If you would, let's turn to Jude. Jude, and if you don't know where
that's at, it's right before Revelations. Jude. And I'm gonna read the first
four verses for now. Jude, verse one. Jude, the servant
of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to them that are sanctified
by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ and called. Mercy unto you and peace and
love be multiplied. Beloved, when I gave all diligence
to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for
me to write unto you and exhort you that ye should earnestly
contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
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, Jesus Christ. We have here an epistle named
Jude, and I believe the one that wrote this is the Apostle Thaddeus,
I think is what his name's called. I didn't try to take the time
to make sure that's who it is, but I believe that's who it is.
But what matters here is whoever this is, he is the servant of
Jesus Christ, this Jude. Jude is writing this to believers
because it is to those called. There may be others that this
epistle in time might benefit, but until you are called out,
that is until you are a believer, a saint, then you won't understand
this. All those called or those who
are saints are sanctified, past tense, by God. They are set apart
by God and kept by, that is they are guarded in Jesus Christ. To these, mercy, peace, and love
be multiplied. To those who do not believe in
the God who elects and the God who in time calls out those who
he elected and only those he elected, to those who do not
believe this, may God in grace teach you different if you are
one of his. And if you are not one of his, may he protect us
from your unbelief. Jude says here in verse three,
he gave all diligence. He wanted them to know this as
soon as possible for sure, but I think it is more saying he
gave it to them in all seriousness. He was not at all kidding, nor
did he take it to be a light thing. He was very serious about
this and it was something that he wanted them to think about
carefully. It says preserved in Jesus Christ. And I read Robert Hawker on this,
and I like how he pointed it out. And this will not be word
for word, but Joe's already mentioned this, but we are and were, if
I can say it like that, preserved in Christ before the foundation
of the world. This preservation was not intended
to keep us from falling. Adam fell from the beginning.
We fall all the time. But this preservation in Christ
is a preservation that secures us and keeps us from falling
away. This is important as we read
Jude here and see the warnings or admonitions to God's people
against those who were ordained to these things and for contending
for the faith. With this in mind, let's go through
the following this morning. Common salvation, the faith,
earnestly contending, and those of old ordained. Common salvation. This is talking about that salvation
which is shared by all those Judah's writing to. It's not
common to all men and women. but it is common and the same
salvation to all those sanctified by God and preserved in Christ
Jesus and called. Excuse me. It is that salvation that
Jesus Christ wrought by himself for those who he would call out,
those sanctified by God. It is that salvation where these
were saved from the wrath of God. that wrath which we deserve
but because God willing to show his mercy, he sent forth his son into the
world so that he might redeem them that were under the law.
Salvation that man can reject is no real salvation at all.
The salvation that Jesus Christ wrought was a salvation that
is sure, and I mean to say it is sure, because the salvation
he worked out for his people is to the uttermost. Hebrews
7, 24 and 25 we read, but this man, that's talking about Jesus
Christ, because he continueth ever hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore, he is able also to
save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing
he ever liveth to make intercession for them. Uttermost there means
entire. Jesus Christ wrought a salvation
that was entire and complete. There's nothing left for us to
accept or reject. We were not offended, God was
offended, and His wrath required death on account of sin. God
accepted the sacrifice given by or done by His Son. He does
not ask us to accept it, He commands us to believe it. He does not
ask us to accept Jesus Christ, He commands us to bow down to
His Son. Turn with me to Galatians 2,
Galatians 2. And here we're going to kind
of read verses 16 through 20. We're going to kind of read what
we are kind of reading in Jude there. Galatians 2, 16 through
20. Knowing that a man is not justified
by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ,
even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified
by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law. For
by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. But if,
while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also
are found sinners, is therefore We ourselves also are found sinners. Is therefore Christ the minister
of sin? God forbid. For if I build again
the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.
For I through the law am dead to the law that I might live
unto God. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless
I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which
I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God
who loved me and gave himself for me. This world goes on and on about
faith. their faith as if it's something
they work up or if it's something they possess of their own power,
will, and might. Our faith, if it is truly faith
which we come up with, is useless when it comes to the salvation
of our souls. What the people of God are told
here to contend for is a certain faith, a faith that God accounts
to his people for righteousness. This is to them that belief. How do they believe? They believe
by the work of God, being given the faith of Jesus Christ. He
enables them to believe Him, so we have next the faith. Faith, we are told in scripture,
as we just read, is the faith of Jesus Christ. He possesses
it, He created it, He's the author of it. This is a faith that is
intrinsic to God himself. We do not get faith, we are given
faith by God himself. And Joe's already mentioned it,
Ephesians 2.8. For by grace are you saved through faith, and
that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. All of it is
a gift of God to his people. The grace, the salvation, the
faith. Faith, first of all, is believing
God. That gift which he gives enables
those to believe him. Christ tells us in John 8, 24,
I said therefore unto you that ye shall die in your sins, for
if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. Believing
is something we must do, but this flesh is full, and I mean
totally full of unbelief. This unbelief is not a neutral
state of not believing God. It is a state in which we engage
in, and that is forcefully and purposely to not have this man
reign over us. Without the work of God in us
and to us, we will not believe. But the gift of faith given,
that is the faith of Jesus Christ given to us, in whatever measure
he is pleased to give it, allows us to believe the record God
gave of his son. So the faith we are to contend
for is believing the record God gave of his son, for sure. But
we also are exhorted to earnestly contend for the faith of the
gospel. The gospel is full of the faith of Jesus Christ. It
is the central theme of the gospel. We are encouraged to hold forth
this gospel, that gospel which has no input for man to accomplish
anything, but rather God working out salvation by his son and
what he did. but also God working in us all
that is needed for us to come to know that salvation. So the
faith this is talking about is the faith of Jesus Christ, that
faith which is set forth in the gospel. It is something real
given to us that enables us to believe God, and in doing so,
bowing us down to his son. This faith given us in the gospel
by God who by his spirit directed those who wrote this book to
write down what he said. It is a serious thing to not
believe God. What do we read in verse five
of Jude? I will therefore put you in remembrance,
though you once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the
people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that
believe not." God destroyed Pharaoh and all
of his army in the Red Sea. But when the children of Israel
get to the promised land and the scouts are sent in, there
were 10 of those men that came back with an evil report. A report
that looked at man and his abilities. And when you do this, you always
end up with failure. But there came back two with
a good report. Those men who believed God and
that he would win the battle for them just as he does for
his people all over and over again. What does it say about
those who did not believe? What do we read in Hebrews? Hebrews
3, if you would turn with me there, Hebrews 3. Hebrews 3, verses 12 through
17. Hebrews 3, verse 12. Take heed,
brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief
in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily
while it is called today, just as Jude is doing right here.
lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of
Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto
the end. While it is said today, if you
will hear his voice, harden not your hearts as in the provocation.
For some, when they had heard, did provoke, howbeit not all
that came out of Egypt by Moses. But with whom was he grieved
40 years? Was it not with them that had
sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? What was their
sin? Unbelief. As has been said here
before, sin is not just neutrality towards God. And unbelief is
not just neutrality against God. It is a positive, on purpose,
sin against God. Unbelief is like those who say,
and like this flesh, which it says, I will not have this man
reign over me. It also says there in Hebrews
that we should exhort one another daily. That is, invite or call
for all of God's people to believe the record God gave of his son.
To look to him for salvation, he is wrought by his own death
on that tree for his people. We are told here in Jude that
we are to earnestly contend for the faith, so that leads me to
earnestly contending. Now, I want to point out, I didn't
have this in here, but I wanted to point this out. This does
not tell us to physically fight people for the faith. It's not
telling us that. But we are stand forth and to
proclaim and stand on God's word for what it's saying. Earnestly
here means committed to hold forth in all seriousness the
faith of Jesus Christ. This is not a game with God's
people, and it is serious. First John 5, 10, and 11, we
read, he that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in
himself. He that believeth not God hath
made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave
of his son. And this is the record that God
hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his son. If you do not believe God, this
says you make God a liar. This is a serious charge because
we know God is truth itself. We know that there are those
who do not believe God. There are those who do not bow
down to God. In fact, this was me at one time.
We are to guard against complacency because complacency will lead
even God's people into trouble. If we do not heed the exhortations,
then we might find ourselves letting in a little leaven. When
it's done, it bringeth forth sin. And in so doing, we will
have many sorrows. So it behooves us to earnestly
contend for the faith once delivered to the saints. Once delivered
in Christ in his cross work. once delivered in the gospel
coming to them from the apostles, and once coming to them in life
from God so that they then believe him. The faith given from God
never changes. It always believes God, but this
flesh will not believe him. So we must be committed to hold
forth in all seriousness the faith of the gospel. Because
of those who may be in our midst, it is a serious thing that we
hold forth the faith of Jesus Christ and the faith of Jesus
Christ alone, nothing added. So that leads me to those of
old ordained. Again, I want to point something
out to begin with here because I didn't have it in my notes.
This does not tell us in this book to try to figure out who
they are. it will be manifest who they
are. But these, they restrict the grace of God by teaching
man-centered religion. In verse four we read of Jude.
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, Jesus Christ. They lust after the flesh. They
might make things sound good because they're quite often very
subtle in their doctrine. They work on men and women's
emotions. But in their doctrine, they lift
up man and deny Jesus Christ the Lord. These are men that
have crept in unawares, it says. They are settled in, they look
to be with God's people, and they are stealthy. They seem
to be a part of the assembly. They might agree with things
from time to time to keep you off their scent, so to speak.
But they will ever so slightly spout off man-centered things,
such as the Galatians were hearing. Like, yes, you are saved by Jesus
Christ, but you must be circumcised. You have to keep the law because
Christ died for you. They'll say things like that.
It also includes other things as well, like you must accept
Jesus as your personal Savior. Anything that is added where
they say man has to do anything for salvation is a lie. What did God tell Cain that we
read about here in Jude? It's mentioned here in Jude,
but in Genesis 4, verses 6 and 7 we read, and the Lord said
unto Cain, why art thou wroth? And why is thy countenance fallen?
If thou doest well, shall thou not be accepted? And if thou
doest not well, send life at the door, and unto thee shall
be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. Cain desired to
be accepted of God. He knew he had to be accepted
of God. His problem is he wanted God
to accept him based on his works. Pride. Just like Cain, this flesh
is full of pride and it will not bow down to God admitting
we are nothing in his sight. There is no acceptance with God
on your works. The acceptance is based on works,
it just isn't our works. It is the work of his dear son
dying for us and shedding blood in our stead as our substitute. What are we told of them in verse
11 of Jude here? Woe unto them, for they have
gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error
of Balaam, for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Corinth. They are out for their sales.
They do not care what God says in his word. They do not care
about the faith. They think they will somehow
force God to accept them for who they are. But this will never
happen. It is in Jesus Christ that we
are preserved. They speak of the grace of God
as something he has done to make it possible to save men and women,
and that men and women need to accept him for what he has done,
to make what he has done effectual. They make fun of God and his
son, making God likened to themselves. They put man in charge of his
own salvation, and in doing so, they deny the Lord Jesus Christ. Is there anything good about
that? Absolutely not. But this is what you get when
you begin to lift man up in some way. When you do that, you are
denying Jesus Christ. You are saying to God that there
is no need for him to do what he did. You deny and call God
a liar by promoting man. There's nothing about man that
is good before God. It does not matter how small
the assembly is or how large the assembly is when it comes
to this exhortation. We have to guard against those
for sure, but we also have this flesh. And if you give the flesh
just a little, it will take the whole plate, as Earl used to
say. We are warned that there are those who have crept in unawares. I believe we have been witness
to this here before in this place concerning those who are like
this. These who are like this were ordained to this end. Their
purpose for being amongst us is ordained of God. They were
set forth for this purpose by God. And that is what it means
when it says they were ordained. God is in absolute, total, sovereign
control. We go about our daily lives at
times not thinking about what we are doing or what's going
on around us. And this is dangerous. We need
to always be watchful. We are exhorted to earnestly
contend for the faith. We are not to look to ourselves
for anything, for we know we are not preserved to never fall. We will fall, but it is not a
good thing to fall. We are to look to Him who is
able to keep us from falling, but it's not just blind fate.
God will force you to look to Him. He might use those who creep
in unaware. He may even cause us great sorrow
if we are complacent and do not guard against such things. We
are not to be okay with falling, that's what I'm trying to say.
If we are, I'm afraid we're not earnestly contending for the
faith. In fact, we might be crept in unaware. We are to uphold,
earnestly contend for with all seriousness the gospel of Jesus
Christ and him crucified. What do we read in verse 24 of
Jude? Now unto him that is able to
keep you from falling and to present you faultless before
the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. Jesus Christ is
the one who is able to keep us from falling. This will not be
done by setting forth man as having anything to do with his
own salvation. It will be done through holding
forth the gospel of Jesus Christ, knowing that it is he that can
keep us from falling. What does man have that God wants
or God needs? Nothing. God's whole purpose
for doing all things was to give himself honor and glory. I know
some who are full of pride don't like this. They do not like a
God who is out to give himself glory. I'm sure they think, and
I say this because I know I thought this at one time, God is full
of pride to want to give himself all the glory. He does not want
anyone else to have this. And that's some of the thoughts
that come to my flesh at one time. But when God intervenes
with a fallen individual, teaching them of himself, they find out
what it took for him to show grace and mercy to them. It took
God coming down on being made a curse and sin in their stead.
It took God forsaking himself It took God, the eternal God,
dying and being dead three days to accomplish what was needed
to save a people for his name. When they see the love of God
like this, they begin to see where the pride resides. The
pride resides in us. Anyone anywhere at any time starts
adding in something other than Christ alone is ordained to this
condemnation, and you need to earnestly contend for the faith
of Jesus Christ alone. It is what He has done that has
totally and completely saved us from the wrath of God. There
is nothing for us to add. There is nothing that we can
add, and there is nothing that we will add. It is all because
of Him, and the epistle ends where it should end. And this
is true when it comes to the God of Scripture. All of God's
people are brought to see this and know this deep down in their
soul. Knowing what they are in the flesh, but knowing what He
has done, it moves us to do this. Jude 24 and 25 we read. Now unto
him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you
faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion
and power, both now and ever. Amen. Dear old God, thank you
for allowing us one more time, dear Lord, to gather to hear
words of your son, dear Lord. Apply these words to our hearts,
dear Lord, because just me saying words is nothing, dear Lord. Remember those who might have illness, dear Lord,
or things going on, dear Lord. Remember them. Hold us, keep
us. We know we are preserved in you,
dear Lord. All these things we ask in Christ's name, amen.