut off.
They cut Paul's head off. But he wasn't afraid. He said,
after that, I go to be with my head. Christ. He said, I'm pure from
the blood of all men. There was a godly man. He didn't
necessarily walk around with his hands folded a certain way
and look a certain way. That's not what it means to be
godly. That's what the Pharisees did, people. They looked godly,
but they weren't. It's in here. the man after God's
own heart with a heart for the glory of God and a heart for
the people. You know what it means to have
a heart for the people? Like God, like Christ has a heart
for His people, it means to be concerned about their eternal
welfare, not their temporal approbation or comfort per se. In other words, Paul said, I've become some men's
enemies for telling them the truth, but if the truth be known,
I'm the best friend that they ever had. David said it. He said, let the
righteous smite me. It'll be a kindness. What's that
verse in Scripture? I wish I could think of it. The kisses of an enemy are deceitful. That's what it said. Kisses.
I love you, brother. God loves you and so do I. You snake. You're out for their money. I'm telling you the truth. The
kisses of an enemy are deceitful. The wounds faithful are the wounds
of a friend. Let the righteous smite me. It'll
be a kindness. It'll be an oil that won't break
my head. It'll anoint it. It'll knock some sense into me. Ungodly man, he said. That's
what it means to be ungodly. And read on. I've got to hurry. Can I make this a three-part?
Well, he says there are ungodly men that turn the grace of our
God into lasciviousness. That's antinomian fellows that,
you know, say it doesn't matter how you live. Oh, my. And they've accused us of that.
And they always do and always will. Any man that preaches grace
clear enough, anybody that preaches salvation of the Lord, entirely
of the Lord, without man's work is going to be accused of being
antinomian. He's going to be accused of preaching that doesn't
matter how you live. Right? But I'm not going to address
that. I'm just not. If you come here
long enough, you'll hear it verse by verse. Turning the grace of
God into lasciviousness, denying, read on, denying the only Lord
God That's going on in preaching to this impotent Jesus, our Lord
Jesus Christ. That's the reason we don't keep
calling Him Jesus, people. He's our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord. They're denying Him. Oh, they have a form of godliness,
but denying the power thereof. What power thereof? That He has
all power. Deny it. Jesus wants you. Well, that ain't my Jesus, bud.
Jesus wants you to do this. Jesus wants you to do that. Jesus
loves you. He wants you to love. Your Jesus may, but mine doesn't. He's my Lord, Jesus Christ. What he wants, he gets. Hey, deny the Lord God, the only
Lord God. The only one with a free will.
God says, I will, I will, I will, therefore you shall. It doesn't
sound like man has a free will, does it? It sounds like God's
will is free. In direct opposition to Scripture
to say, doesn't I have free will, men insist upon it. They make
man out to be a little god. That's what these fellows do.
Verse 5, let's read on. He said, I will therefore put
you in remembrance. You knew this. And he's warning
them in verses 5 through 7. He's warning them of what happened
to the children of Israel. All right? He's warning them
what happened to the children of Israel. What happened to them?
Well, they left the truth. They quit listening. to Moses. Didn't it? Joe Moses didn't change,
did he? He kept right on bringing them
a word from God. And they started listening to
Korah and the boys. Remember? Started listening to
other voices. Started looking within. Started
longing, looking back for Egypt. Or like Lot's wife, Look back
beside them and it says they perished. They perished, left the truth,
left off the truth to listen to various fellas that called
themselves preachers, like Horace. Go on. It says in verse, let's
jump down to verse eight. Verse eight says, These filthy
dreamers And if time would allow it, I
would have had you turn to Jeremiah 23, if you're taking notes. Let
me just read it to you real fast, all right? Jeremiah 23. He says
this, listen. Jeremiah 23. He says, My heart is broken because
of prophets. All my bones shake. I'm like
a drunken man, like a man because of the words He said, because
of the Lord and because of the words of his holiness. Jeremiah
says, my heart is broken because of all these so-called prophets
today, because of the Lord and because of the word of his holiness.
Isn't that what we were just saying? Because men are denying
the only Lord God, our Lord, our hope, and the word of his
holiness. They're not preaching it to people
or having it withheld from them. Let me listen to him. He said,
the land is full of adulterers. prophet and priest are profane.
Now go on down to verse 17. He says, they're telling people
that despise me, the Lord has said you shall have peace. No evil shall come upon you.
God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. God says in verse 18, who stood
in the counsel of the Lord and heard him say that? How can you
go to people and tell them that? That's what God's saying here.
How can we go to people and tell them, God loves you and has a
wonderful plan for that? Were you in on it? He said, who stood
in the counsel of the Lord and proceeded and heard His Word?
Heard Him say that? How could I do that, Stan? Go
to a man I never met before and say, God loves you? How do I
know? Was I there when God said, I
love Job Smith? No. The only way we know is if
that man loves Christ. And I can tell that man that
loves Christ because the Scripture says the love of God is in Christ.
I can say, man, you love Christ. You bow to Christ. You believe
Christ. Yes, God loves you, man. Has a wonderful plan for your
life. No evil shall come upon you. You're in Christ. You're
safe. You're kept by His power. I can
say that to that man. But some dude on the street I
don't know who has no interest in God, you know what I tell
him? I don't say, smile, God loves you. I say, you better
get on your knees. The wrath of God abides on the
ungodly. But these filthy dreamers, he
says, they dreamed this up, Stan. They dreamed this up. God didn't
say it. They dreamed it up. They got
Bursitis, John 3, 16. Bursitis. They take that to mean
that God loves every individual without exception. even he saw. Filthy dreamers. That's what
Jude calls them. Is that kind? Oh, it shouldn't
be so hard. Filthy dreamers. Verse 8, defile the flesh, despise
dominion, speak evil of dignities. You've seen and heard these fellows,
haven't you? You've seen and heard them talk
about the devil. You know how I told the devil this, I told
the devil that. Have you heard them do that?
Huh? The devil came to me and said this, and I said to the
devil, Get back, devil! And they paint little faces on
balloons and stomp on the devil. They do that. Handling snakes, I'll show the
devil. I got faith. That's the work
of the devil, people. What they're doing is the work
of the devil. See, a house divided against itself does not stand.
They're doing His work, making them to be absolute fools. This is what Judas is saying
here. He says they speak evil of dignities,
and read on. He says in verse 9, Michael,
dignities means powers, it means principalities, powers, spiritual
rulers of the darkness of this world, like Paul said in Ephesians
6. He said they speak evil of dignities,
a proud word. Yet Michael, the archangel, when
contending, With the devil disputing about the body of Moses, it says
he didn't even bring a railing accusation, but said the Lord
rebuked thee. Now listen people, when this
world is going to be destroyed, God's going to call four angels
to wrap it up. Seven, to loose the seven seals,
but four to wrap it up. One angel can destroy a fourth of this earth. That's
how powerful one angel is. They're real. That's true. They're
real. One angel. And he says here, the archangel
Michael, the personal ambassador or emissary of Christ himself,
Michael, who was sent all through the Old Testament, he said he
didn't even That's for you. But a stronger
than you is the Lord is. And he wasn't any bolster, John,
was he? Michael, the archangel, he wasn't any bolster. Get back
there. But these filthy dreamers, like
old Sons of Seba. I love that story in Acts. Those
Sons of Seba, you know, that took upon themselves to cast
out demons. Remember what happened? one of
those demons, not the devil, one demon, one little gopher
of the devil said to those seven guys, those seven exorcists,
said, Now, we know Christ Jesus, and we know Paul, but just who
are you? And they went running out of
that place naked. Seven thieves went out naked. I wish the Lord
would do that. to do that in some of these modern-day
meetings. But they'd say he had the spirit.
They'd say they got the spirit back. Look at them. They would. That's how far gone
they are. Brute beasts, verse ten, speak
evil of those things they don't know. Brute beasts. What he's
saying is they're ignorant savages. ignorant savages. Am I being too hard? This is Apostle Judas. This is
God's Word. He said they're ignorant savages. And people, that's what the world
of religion is turning into. Do you see it? Do you know what
the most, the, you know what is being, taking this country
right now? It's called the Toronto Blessing.
I don't know if you've heard it or seen it yet, but up in
Toronto, Canada, they had this big meeting. Thousands of people
attended it. And it was supposedly the greatest
Holy Spirit-filled meeting ever. You know what happened up there?
What it was is this fellow who's in charge of it. It starts with
some filthy dreamer, you know, who had this revelation. This
fellow, he said, what it is now, what we need to do is, everybody,
he said, what we need to do is don't think about anything. Don't
think. Don't. Just let the Spirit take
over. Just let the Spirit take over.
Don't ask questions. Don't read. Don't think. Don't
do anything. Just sit there. Let the Spirit
take over. And don't examine it. He said,
don't question it. Don't question it. Let it take
over. And it did. And people were writhing in the
floor, and you know how it looked like? They looked like Sodom's
that they had to close on. That made me next. Writhing in
the floor. People are so-called slain by
the Spirit, laying there laughing like, laughing. You seen that
on TV? Laying there laughing. Ha, ha,
ha. No gospel being preached. No nothing. Let the Spirit take
over. It does. It's Saints sweeping the country. Don't think now. Don't read.
Leave your Bible at home. Don't examine. Don't question
what the preacher is saying. Don't, don't, don't. Let the
Spirit take over. Ignorant savages. Let's dance
around this pole. Brute beast. Verse 11. Read on. I've got to hurry. I've got to
quit. He says, Woe unto them, they've
gone the way of Cain. Gone the way of Cain. People,
there are only two religions. I'm going to quit with this.
I'm going to have to make it three part. There's only two religions
in the world. Two religions. It started with
the two men that went to church one day. Cain and Abel. Cain and Abel. I want you to
turn back there, OK? Very quickly. Genesis 4. Genesis 4. It started with these
two fellas. These two fellas. And they went to church one day.
Their dad and their mom told them to worship God. Didn't it? Adam said you need to worship
God on the Sabbath day. And they went to church one morning,
Cain and Abel, their brothers. And their dad and mom told them
how to worship God. There's only one way to worship
God. Right? Adam knew. Blood. Blood. Blood sacrifice. And he went on to talk about
that blood. That's a picture of the Christ who's going to
come, who's going to live a righteous life and charge that to you and
shed his blood to pay for your sin. Without the shea of blood,
there's no remission of sin. Because without holiness and
righteousness, if you sin, you're not going to be with God. We
know that. Your mama and I know that. God kicked us out of the
garden because we sinned. And He won't have anything to
do with anybody that's a sinner. And the only way God will even
speak to us now is if we bring a blood, if we bring a lamb. God won't speak to us, Abel.
God won't speak to us, Cain, unless we have a lamb and blood
with us. Now, y'all hear this? And the
blood maketh atonement for the soul. So these two boys went to church
one morning and came the oldest one, smart, hardworking. What
did he bring? Now, read down here. It says,
it came, verse 3, brought of the fruit of the ground and offering
unto the Lord. He worked hard. He worked hard
with his hands. He worked with his hands. Hard! Plowing, tilling, got this
basket of fruits and vegetables and all this that he worked hard
for. God's going to be pleased. I've
worked hard. I'm going to give ten percent of what I've made
to the Lord. He's going to like it. Built
him an altar. Built him a real nice office.
Built him an office. And put that food on there and
stood back just proud of himself. Oh, God's going to like this.
And waited. What does it say? It said in
verse 5, unto Cain and his offering he had not respect. No respect. Why? Because it was Cain's works. It was what came to him. Or out
of the other brothers, it says, Verse 4, Abel brought the firstling
of his flock, sheep and goats, fat thereof. That is, he killed
it. Blood. The Lord had respect unto Abel
and his offering. Why? Because it's a picture of
Christ coming to God through Christ to sacrifice. No other
way. Not your own words. Coming to
God through what he gives by grace. By grace, you say. Abel didn't raise that sheep,
per se. God gives life. God gave that
sheep. He just watched it grow. He didn't do that. The Lamb of
God, which taketh away the sin of the world. And God had respect
unto Abel and his offering. And to Cain, his offering, he
had no respect. He was wrong. There's only two
religions ever since then. You either come to God by what
you are, what you're doing, what you bring, or you come to God
through Christ. And you can call it whatever
denomination you want to call it. You can call it Methodist,
Presbyterian, Baptist, Catholic, whatever, but if it's bringing
your words, if it's pleading something you are or something
you have done, God rejects it. It's called self-righteousness,
going about to establish your own righteousness or acceptance
with God. God rejects it, hands down. I
don't care how good it is. I don't care how good it looks.
I don't care how sincere you are. God says, No! It's not good
enough. But you come to Christ, everyone
is accepted into belonging to religion. Now look at this, and
I'll close with this verse. I promise, I promise. Look at
verse 5, unto Cain and his offering he had not respect, and Cain
was wroth, and his countenance fell. The Lord said unto Cain,
Why are you wroth? Why has your countenance fallen?
If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? What is it to
do well? To do the works of God, to do
what God will accept. What must we do to do the works
of God? What will God accept? If you
do well, Cain, won't you be accepted? What is it to do well, John?
What's a good work? This is the work of Him that
sent me, Christ said, that you believe on the Son. Believe Christ. But that's not doing anything.
Right! Right! It's just to believe is
to say, My works are nothing. His works are everything. That's what it means to do well.
If you do well, won't you be accepted? Abraham just, or Abel
just bought what God said to bring, blood. And a sinner just
comes to God with what God said to bring, blood. And he's accepted. That's it. That's it. And this
right here, he said now, Cain, verse seven, if you don't do
well, now listen, this is very important. Cain, if you don't
do well, If you don't do what I said to do, are you reading this verse seven? Sin lieth at the door, and unto
thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. You understand what that's saying? That if you don't trust Christ,
if you don't believe Christ, If your religion is anything
but Christ, you're going to be subject to and under the bondage
of anything and everything that comes along. Sin will out your
door. Religious sins, you'll be bound
by ignorance and superstition. Do you understand what I'm saying?
I get puzzled looks on faces. Sin lies at your door. You're
going to be subject to it. But you know the truth. Isn't
that what the Lord says? You know the truth. It'll set
you free. It'll set you free. You'll try the spiritual. You'll
hear this fellow's preaching. You'll say, that ain't the truth.
That ain't what the trinity say in
the Bible. And so you won't lay on the floor laughing. You see
what I'm saying? You won't run out there like
a wild maniac or a brute beast. You'll be sitting and closing
in your right mind. You say, you're getting wild.
Maybe I am foaming at the mouth. Forgive me. Do you understand what I'm saying?
You won't, every wind that comes along, that's what he goes on
to talk about, you won't be carried about with it. You'll be grounded
and settled. Every preacher, every spirit,
everything comes along, you won't go with it. But when the Holy
Spirit comes and takes the things of Christ, you'll hang right
there, grounded, settled, unmoved, away
from your hope, knowledgeable, wise, wiser than all these teachers. You say, that's not Christ and
that's not the gospel. That ain't what the book says.
And you'll try the spirits. See that? But these filthy dreamers,
if you come, you believe anything else. You believe what they believe. That makes sense. It does to
those who know it, who have some biblical sense. Oh my, there's
never been a more relevant message in our day. Look at this crowd, or the lack
of one. But I'm telling you, there are
places right now where the places are full to the brim, and a preacher
is standing up. He's not preaching verse by verse.
And he's just saying anything that comes to the top of his
head, and people are going wild about it. Bless God, Deborah. God has chosen you from the beginning.
through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.
And sin won't lie at your door. They won't catch you. Truth has set you free from all
that. You see? You see? All right. I hope you see. I believe you
do. All right. Stand with me, and
I'll dismiss the sin from you.

The Book Of Jude - Part 2

What does the Bible say about common salvation?

How do we know the doctrine of election is true?

Why is it important for Christians to contend for the faith?

What does the Bible mean by ungodly men in Jude?

How is salvation through Christ presented in Jude?

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The Book Of Jude - Part 2

What does the Bible say about common salvation?

How do we know the doctrine of election is true?

Why is it important for Christians to contend for the faith?

What does the Bible mean by ungodly men in Jude?

How is salvation through Christ presented in Jude?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

Comments

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