book of Jude, the first and only
chapter. Let's bow and have a word of
prayer before we begin. Our gracious heavenly father,
we come to you now and we thank you so much for this time. We
thank you for the day that you've given to us to gather together
and to be under your word. We thank you father for the fellowship
of the brethren. We thank you for the word of
God that we have to open up that reveals who you are. Father,
we pray this morning that we might learn from you, that we
might be brought in our hearts to worship you by the spirit
of God that comes from within us, that causes us to walk in
your statutes, to will and to do your good pleasure. And so
we pray, Lord, that we will be faithful in our service to you
today, in our hearing and in our speaking and our singing,
our praying, and our time of fellowship together, Lord, we
pray that it is pleasing in your sight. And it'll only be that
way we know, Father, if you're with us and if you're guiding
us, directing us. Father, I pray for these brethren
that are here today that you might speak to them, minister
to them. I pray, Lord, that you would help me to preach the message
of Christ You might help me to preach and minister the word
faithfully. And Father, Lord, I pray that
you just might guide my thoughts, give me understanding, give me
utterance. Lord, I pray that I might speak
those things which are true, that you might keep me from error. Lord, and I pray for our brethren
that are not here today. I know that the weather has got
some of them where they cannot come. I also follow that there
are some that are sick. I also pray for my grandmother
also this morning who is also injured and is not able to walk
very good. And we pray for her and lift
her up to you. And Lord, I just pray that you just might be with
our church, minister to it, Lord, that you might guide it, guide
us and direct us, Lord, that it might be a beacon of light
and hope here in Joplin. for those who are your children
seeking a place to worship and to learn a view and to fellowship
and to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So Father, again, I pray that you might help us today and guide
us in all this worship. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
All right, Jude chapter one. As we start out this new year,
I was pondering on a few things over the week and especially
as it pertains to the new year. And something kind of occurred
to me that it really hasn't occurred to me before, at least. And I
know it's probably simple to most people, but I'm a simple
toon. And so I kind of dwell within
the simple sometimes. And that is that every year,
we start a new year. And we all, to some degree or
another, want to make New Year's resolutions.
And we make all these promises of things that we're going to
do, things that we want to change, turn over a new leaf. We've turned
over a new calendar. Gonna start afresh, start anew,
do it all right this time, gonna stay committed to our vows. And
then usually by the end of January, 1st of February, we've probably
abandoned most of what we vowed to do. And so I try not to do that. The Bible says that if we make
a vow that we should be swift to keep it. that we're not to
break those vows. And because of this flesh that
we live in, it is hard to keep from doing that. But what we
can do looking into the new year is realize that for God, there
isn't no start, restart, refresh, reboot. There isn't no start
again, do it better. The Lord is continuing in his
promise. He's continuing in his decree
that he has made before the foundation of the world and all the promises
that were made. He is continuing on in that. His purpose is being worked out
in all of his creation. Christ, in Revelation, we see
that Christ is the one, the only one who is worthy to take the
scroll of God that is sealed up that no man can open. He is
the only one that is able, that is faithful, that is worthy to
open that divine decree, that divine purpose of God, to unravel
it and bring it forth and make sure that all of it takes place
exactly as God has decreed. All things consist by Christ.
All things are held together by him. Everything that God has
determined, all that God has purposed, predestinated, Christ
is the one who brings that to fulfillment. Whether it is by
his personal work and ministry in his redemption, or whether
it is by the spirit of Christ that works in us, he is the one
accomplishing all the things that God has decreed. And so as we go into this new
year, we realize that God's purpose is still going on. Whether we
succeed, whether we fail, whether we do good, whether we do bad,
whether we serve great or whether we serve poorly. And that's not
an incentive to serve poorly or to be bad or anything like
that. But what I'm saying is God's purposes are being done. But there's another thing that's
also just as sure as God's purpose, and it is part of God's purpose,
but something that the Bible also speaks of that is sure,
and that is the fact that God's word will stand. It will always
be here. It will always stand. There will
always be a gospel witness in this lifetime, that he has instituted
the church And that church, whether it be here or there or wherever
it might be, gathered together, holding the doctrines of Christ
and holding the ordinances of Christ, it will perpetuate that
throughout all of time. And it has, it has never ceased. We, of course, we've talked here,
we, back last year and the year before that, we preached a series
of messages on the nature of the church and the gospel of
the church, and several things involving the church and what
it is, and it's the local visible assembly that gathers together.
And the Bible says that that is the pillar and the ground
of truth. Now, not everybody that gathers and calls themselves
a church and talks about Jesus as a New Testament church. Only
those who hold the doctrine of Christ, the gospel of Christ,
and those who hold the ordinance of Christ are considered a New
Testament church. But Christ said that that church
would continue and that it would be the pillar and the ground
of truth. Now, if God's purposes are being
carried out and nothing can stop it, nothing can turn it, nothing
can change it, and one of his purposes is that the church of
Jesus Christ will continue until the day that he comes back and
that it will be the pillar and the ground of truth, then that
means that the doctrine of Christ will be held by a group of people
in every age. That there will be a church witness
in every age. And so that he, and I know when
we look back through history, a lot of people say, well, you
can't sure see that in history. You're obviously ignorant of
history. You're just being, you know, you know, you got pie in
the sky, you know, you're just got blinders on. You're just
thinking, you're just thinking denominationally. No, brethren,
I'm taking the Bible for what it says. We trust the word of
God no matter what we see in history or written down in books. I don't care what theologians
say. I don't care what historians say. The word of God says that
his church, that the gates of hell will never prevail, that
the church is going to continue on preaching, and the gospel
is going to be going out in every age, and that the church will
be the pillar and the ground of that truth that is perpetuated
from every age. And the Bible says that God's
word will not will not fade away, it will not fall away, it will
not go away. That every jot, that every tittle
will remain until he comes again. And so that we know those things
to be sure, we know that that's gonna happen. Now, with that
being the case, we come to Jude and Jude is given an exhortation
to the churches of Jesus Christ. And as we look here at the beginning
of the letter that Jude wrote, He originally intended to write
about the common salvation that all of the people in Christ have
together. But there was the Spirit of God
as it came upon Jude and as it began to give him the words to
write, he began to speak of other things. And we'll see that as
we get into this, but let's start reading it, verse one. Jude,
the servant of Jesus Christ and the brother of James. Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ,
and the brother of James. Now this letter is written by
the apostle Jude, who is also the half-brother of Jesus, the
half-brother of James. Okay, the brother, excuse me,
the brother of James, the half-brother of Jesus. Okay? They shared,
they shared the same mother. Okay, so Jesus was related in the physical to
these men, or this man. Jude also is known as Thaddeus,
by the way, Whenever you're looking in the gospels and it gives the
list of the apostles, you'll see that there's Thaddeus, and
Thaddeus is also Jude, also known as Judah. His name would be considered
Judah. It means the one who gives praise
or the one who praises. Anyway, Jude, the servant of
Jesus Christ, the brother of James, to them that are sanctified
by God the Father and preserved in Christ Jesus and called. So
he's writing to them that are sanctified by God the Father. Now, whenever we speak of sanctification
here, we're not talking about being made holy, okay? We're
not talking about some internal work of purification. Whenever
he's speaking here, he's talking about those who have been sanctified
by God the Father, okay? whenever God sanctified us as
his people, that is speaking of his time whenever he elected
us, whenever he chose us and gave us to Christ, that was when
we were sanctified. And that word sanctified means
to be set apart, and we're to be set apart for his purposes. And so God set us apart as a
people for God's use, And we see that in Romans chapter nine,
that he made two vessels. And one vessel would be a vessel
of glory, a vessel of honor, that he would show forth the
glory and the praise of his mercy and grace and compassion, okay? And so he set us apart for that
use. And so whenever it says here,
to those that are, to them that are sanctified by God the Father,
this is speaking of those who have been elect of God, the elect
of God is who this is written to. Okay, it's not written to
the heathen, it's not written to the pagan, it's not written
to the reprobate, okay? It is written to the elect of
God, as is all the Bible. It is written to them, it goes
on and says, and preserved in Christ Jesus. We are elected
of God, set apart, and given to Christ, and in Christ Jesus,
we're preserved, we're kept, we're not, We're not appointed
under wrath. We're not given into, or we're
not imputed with sin. We are given the righteousness
of Jesus Christ. And because of that, we are preserved
in Christ Jesus. Not one will ever be lost. Not one will ever fall away from
salvation. So we have been elected by God.
preserved in Christ Jesus and the work that He has done. And
then by the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, we are called
whenever we are brought into life, whenever we are given new
life and made a new creation and called in the new birth and
in conversion. So he's talking here to the people
of God and he says, mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied. So he's praying that God would
multiply mercy and peace and love among all of the elect of
God. And we truly need that. We truly
need God to multiply to us mercy. Now we've been given mercy in
Christ Jesus We've been given mercy in our sanctification,
in our preservation, and in our calling. All that is mercy that
God has given to us. But what he's speaking here is
that we might be multiplied in mercy, mercy towards one another, and peace. that we might not
only know of the peace that's been given to us by the work
of Jesus Christ in that sanctification, that preservation and in that
calling, but also that we too might be people of peace, that
we might be at peace with one another, that we might be at
peace with God. Remember the Bible said that
we were by nature and are by nature children of wrath, okay? We are wrathful towards God,
but may we not be angry, How can we be multiplied in peace
towards God? Well, one of the things is, is
whenever things happen that we don't like, don't blame God for
it, okay? Don't blame God for it, okay? Don't be angry with God because
of what he does. What he does is wise. We are
unwise. We don't understand why God does
things. Why does God do the things that
he does that sometimes often afflict us and are what we would
call bad? Well, God is wise. We don't understand
it now. We don't know. He tells us it's
for our good though, okay? I know whenever you kids were
little, whenever I would spank you, you probably didn't think
that was good at all, but it was for your good. We spanked
you because you needed to be corrected from the error that
you were making, from the disobedience that you were doing, so that
you might be molded and conformed into a responsible person. And as you
grow into adulthood, that you would be a respectful and a responsible
adult. And so while the spankings at
that time probably seemed bad to you, how could this be good
for me? You've just busted my rear end,
till it's bruised and now I'm, you know, I'm crying and can't
catch my breath, you know, whatever. Well, it's because it was for
your good, but you didn't know it at the time. Later, you'll
look back on those days and you'll realize, especially when you
had children of your own. So he's praying that God would
multiply mercy in us, peace in us and love towards one another,
love to God and love towards each other. Then he goes in verse
three and says, beloved. And now that again, reiterates
the fact of what I just said. This is written to the elect
of God. It's written to the people of
God. It's not written to the unbeliever. It's not written
to the reprimand because it says beloved. He's talking to the
people of God. 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." Now, what's he saying here? He said, I gave all diligence. He said, I sat down and I was
gonna write a letter to you that was gonna speak of the common
salvation that we all have. And you say, now, what do you
mean by common salvation? I didn't think salvation was
common. It's pretty extraordinary. Now,
what he's meaning by common salvation is the salvation that we all
experience. We all experience salvation the
same way. Matter of fact, if you remember back whenever Jesus
was talking to Nicodemus in John chapter three, and he's talking
about being born again, he said, unless a man be born again, he
cannot see the kingdom of God. Unless a man is born of the water
and the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. And
he says, the wind bloweth where it listeth. You can't tell where
it's coming from. You don't know where it's going.
The wind blows where it is, and then Jesus said, and so it is
with everyone who is born of the Spirit of God. Okay, that
everyone is born again the same way. The Spirit of God comes
and gives new life. It imparts new life. into them
and that new life is the spirit of God in you. It is Christ that's
in you. It is his spirit that is in you.
You are a new creation in him, okay? He doesn't come and build
up your old self. He doesn't come in and give you
a, he doesn't fix your heart. He doesn't make you better or
he doesn't take you back to what you could have been in Adam if
Adam hadn't sinned. He does even better. What Adam
had before the fall isn't as good as what we have right now
as the people of God, okay? We have the Spirit of Christ
in us. And so when he writes of this
common salvation, we're all born the same way. We're born again
the same way. And we're all redeemed the same
way. None of us come by any, you know,
it isn't Mike did a whole lot and Lori did a whole lot or,
you know, Lori did something so good that God said, okay,
that's good, come on in. That's not how we're saved. Our
salvation is common in the fact that one thing caused the salvation
of everyone who is saved. And that one thing was the work
of Jesus Christ. It was his faithfulness and his
righteousness that has been imputed to us. It is his work in keeping
the law and dying and taking the wrath of God for us. The
whole work of Christ on our behalf. Is that common salvation common
in the fact that it's the same for everyone? That's how everyone
is saved. There's nothing common about
it though. Brethren, it is surely divine. It is surely outside
the work of men's hands. It is surely something that cannot
be changed and it cannot fail. Beloved, when I gave all diligence
to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for
me. Although this is what I planned,
the Holy Spirit brought to me in mind something that I needed
to talk to you more needful about. And what is it? To exhort you that ye earnestly
contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
Now what's Jude talking about here? He said there is an earnest work that needs to be done by
the churches of Jesus Christ. As the pillars and the ground
of truth, we are to contend, that means to struggle for, that
word contend means it's a conflict. There's a conflict there. Whenever
we talk about boxers, if you've ever watched a boxing match,
and you'll see, you know, whoever the heavyweight champion is,
And you'll see, you know, just say Mike Tyson, the heavyweight
champion, and Buster Douglas was going to come and fight him.
Buster Douglas was the number one contender to come and fight
against Mike Tyson. What did he mean by contender?
For Mike Tyson to stay the heavyweight champion, this conflict had to
take place, and there was going to be contention. He was going
to contend for the title. Buster Douglas was. And so there
is a contention that we need to have for the faith. And I'll get to that in just
a minute. But this contention that we have, this contending
that we have, the Bible says that we should earnestly contend
for. The word earnestly there, what that conveys is that is
a strong motivation. There should be a strong motivation
to contend to earnestly, to wholeheartedly, to full steam with all that is
in us, contend or battle conflict for the faith once delivered
to the saints. Now, what is this faith that
it's talking about? Notice if you would there in
your Bibles, the word thee in front of faith. That word thee
is a definite article. We know what an article is if
you've been in grammar, article like A and B, them are articles,
okay? And it doesn't say to earnestly
contend for faith, it says to earnestly contend for the faith,
the faith, okay? It didn't say to earnestly contend
for your faith or for faith, meaning the trusted God, Okay,
that's what faith, whenever we talk about faith as far as is
internally, we're talking about our trust in God, our trust in
what Christ has done. Faith is our not being able to
see it, not being able to touch it, not being able to grasp it,
but to give our whole confidence in the fact that what is said
is true. Okay, that's talking about faith
inwardly. but we're talking about outwardly.
Not a show of faith, okay? We're not talking about works
that we do because of faith. The Bible says that, show me
your faith and I will show you my works. Faith without works
is dead. Faith, whenever we have faith
that's given by God, it will produce good works, okay? Heavenly works, it will produce
the works of God. But that is not what we're talking
about here. What we're talking about here
is a body of doctrine. The faith is a body of doctrine. It's the body of teaching or
doctrine that Jesus gave those apostles. Now notice if you were
there, it says, which was once delivered unto the saints. this body of teaching isn't something
that is continually being formulated. It isn't something that is constantly
changing. It isn't something that was hidden
and then is brought out later. Now
this body of doctrine was something that Christ taught and it was
given to the saints once. And then from there, the saints
has been the purveyors of that, meaning that they have been the
custodians. That's what the church is. The church is the custodian
of the kingdom of God. We are the one who keeps the
gospel. We are the one who does the service of Christ. in preaching
of the gospel and in the service one to another with our gifts
that God has given to us in fellowship and in love. And we do those
things that is perpetuating these things that we have been talking
about. To earnestly contend for the faith. So if we look back
and we see, did not Jesus give the apostles a body of teaching? Jesus, for three and a half years,
walked with them and talked with them, taught them all things that he wanted them to know.
The Bible says that the apostles was the ones who was set in the
church first. So whenever Christ came and began
building that first church, whenever he walked the shores of Galilee
out of the preparation that John had prepared for him in bringing
repentance and baptism, which is the requirement to be a member
of the church, right? You can't be a member of a New
Testament church unless you have been born again and thus repented
of false and dead works and have been baptized. Those are the
ones who are to be members of the New Testament church. And
then once you are a member of the New Testament church, Jesus
said to teach them all things whatsoever I have commanded you.
So everything that Jesus commanded those men during that three and
a half period is that body of faith or is the faith, the body
of doctrine that was once delivered by Jesus Christ to the saints. It was later given to Paul, yes,
but it was the same body of doctrine that he give to the apostles
who was set in the church first. The 11 apostles were set in the
church first in Jerusalem. Paul was set as the apostle first
to the churches in the Gentile nations. And so we're not seeing
a contradiction in terms here that it was delivered and then
delivered again and then delivered again. It was once delivered
to the saints. It was once handed down from
heaven to us by Christ. But from there, now we as the
custodians of that are the ones who teach that. And over and
over again, we teach. That's why we continue to teach.
We're never gonna run out of things to teach. We're always
gonna be teaching the things that Christ has given us. And that is our responsibility.
That is what we are to do as a New Testament church. He has
given us that delegated authority, and that alone. He doesn't give
us authority to do other stuff, okay? He gives us an authority
to do that within the church. To go make disciples by the preaching
of the gospel, and then whenever those disciples are brought and
taught, they are taught to be baptized, and to stay and to
be catechized, or to be taught all the things of Christ. And
he says that we are to earnestly contend for the faith. Now, we're
gonna go back and we're gonna talk about this, the faith, because
it's very important. The Bible teaches that there
is a body of doctrine that is to be contended for. There is
certain doctrines and certain practices that are to be contended
for earnestly. And every New Testament church
has been given this exhortation to do this. And the reason why is because,
look at verse four, for there are certain men crept in unawares
who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly
man, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness and denying
the Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I'm not gonna get
into all of that and what comes after that. That's for another
sermon. Today, I want to mainly hone
in on the fact of our call as a New Testament church in this
continuing purpose of Jesus Christ, in the continuing work of the
gospel, the ministry of the gospel. This is something that Christ
has said is gonna continue until the end of the age, until he
comes again. is the work of the church and
the message of the gospel. His word will never go away. His church is never going to
go away. It might be persecuted. It might
become smaller in numbers. But listen, it is not gonna go
away. This witness will be here. And
so as a New Testament church, we are exhorted to earnestly
contend for the faith. But I want you to see how important
the Bible places on this body of doctrine. As we see, turn
with me, if you would, back to Acts. And look at, I'm sorry, chapter
six, if you would. Acts chapter six. And go down with me if you would.
I'll tell you what, I'm just gonna
start verse one and I'll read down to verse seven. This passage
is about the, appointing or the ordaining of the deacons. It says that in those days when
the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring
of the Grecians against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected
in the daily ministration. Then the 12 called the multitude
of the disciples unto them and said, it is not reason that we
should leave the word of God and serve tables. Now notice
here, The whole, it's not just the apostles who's making this
decision. The whole church is involved in this. He called the
multitude of the disciples together. That's the whole church. It wasn't a deacon board. It
wasn't a ministerial board. It wasn't a Presbytery, a Synod. It wasn't that. It was the whole
church together under the leadership of the apostles, who was like
pastors, was the ones who was given to keep order, who was
given to lead and to guide, okay? But they weren't to overrule,
okay? It says, then the twelve called
the multitude of the disciples unto them and said, it is not
reason that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, again, appealing
to the whole congregation there, look ye among you, out among
you, seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom,
whom we may appoint over this business of serving tables, okay? But we will give ourselves continually
to prayer and to the ministry of the Word." Now again, this
is twice now they have brought up the fact how important it
is for those who have been gifted and called to be the ministers
of the Word of God to do that duty. And we're gonna see why. And the saying pleased the whole
multitude. So the appeal was to the whole
congregation, and the whole congregation agreed. This is true, this is
correct. What they're saying is right,
that is wise. And they, the whole multitude,
chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost,
and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas,
and Nicholas, a proselyte of Antioch, whom they, the congregation,
set before the apostles. And when they, the congregation,
had prayed, they, the congregation, laid their hands on them. And the word of God increased,
and the number of disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly, and here
it is, and a great company of the priests were obedient to
the faith. It doesn't say that they were
obedient and had faith. It said they were obedient to
the faith. That means that even whenever
they began to preach the word of God and teach the word of
God, that the influence of that ministry of that New Testament
church began to reach out. And as it reached out, even the
priests who disagreed with them. They were calling them, you know,
the way they were calling the people of the way that way, you
know, they were calling them things. They were persecuting
them. Paul was persecuting them. But it said here that whenever
the Word of God began to be multiplied, whenever the stress of the Word
of God is made within the New Testament church, whenever it
is preached and taught and contended for, whenever it is upheld as
of importance. See, there's so many churches
that doesn't place, they might talk about the Bible, they might
preach out of the Bible, they might have their stories out
of the Bible, but they don't put the Bible first because it
doesn't show in the way that they conduct the business of
the church. If the Bible is of utmost importance,
then their doctrine would be in line with God's word and their
practice would be in line with God's word. And so here we see
that whenever the men who God had called and gifted to minister
the word of God was able to come and do that without any kind
of distraction, as God give them ability, The Bible says that
the number of disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly. Now, we
know that by the work of men, men don't become saved, okay? That God saved them, and whenever
I talk about saved, I'm speaking of conversion here because the
legal part of salvation was only by Christ. I'm talking about
bringing men in conversion and teaching them the truth and then
repenting and turning to Christ, believing upon Christ, that whenever
we preach and whenever we teach, unless the Spirit teaches them,
they'll never know, they'll never come. It's only by the work of
the Holy Spirit that those men and women are able to come. So whenever I talk about increasing
the disciples, making disciples, always know that the intent of
that, when I say that, is not that that happens because we
do it. It's only because God does it.
but he definitely has us preach and teach, and as he gives the
increase, he begins to multiply. The Bible says that he is the
one who adds to his church. So if the church is gonna multiply,
it's because Christ has blessed that church and multiplied it.
If that church doesn't multiply, it isn't necessarily a sign that
that church is not doing something right, okay? Now, it could be,
but it isn't always that way. But it says here that the word
of God multiplied. But what happened here? That
the priest became obedient to the faith. What does that mean?
It means that they quit going in the way of Moses and they
began to believe in the gospel, what the gospel said. They began
to believe on what Christ said. They became obedient then to
the doctrine and practices of Christ and not the doctrine and
practices of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. OK, and the scribes
and all the men of religious leaders of the time, they turned
from that and they became obedient to what Christ had taught that
first church. They begin to believe what the
gospel said. They begin to follow the commands
to the New Testament church and how it is to be run, how it is
to be perpetuated, how it is to function, the ordinances of
how they are to be observed. That's what it means. So we see
here one of the outflows of a concentrated, pointed preaching of God's word
is that it brings the people of God to obey that body of doctrine,
to believe it, to follow it, okay? So to earnestly contend
for the faith, the reason we do that is because for the people
of God, those that are the elect of God that Jesus is bringing
in by his spirit as they are being born again, They hear these
things and they become obedient to them. Not necessarily, even
though it's true that they become obedient in repenting and believing
the gospel, but it is also that they become obedient in following
what Christ has said. While you're there in Acts, turn
with me, if you would, to Acts chapter 13. Acts chapter 13. So you see,
the faith is a body of doctrine. Those priests, they became obedient
to that body of doctrine that Jesus gave. Look in verse, chapter
13 of Acts, look with me down to verse eight. It says, but Elymas
the sorcerer, for so is his name by interpretation, withstood
them seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith. Okay, now this is what Jude was
talking about, that there were men who were coming in and they
were beginning to secretly and unaware begin to have an influence
upon the people in the church to draw them away from the faith
or that body of doctrine. And brethren, that's like that
in every age. That's why the church is called to earnestly
contend for the faith because there will be those who come
in. See, just because somebody walks in the door of a church
doesn't mean they always have good intentions in mind. I hope
you're aware of that. And just because somebody comes
into a church and attends church services, doesn't mean that person
is even born again. And so there is deceiving that
can take place. And here we see this sorcerer
was trying to turn this deputy away from the body of doctrine
that had been believed by him, but followed by him, okay? So
there can be a, preaching of God's word that causes people
by God's grace and the Holy Spirit's work to turn to that body of
doctrine, believe that body of doctrine, follow that body of
doctrine, but there are also those who are in the hands of
Satan whenever he sowed, the Bible says that it's Satan who
sows those tares among the wheat, that there will be tares among
the wheat. They look like Wheat, they smell
like wheat. If you kind of break them up
and put them in your mouth, they even taste like wheat, but they're
not. They're gonna be people that
come into the church that might look like a Christian, talk like
a Christian, try to act like a Christian, who are not. And they will begin to talk about
doctrines antithetical to what Christ has preached and can easily
draw people away. And so there is a body of doctrine
that can be received. There is a body of doctrine that
can be rejected or turned away from. OK. Look, if you would,
over one chapter of chapter 14. Look with me, if you would, down
to Verse 21. It says, and when they had preached the
gospel to that city and had taught many, they returned again to
Lystra and to Iconium and Antioch, confirming the souls of the disciples
and exhorting them to continue in the faith and that we must,
through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God. So if
you'll see here, One of the things they did whenever the disciples
were made, they went back and they continually exhorted those
churches in Lystra and Iconium and in Antioch, exhorted them
to continue in that body of doctrine. That's what preachers do. We
earnestly contend for you guys to keep in the doctrine of Christ. It's important for you to stay
in the doctrine of Christ and not be subverted and moved away
from the doctrine of Christ. Okay, so one of the aspects of
being a New Testament church is to exhort the disciples to
continue in that body of doctrine. Look if you will at chapter 16. Starting in verse one. It says, then came he to Derbe and
Lystra, and behold, a certain disciple was there named Timotheus,
the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed, but
his father was a Greek, which was well reported of by the brethren
that were at Lystra and Iconium. Him would Paul have to go forth
with him, and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which
were in those quarters, for they knew all that his father was
a Greek. And as they went through the
cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep." Okay, so
as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees
for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which
were at Jerusalem. And so were the churches established
in The faith. You see what they were established
in? They were established in the faith. They weren't established in faith.
We're establishing you in hope that you will continue. No, they
were established in a body of doctrine. Churches are established
in bodies of doctrine. That's why whenever we, if you
go and you're looking for a church, you don't go and look at how
good they sing. or how well the preacher talks,
or how beautiful the building is that they meet in, how organized
that they might be. You don't go in there and look
and say, oh, there's a lot of people, or, oh, there's a lot
of money, they're a giving church. You don't go in and look and
see how many social programs they have. Oh, hey, they have
breakout sessions for young adults and for youth and for, You know,
older people, they have, you know, classes for those who have
been divorced and they have classes for those who have been widowed. They have support groups for,
you know, those who are going through addiction. That's not what you, that's not
the criteria on how churches are established or whenever you're
looking for a church, what you find or what you're looking for.
Here we see that churches are to be established based upon
the body of doctrine. When you look for a church and
it does not have the doctrine of Christ, walk away. Walk away. Now I'm not saying that every
dot and every T has to be identical to everything. Okay, someone may go to a church
and their eschatology may be pre-millennialism. Someone may
go to a church and their eschatology may be gospel millennialism.
Someone may go to another church and their eschatology may be
post-millennialism, okay? All three of those are looking
for Christ to return. The details around when he's
gonna return and how he returns might be a little different.
I'm not gonna, not go to a church based upon that view, necessarily. Okay, I do believe there are
some tenets of some parts of premillennialism that are in
enough error that I would not go, but historic premill is enough
that I can fellowship with. Anyway, what I'm saying here
is that we definitely don't make excuses so that we are never
in a local church, but we never compromise the gospel. We never
compromise the word of God. If they are preaching the doctrine
of Christ, if they are preaching those tenets of the faith in
the gospel and how Christ saves, if they are teaching the ordinances
and how they are to be observed and what their meanings are and
the purposes are, if they're teaching those things, then we
can find fellowship because they've been established in the faith.
But if they are not teaching the gospel, much less, I mean,
that's the priority there. But if they're teaching the baptism
incorrectly, if they're teaching the Lord's Supper incorrectly,
if they're teaching the things about Christ wrong, then we have
a problem with that. They were established in the
faith and increased in number daily. So we see here that churches
are to be established in that body of doctrine. And we learned
in Jude that that body of doctrine was the one that Christ established
and laid within the church once. And that's the same doctrine
that is to be perpetuated for all times. Look in Acts chapter
24 if you would. Acts chapter 24. We'll start verse 21. It says, except
it be for this one voice that I cried standing among them,
touching the resurrection of the dead, I am calling question
by you this day. And when Felix heard these things,
now this is Paul being whenever he was going before Felix and
being tried, said, when Felix heard these things, having more
perfect knowledge of that way, he deferred them and said, when
Lysias, the chief captain, shall come down, I will know the uttermost
of your matter. And he commanded the centurion
to keep Paul and to let him have liberty and that he should forbid
none of his acquaintances to minister or come unto him. Now
that was pretty nice of Felix to do. Verse 24, and after certain
days when Felix came with his wife, Drusilla, which was a Jewess,
he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith of Christ,
or concerning the doctrine of Christ. And as he reasoned of
righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled
and answered, Go thy way for this time when I have a convenient
season, I will call thee. Okay. And so you see here that Paul
taught to him the faith, that body of doctrine that was
found in Christ Jesus or in the church of Christ Jesus. Okay. He taught him the body of doctrine. And whenever Felix, it says here,
whenever Felix heard that, said he began to tremble. But notice in verse 25, and the
reason why I say this is talking about a body of doctrine, because
it says, he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come. Okay, that's all teachings. He's talking about teachings
there. He taught him about righteousness. That righteousness isn't a self-righteousness,
but an imputed righteousness, a foreign righteousness that
only comes from Christ Jesus. He taught him of temperance,
being restrained and not given into the lust of the flesh, lasciviousness,
okay? And of judgment to come, that
we all wanna give an account and that Christ is the judge.
So we see that the body of doctrine is given as a body. It's as a teaching. Now, let's
see what time it is here. 1102. Let's look at a few more
here. Romans chapter one, if you would.
Romans chapter one. Again, I'm wanting you to see
the importance of the body of doctrine being handed down and
earnestly contended for. Romans chapter one. Starting in verse one, Paul writes,
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated
unto the gospel of God. So he was set apart to preach
the gospel of God, which he had promised to for by his prophets
in the holy scriptures. Concerning his son, Jesus Christ,
our Lord, which was made the seed of David according to the
flesh. and declared to be the Son of God with power according
to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead,
by whom we have received grace and apostleship for obedience
to the faith among all nations for his name. So Paul was called
to be a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated
unto the gospel, or separated for the means of preaching and
expanding the knowledge of the gospel throughout
all of the world, or among all nations is how it's put there. Meaning it wasn't just secluded
to the Jews. He was called to do that, and
what does it say here? That we have received grace and
apostleship, why? For the obedience, or to the
obedience, to the faith among all the nations. For obedience
to the faith among all, that we might preach this obedience
to this body of doctrine among all the nations. So it wasn't
just for the Jews. It wasn't just for, you know,
Judea, it wasn't just for Samaria, but as Jesus said unto the other
parts of the world, the same message, the same body of doctrine,
the same ordinances are to be what you take and establish when
churches are established across this world in every nation, this
is what it is to be. The obedience to the faith, that
body of doctrine among all nations. among whom ye also the called
of Jesus Christ. So here again, we see that it
is the same message that is, so there isn't these situational
things. You know, I had a conversation
with a guy a year or so ago, whenever we were talking about
women being preachers, the Bible is very clear that while we are
equal in the eyes of God, as far as a man and a woman are
equal before God, and not one is more important than the other,
we have different roles. God has called the men to be
the ones who preach the gospel in the fellowship, okay? That
doesn't mean that women can't share the gospel out and around
whenever they're out doing whatever, and especially to their children
and everything, and give a reason for the hope that lies within
them. But as far as the meeting, the congregation, Whenever we
come together as the people of God in the church, the women
does not have a role of preaching and teaching. The Bible says
they're to keep silence. So anyway, we had this conversation
and one fellow that I know, he came back and he, you know, because
I was talking about women teachers that's out there right now, and
he came back and he disagreed. He gave some illustration back
in the Old Testament of these women that God had raised up
as judges and women that had been raised up and preached something
to somebody and they listened to them and everything. That's
still not the same as the New Testament church. And after I
pointed out the fact that what that was in the Old Testament
and what is in the New Testament, Paul specifically says that in
the New Testament church, that women are to keep silence, then
he used the card Well, that was of just that culture because
the women that there were not educated and they didn't know
what they were talking about and because of the culture. So it was just for the Corinthians.
That command was just for the Corinthians because they were
idolaters. But yet Paul in Corinthians tells
them that this is not only something that he gives to them, but something
that he teaches in all the churches, not just the Corinthian church.
See, this is what I'm talking about here, what we see in Romans.
Paul is saying that we are to preach the obedience to this
body of doctrine in every nation, in every generation. It doesn't
change from country to country. Just because I go, if I may be
living in a Arab nation where there are Muslims, that doesn't change what I believe.
It doesn't change in how we are to preach and to teach and to
practice the body of doctrine that Christ has given us. Now,
I guarantee you, when you're over there, if you do that, you're
gonna probably be killed, okay? That situation doesn't say, well,
if I'm killed, I can't spread the gospel, so I better compromise.
No, it doesn't say that. We are to be obedient to the
body of doctrine among all the nations. Look at chapter 14 of
Romans, if you would. Romans chapter 14. Verse one, it says him that is
weak in the faith, didn't say weak in faith, it says weak in
the faith. Receive ye, but not to doubtful
disputations. OK, so it's talking about one
who is weak in understanding the doctrines that Christ has
given us. See, we're not to say, okay, well, the only way that
you can be a member here is if you have full knowledge. Well,
that's ridiculous. The only ones that we can bring
in here are those who know everything about the gospel. Well, that's
ridiculous. There may be some who are weak
in the faith, weak in the body of doctrine, who still have to
be taught. Well, matter of fact, that's
part of the commission, is to teach them all things whatsoever.
If there wasn't a need for that, then the commission wouldn't
have been given to do that by Christ. See, the assumption is
that Christ is telling us that when you make these disciples,
they're only gonna have a minimal understanding of things. They
will have understanding, yes, And one of the things that we
are to do is to rightly teach them. See, that's why we don't
go with a compromising gospel. We don't go with a whitewashed
gospel. See, whenever we preach the gospel,
we preach it in its fullest, hardest form. I remember whenever
I first come to the doctrines of grace, there were many, even
among people who believe the doctrines of grace, who was saying,
yeah, we believe in election and predestination, but we don't
preach that to the lost. We only preach that to mature
Christians once they become part of the church and they've learned
some things on down the road, then we'll break that out. But
that's not for preaching the gospel. Rather than that is part
of the gospel. And if you have somebody that
is not believing and knowing these things, then they're not
going to know the correct gospel. Okay, so this body of doctrine
is something that needs to be taught. But those who are weak
in that gospel, or who may not know fully the things that we
know, that we are to be long suffering with them, gentle and
in meekness, teach them, exhort them, and pray that God might
give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. But it says here
not to enter into doubtful disputations, okay? Don't argue over these
things, okay? Look with me if you would in
1 Corinthians chapter 16. 1 Corinthians 16. Says verse 13, watch ye, stand
fast in the faith. Quit you like men, be strong. Let all your things be done with
charity. He says, watch ye, stand fast, stand strong, stand confident
in the faith. Okay, again, I was talking about
a body of doctrine. So the church is exhorted here
to watch the body of doctrine that you have. We're to keep
an eye on this body of doctrine. You're to keep an eye on what
I preach. Am I preaching what God's word
says? There is an accountability here.
The members of the church are to keep the pastor of the church
accountable. If he's not preaching in accordance
to God's Word, then they are to come to him. See, he's not
above the congregation. He has a role that he has as
pastor to lead and to shepherd, but that doesn't mean he is over
or more important than anyone else in the congregation. And
he, just like anybody else, is still subject to the Word of
God. He has to subject himself to
the Word of God, and we are to be subjected to the accountability
of the brethren in the Word of God. But you'll see here, he
says to stand fast in the faith. So we are to stand strong upon
what we believe, what has been given, not to compromise. 2 Corinthians chapter 13. Look with me, if you would, at
verse five. The Bible says, examine yourselves,
whether ye be in the faith. Prove yourselves. Know ye not
your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be
reprobates. So he's talking to the church
here and he's saying, examine yourselves, whether ye be in
that body of doctrine. Is your church holding to that
body of doctrine? We're to examine ourselves. Is
the things that we do in accordance with that body of doctrine? Is
the things that we teach in accordance with that body of doctrine? And
so we have as a church an exhortation to continually examine ourselves,
not just be pointing fingers at all the churches out there
that are not. That's true. We are to expose. those things, but yet we're also
to examine ourselves. Why? Because men can cramp in
unaware. We have an exhortation to contend
for that body of doctrine. Galatians chapter 1, look with
me if you would down to verse 23. Galatians chapter one verse 23
says, but they had heard only that he which persecuted us in
times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed. So here again, we see that it's
talking about Paul or Paul was talking about Paul and how that
whenever he was brought to Christ and was taught that faith, and
was delivered that faith in Arabia whenever Christ taught him for
three and a half years and delivered that faith, that same faith,
that same doctrine that he did for the other apostles. He delivered
that to him. Now he's out preaching that.
And here these people are saying, listen, this guy that once was
out there trying to destroy that body of doctrine is now the one
that's out here preaching it and upholding it. So we see that even though at
one time we may hate this body of doctrine, now we've been made
to love it and are zealous for it, to preach it and to teach
it and to share it, even among those that we at one time hated
it also. You know, at one time I hated
the gospel of free and sovereign grace. I hated that gospel. Now,
did I believe, if someone had said, do you believe in free
and sovereign grace? I would have said yes, but they would
have said, as defined by this, and they would have said predestination
and election. Imputation without works and
without any decision or all that kind of stuff. Denial of free will and all that
stuff. I would have said, I said, no,
no, no, no, I don't believe that. I just believe that salvation
is free. and it is of grace. But see,
we can use those terms, but if they're not used biblically,
then we can make them say whatever we want them to say. But see now, the very people
that hate this same doctrine that I once hated, I'm zealous
to teach to. Sometimes it doesn't go very
far. Sometimes we have to discontinue our discourse because people
start to get heated. But see, the very, the very thing
is, is to contend for that body of doctrine, even if it means
being at odds with those that you love. Jesus said that I didn't
come to bring peace, but a sword. That whenever you believe the
gospel, this faith once delivered to the saints, it's going to
divide families. It's going to divide friends.
It's going to divide churches because of the untruth that is
contained in them. If you look at Ephesians chapter
4 verse 13, Ephesians chapter 4 and verse
13, the Bible says, matter of fact, let me back up. Verse 11, it says, and he, speaking
of Christ, gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists,
and some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints,
or the maturing of the saints, for the work of the ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ. Now, we've preached
on these before a while back. You'll see that the reason that
a pastor is given to a church, teacher is given to the church,
is to mature them as saints for the work of the ministry, for
the edifying of the body of Christ so that they might in turn edify
the body of Christ. But look what it says, how long
do we continue to do that? Till we all come in the unity
of the faith, the body of doctrine. We continue to preach and mature
each other, edify one another, why? We do that so that we might
be brought into the unity of the faith, the body of doctrine. And of the knowledge of the Son
of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of
the fullness of Christ, that we henceforth be no more children
tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine. See, that's even in the context
here. Whenever it talks about the The faith, it's talking about
a body of doctrine. And the reason that we are to
earnestly contend for that faith or that body of doctrine is so
that we're not tossed to and fro by every other kind of doctrine
that might come down the pike. It says, by the slight of men
and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie and wait to deceive. See, there are going to be men
who are going to try to deceive us. And so we should earnestly
contend for the faith. Philippians chapter 1. Philippians chapter 1. It says only verse 27, I'm sorry.
Philippians 127, it says, only let your conversation be as it
becometh the gospel of Christ. That whether I come and see you
or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand
fast. There's that phrase again, to
stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for
the faith of the gospel or the body of doctrine of the gospel.
But look what he says there. I want you to pay close attention
because this goes back to what Jude is saying. OK, that Jude
is telling us that we are to be doing this together as a church.
Matter of fact, all of what we've been reading so far are letters
to churches. Now, Jude was not a letter directly
to a church. But as we see, Paul was writing
epistles to churches. And in those epistles, he was
telling them to earnestly contend for the faith, what Jude was
saying. Stand fast in the doctrine. Stand fast in what Christ has
delivered to us. And here we see that he says
that ye, the church, you, the Philippian church, he says, I
exhort you, or only let your conversation be as it becometh
the gospel of Christ, that whether I come and see you or else be
absent. Stand fast in one spirit. We are to be in one spirit. and with one mind striving together. See, it's not, and so often this
is true in churches. So often, everyone expects it
to be the preacher's job to strive for that. But brethren, if you're
born from above and a member of a New Testament church, you
have all the responsibility, just like the pastor does, to
earnestly contend or to strive for the faith or the doctrine
of the gospel. Sovereign Grace Baptist Church
and its membership is to collectively, with one spirit and in one mind,
strive for that body of doctrine of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
It's not my job, independent of you. It's not your job, independent
of me. Collectively, we as a church
should have the same mind and the same spirit, the same doctrine
to contend for, and we should contend for it. Turn now to Colossians chapter
1. Colossians chapter 1. Look down,
if you would, at verse 23. It says, If ye continue in the faith,
grounden and settled, and be not moved away from the hope
of the gospel which ye have heard, and which was preached to every
creature which is under heaven, whereof I, Paul, am made a minister,
who now rejoice in my sufferings for you and fill up that which
is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his
body's sake, which is the church. So he's speaking to the church
here. And he's saying, actually, I'm
sorry, guys. Let's back up to verse 21. It says, and you that were sometimes
alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, Yet now
had he reconciled in the body of his flesh through dead to
present you holy and unblameable and unapprovable in his sight,
if he continue in the faith grounded and settled and be not moved
away from the hope of the gospel." So what's he saying here? Is
this a condition that he's given? that if you continue in the faith,
grounded and settled, be not moved away from the hope of the
gospel, which ye have heard and which was preached to every creature,
which is under heaven, whereby I, Paul, am made a minister,
then you will be presented holy and unblameable and unreprovable
in his sight. Is that the condition? Well,
I will say this, as it speaks of the church as the collective,
as a collective or a congregation, that is how we are to be holy
and unblameable and unreprovable in his side is by keeping the
faith, keeping that body of doctrine and the ordinances. That is how
a church is faithful, okay, is by keeping the faith, being faithful
to that body of doctrine. But here it says that it speaks
of, if you have been born of God, called of God. This is what you will be. You
will continue in the faith, grounded and settled and not be moved
away. If you're moved away, then you
never was of God. OK, but here we see that that
is the picture of those who Christ has purchased and has gathered
together and as a church. They are people who continue
in the faith, grounded and settled. and are not moved away from the
hope of the gospel. If we do so and compromise, that shows
that we are not His. Look at chapter 2, verse 7. Verse 6. As ye have therefore
received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk ye in Him, rooted and
built up in Him and established in the faith as ye have been
taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. So here again,
we are to be rooted and built up in Him and established or
established in that body of doctrine. I hope you guys are kind of getting
the gist of this, how important that there is one body of doctrine
that was given to the saints once, and that that body of doctrine
is being perpetuated. And as we've seen it, it was
given to those in Jerusalem. It was given to those in Judea.
Then in Samaria, Paul has now got it in the other parts of
the world. And so now he's talking here to the Colossians, to the
Philippians, to the Galatians, to the Ephesians, to the Corinthians. I mean, it just goes on and on.
and on and on. Almost in every epistle, we see
there is at least one passage that talks about being earnestly
contending for the faith. Turn with me to 1 Timothy. Now we're going to come out of
the epistles to the pastoral letter to Timothy, which is also
an epistle, by the way. Here, Paul is instructing Timothy
as a pastor. And then verse 2 of chapter 1,
1 Timothy 1, verse 2, it says, unto Timothy, my own son in the
faith. What does he mean by that? Well,
Timothy wasn't his son. Paul wasn't his daddy. What is
he talking about? He's talking about, and he certainly
isn't talking about the trust in Christ because faith is given
to us in the new birth by the Holy Spirit, not by some preacher. So he wasn't talking about faith
as in the belief and trust in Christ Jesus as a righteousness. But what was he talking about?
His son in the faith, the one that he had taught, that body
of doctrine. Timothy believed that body of
doctrine and now was reciprocating and teaching that same body of
doctrine. So he was his son in the body of doctrine. He brought
forth Timothy in the preaching and teaching of that same body
of doctrine. And in that way, he was his son. But look at chapter three. Now this is the discussion about
how a deacon should be. It says, verse 8, likewise must
the deacons be grave, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy
of filthy lucre. Here it is, verse 9, holding
the mystery of the faith. That's another phrase for the
gospel, another phrase for the Word of God. The mystery of the
faith. holding the mystery of the faith
in a pure conscience. Okay, so the deacons of the church,
the servants of the church should be men who are grounded in, established
in, and holding that body of doctrine, that faith once delivered
to the saints. So what does that tell me? Well,
number one, you shouldn't have a deacon in your church that
doesn't know the gospel. Second of all, you shouldn't
have a deacon in the church who doesn't hold and contend for
that gospel. Look at chapter 4, verse 1. Now
the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times, some
shall depart from thee faith, giving heed to seducing spirits
and doctrines of devils. So we see here it's not talking
about faith in Christ, it's talking about that body of doctrine and
it's even It's even contrasted with the doctrines of devils.
There are going to be people in the last days who look like
they're religious people. They've come to church, but yet
they're going to follow away and depart from that doctrine
given by Christ and give heed to seducing spirits and the doctrines
of devils. Brethren, the majority of churches,
especially in the United States, are churches that preaches the
doctrines of devils. whenever it preaches decisional
salvation, whenever it preaches free will salvation, whenever
it preaches limited predestination. These are things that are doctrines
of devils. Look at chapter five in verse
eight. It says, but if any provide not for his own, okay, this is
talking about any brethren within the church, that does not provide
for his own, and especially for those of his own house, he hath
denied the faith and is worse than an infidel. So that means
that the very heart and core, I wouldn't say maybe the heart
and core, but part of the doctrine that Christ has given is that
we are to take care of the church and to take care of our household. And if we don't do that, if I,
as a father and as a husband, if I become slothful, don't take
care of my family, don't go out and provide for my family, then
I have denied the faith, denied the body of doctrine. No matter
what I might say, my actions are saying you don't believe
and you're not holding and you're not contending for that body
of doctrine because if you were, you would be providing for your
family. You have denied the faith and
the Bible says and you're worse than an infidel. That's why it's
so important for us to work and to provide for our families,
you men. Chapter 6, verse 10. It says, for the love of money is
the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have
erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many
sorrows. Because of their love for money,
many have erred from that body of doctrine. They've compromised
that body of doctrine because of things, material things, the
love of money. So see, we can err from the faith,
we can compromise the doctrine of Christ if the love of money
is in us. Chapter 6, verse 21, or verse
20, O Timothy, keep that which is
committed to thy trust, avoid profane and vain babblings and
oppositions of science, falsely so called, which some professing
have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Okay, so
here again, we are to earnestly contend for the faith, even whenever
it means things that the Bible teaches. about science stuff. You know, the Bible may not be
a science book, but it definitely teaches about science. You know,
we learn about creation. We learn about our cosmos. And
what does the Bible say about it? And then what are we taught
in schools? Matter of fact, what we're taught in schools about
the cosmos is completely opposite. What we're taught about creation
is completely opposite in schools and what the Bible teaches. I
mean, the schools teach that it's by evolution and the big
bang that everything came into being, but we know it was by
the word of God. He spoke everything into existence. The Bible says
that the sun is the center of our universe here and that everything
revolves around it and that we're on a ball spinning 16,000 miles
per hour in a circle and then going a million miles an hour
around the sun. But the Bible says that the earth
is established and it does not move. And that it is the sun
and the moon and the stars that are set in their courses, and
it is them that move. And they are set within the firmament,
which the Bible says is that part of the sky that's right
above the earth. And that firmament is as a molten glass. And the
Bible says that the sun, moon and stars are set within it. That's for another day, though.
2 Timothy 3, verse 8. Now as Janus and Jambres withstood
Moses, so do these also resist the truth. Men of corrupt minds
reprobate concerning the faith. Reprobate concerning that body
of doctrine. They don't believe that body
of doctrine. Look, if you would, in verse
27. I'm sorry, chapter 4, verse 7.
I can't read my own writing. Chapter 4, verse 7. Paul writes
this in his conclusion of his second letter to Timothy. He
goes, I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I
have kept the faith. Notice it doesn't say, I have
kept faith. I was faithful to the end. I
had faith all the way to the end. I kept it. Brother, the
only way that we have faith to the end, those who endure to
the end shall be saved. Well, the only reason you endure
to the end and are kept faithful to the end, trusting in Christ,
is because Christ is done that in you by His Spirit. Now, he's
talking about the body of doctrine. He hasn't wavered from the body
of doctrine. He has fought a good fight and
has finished his course. What was his course? To take,
remember, we just read it a while ago, to take the gospel to the
nations, to take that body of doctrine to all the nations. And he says, I've finished my
course. I've done that. I've taken the gospel to all
the nations. I have kept that body of doctrine
that was given to me to give and to preach and to teach. Titus chapter one, verse 13. This witness is true. Wherefore,
rebuke them sharply that they may be sound in the faith. One of the things we do as a
church is if there is any buddy that is not speaking in
accordance to God's word and that body of doctrine, the Bible
says that we are to rebuke them, that they might be sound in the
faith. Not rebuke them to make them feel bad. Not to rebuke
them to set them in their place. Not to rebuke them to make you
look good and them to look bad or you look smart and for them
to look not smart. Not to rebuke them that they
might leave. No, why do we rebuke people?
Well, because we love people, right? We rebuke them because we love
them. We want them to walk in the truth. Wherefore, rebuke them sharply
that they may be sound in that body of doctrine, not giving
heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men that turn from the truth. There are some people that they
get pretty upset whenever you rebuke them with the truth. They
think you're just jumping all over them. They think that you're
not being considerate of them or not letting them have their
say. But the Bible says here to rebuke
them sharply. Now that can, to the person getting
it, it might sound bad, but the Bible says that that's how we
want you to do it. Not mainly, but shortly. Look
at chapter 3, verse 15. He says, All that are with me,
salute thee. Greet them that love us in thee
faith. Grace be with you all. Amen. So in his closing letter
to Titus, He says, greet them that love us in the faith, that
love us because of the body of doctrine. We have fellowship
because of the body of doctrine. Now we love each other here,
and the reason that we meet together, why does Sovereign Grace Baptist
Church meet together? How did it start? If you remember,
we've talked about this before. Our church started because two
families who believed the body of doctrine, wasn't finding that
being taught in the churches around Joplin. And so they were
traveling to other towns, specifically about an hour away from here. And they were going to church
there that was preaching that body of doctrine. And they happened
to run into another family that believed that body of doctrine
that happened to live in this town. And so whenever they realized
that and they began to meet together in their homes, they come together
and decided to meet together. Why? Because they held the same
body of doctrine. And then after that, there were
others that came and started attending. Why? Because they were preaching the
doctrine that to them was the doctrine of Christ. And so they
became and they were gathered around that doctrine. And then
before too long, they had a group of people and they were looking
for a pastor. And so they decided to start having people come in
and preach. And from that, they had men come from other churches
that preached the same doctrine that they had. Why? Because that's
what they were looking for. And then ultimately, me being
one of the men who was filling in that pulpit, the Holy Spirit
led me and led them to come together. Why? Because the doctrine that
I was preaching and the doctrine that they were believing and
holding to was the same doctrine. And now we fellowship in the
doctrine of Jesus Christ, the faith once delivered to the saints. See, brethren, our fellowship
with one another is in the faith. But what about other churches?
Just like just like with our church and it started. It had
other churches that held to that doctrine, and they loved those
people in there. They had fellowship. Samuel's
dad, my best friend, he preaches the same doctrine that I have. Why is he my friend? Well, first
and foremost, he's my friend because we had an agreement in
doctrine first. And then we grew to love each
other and became friends. And now I'm friends with their
church down in Coahuila. Why? Because they had the same
doctrine. And Brother Royce in Choctaw. Brother Raines in Mena. Delaware, First Baptist. I mean,
all these churches that we fellowship with, why do we fellowship with
them? Because they have the same doctrine.
And we grow to love those people. This is what's happening here.
Greet them that love us in the faith. They love us, not because
necessarily we're a good person. Now, granted, I love people because
they're nice and they look like me. Things like that, that's
nice, but we first and foremost, we love them because they love
that faith that's once delivered to us. All right, two more verses
and we'll be done. Revelations chapter 14. Revelation
14. I want to read verses 9 down
through 12. It's more than 2, it's 4, but
3. It says, And the third angel
followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the
beast in his image and receive his mark in his forehead or in
his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God,
which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation.
And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence
of the holy angels and in the presence of the land. And the
smoke of their torment ascended up forever and ever, and they
have no rest day nor night who worship the beast and his image
and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience
of the saints. Here are they that keep the commandments
of God and the faith or the body of doctrine of Jesus. Now, I
don't wanna get into this this morning. At some point, I will
preach some messages out of the revelation. But here we see the
talk of the mark of the beast, The image being received on the
forehead and hand. And a lot of people think that
there's going to actually be tattoos of 666 on hands and foreheads. Okay, that this is going to be
a physical thing. Some people are even equating
it now that there are going to be microchips that are going
to be put in the hand and the forehead, and that's going to
be the mark of the beast. And so people are scared to get the microchips.
Listen, I'm more scared of getting a microchip in my hand and forehead
because of the government than I am because it might be the
mark of the beast, okay? The mark of the beast that's
being talked about here, and remember, the revelation is written
in symbolic form. It's written in symbolic form,
and so we have to take the things of Revelation in its symbolism. And what is being contrasted
here between the two groups of people? There are those who follow
after the beast and his image and his mark. And they do what he. Or that
system. Says. But then there are those
who are the saints, and they keep the commandments of God
and the doctrine of Jesus. So I would say that the mark
of the beast is not a tattoo or a microchip, but it is anything
that follows after the world system, that follows after the
pagan Way of worship the pagan way and listen there are things
under the umbrella of quote-unquote Christianity that are pagan But the mark of the beast is
those who compromise and They follow after and let the world
system dictate to them instead of God's commands Right now we have a government
that does not care for Christians. These Democrats that are in power,
they want to stifle any message of Jesus Christ. They'll let,
have you noticed, they'll let Muhammad go. They'll let Buddha
go. They'll let Hare Krishna go.
They'll let every religious thing in this world be talked about
and celebrated and everything. and they will uphold the rights
of everyone in those groups and say, uh-uh, you can't discriminate
against them, except for Christians. If it's about Jesus Christ, they're
against it. They don't want us meeting in
our churches. And many churches have succumbed
to the government and not met. There are many who are following
after the dictates of the government to keep us from speaking. There
were bakers that wanted to make, that didn't want to make cakes
that had stuff about sodomite stuff on it. And they were persecuted
for that. The government came down and
shut them down and they lost their whole entire life's business.
Why? Because the government said,
no, you can't, you can't believe what you want to believe. You
have to believe what they believe. That's religious persecution.
But see, there are some that say, well, you know, you just
can't say stuff about the sodomites, you know, everybody's got to
be nice. And I can understand we got to be fair to everybody.
See, that's what we're talking about. See, they're receiving
the mark of the beast. They're following after the dictates
and the doctrines and the teachings of the world and not of Christ.
That's why that's the contrast there in verse 12. Here is the
patience of the saints. Here are they that keep the commandments
of God and the faith of Jesus Christ, the doctrine of Jesus. Why are we to earnestly contend
for the faith? Because if we do not contend
for the faith, then we will follow after the mark of the beast.
We will follow after his image. We are to exhort one another
to stay away from that stuff. And it's been in every generation.
You know, the Bible says, and I guess I'll jump into this just
a little bit so you can understand what I'm talking about and how
this is symbolism and not literalism necessarily. It's talking about
world systems. In the first century, you remember
here in the scriptures, the Bible says, that those who did not
receive the mark of the beast uh... there's another passage
of scripture where it talks about the mark and it says they were not
able to buy and sell well in the first century there were
the trade guilds among the greek nations there were the trade
guilds and the people that were in the trade guilds was able
to buy and sell but if when it came out as the gospel came and
christians began to come out of idolatry If you were not part
of the idolatrous worship and you did not follow after the
idolatry paganism of those countries and those cities, then they would
not allow you to be a part of the trade guild. So if you were
in a trade guild and you become a Christian, they kicked you
out of the trade guild unless you bowed to their dictates.
And if you wasn't in the trade guild, you couldn't get in the
trade guild if you were a Christian. And if you were not in the trade
guild, you couldn't buy and you couldn't sell. And that's why
you read about there was a great need among the Christian churches
during that time period. And there was a great gathering
of supplies among all the churches to help because there was persecution
of the churches. Listen, that's been like that
in every generation. Jesus said in this life you'll
have much tribulation. But we are to earnestly contend
for the faith, that body of doctrine, so that we stand fast in every
generation and not succumb to the beast and what he teaches.
Brethren, we have a command to earnestly contend for the faith
once delivered to the saints. And so I pray that our church
will be faithful in that as God gives us grace. I pray for those
listening, watching, that you would stand fast in the gospel
of Jesus Christ and in the body of doctrine that he has delivered,
and that if you're not part of a local church that preaches
the doctrine of Christ, that preaches the ordinances of Christ
and holds them as the Bible teaches, that you might do that, even
if it means moving to where you can. It's important that you
do that. All right, does anybody have
any questions or comments? All right, let's bow and have
a little prayer. Gracious Heavenly Father, we
thank you today and again for this time. Father, these words
that we have seen today of this body of doctrine and the importance
of it, Lord, we pray that you would help us to be faithful,
that you would keep us. We see the warnings that you
give to the churches in Asia and the revelation. and how that
they're moving away from these things gave warning that their
candlestick could be removed and that the witness of this
church could easily be taken away if we turn from the faith
once delivered to the saints. So Father, I pray that you would
help our people, all of us, not just me as the pastor, but every
member in particular, that you would help them to know the word
of God to study the word of God, to know the doctrine of Christ,
and that they might earnestly contend for it. They might stand
fast in it and not compromise on it. And Lord, that it might
be fruitful here at our church as we've seen in Acts, that as
we hold fast to these things, that the disciples might multiply.
Father, we ask that you might do that, if you'd be gracious
enough to bring others that might join in the work of the ministry
here with us. and the labors of the gospel.
Father, we pray again for this day. We thank you, Father, for
the sun coming out, the ice and the snow that's had us down for
the last few days and people not being able to get around.
We're thankful, Lord, that we're able to get out and get around. And
Lord, that you are with us as we leave this place, that you
might guide us and direct us. We ask to bless the food that
we're about to eat now to the nourishment of our bodies. For
it's in Christ's name that we pray, amen.