Continue In the Faith

Let's open our Bibles to the
book of Jude. The book of Jude. My message
to you this morning is on the subject, continuing in the faith. Continuing
in the faith. Now, this epistle was written
by Jude, one of the Lord's apostles, one of the twelve apostles, Jude.
This epistle was written to all believers. It's called a general
epistle. It's not addressed to any particular
church or individual, such as Timothy, Titus, or Galatians.
It's a general epistle of Jude. And it has a twofold purpose.
It's written to encourage believers to continue in the faith. Continue in the faith. And secondly,
it's written to believers, encouraging them to contend for the faith. Continue in the faith and contend
for the faith. But another theme that you'll
find in this general epistle of Jude is It is written to expose
false teachers, to point out their error. And there's so many
of those today. And it's written that we might
be warned concerning these false teachers and that we might avoid
them. Now, let's start with verse 1. He says, the servant, the bond-slave,
a willing, loving bond-slave of our Lord Jesus Christ. And
he says, I'm the brother of James. He's distinguishing himself from
Judas and others with that name, Jude and Judas. He says, I'm
the brother of James. And I'm writing to them, now
watch this, who are sanctified by God the Father, set apart
in His eternal covenant, in His eternal purpose, set apart by
God the Father, chosen, elected, given to Christ, sanctified.
The Lord said they're mine. He puts a difference between
the Egyptians and the Israelites, and he says they're mine. Separated,
sanctified, set apart by the Father, preserved in Christ Jesus. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
surety from all eternity. Our Redeemer on the cross, our
intercessor, and we're kept and preserved in our Lord Jesus Christ. Not only by our Lord Jesus Christ,
in Him. We're chosen in Him. We're redeemed
in Him. We're accepted in Him. And it's
written to those who are called, that effectual, divine, heavenly
high calling of the Holy Spirit, called, God-called, sanctified
by the Father, preserved in Christ Jesus, and called of God, called
to be saints. And then his prayer for them
here in verse 2. Here's my prayer for you, he
said, sanctified by the Father and preserved in Christ and called,
the hymn writer said this, listen, for thy free electing favor,
thee, O Father, I adore. Jesus Christ, my atoning Savior,
thee I worship evermore. Holy Spirit from both proceeding
source of holiness and joy. And here's his prayer for them,
verse 2. He said, I pray for you mercy and peace and love,
the sure mercies of David, peace with God that passeth understanding,
and the love of God, and the love you have to God, shed abroad
in our hearts for the Holy Spirit, and love for one another. He
said, may these blessings be multiplied. Mercy. Yesterday's mercies are not like
the manner. They're not good for today. I
need today's mercies. I need them multiplied. Increased. His mercy. His peace. And His love. And then he said
in verse 3, Now beloved, Beloved, I want you to note two statements
here now. He says, Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write
unto you, of the common salvation. I gave all diligence to write
unto you of the common salvation, the one common gospel, the one
common salvation, the one common faith." The Apostle Paul was
so convinced of this gospel of the glory and grace of God, he
said that if anybody preaches any other gospel, Let him be
accursed. He said, I say it again, even
if it's an angel from heaven, if he preaches any other gospel,
let him be accursed. This is the one common salvation. Turn with me for a moment to
Ephesians 4. With all of our divisions today
in Ephesians 4, with all of our denominations and all of our
so-called differences, There is but one gospel, one gospel,
one common faith, one common salvation. Listen in Ephesians
4, verse 1. Paul says, I therefore
the prisoner of the Lord beseech you that you walk worthy of the
vocation wherewith you are called, with all lowliness and meekness
and longsuffering, forbearing one another, endeavoring to keep
the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. For there's one
body, there's one body of Christ, one church, there's one Spirit,
one Holy Spirit, even as you're called, and there's one hope
of your calling, one hope to be like Christ. When we see Him,
we'll be like Him. That's the hope. There's one
Lord, one Redeemer, there's one faith, there's one baptism, Baptism
of God's Spirit when we're baptized into Christ. And that baptism
of water which reveals our death, burial, and resurrection with
Christ. Just one Lord, one faith, one God, one Father. That's what he's saying over
here in verse 3 of Jude. He said, I'm writing to you concerning
the common faith. The common salvation. It doesn't
matter where you find a believer. If Ken finds a believer in Africa,
Brother McMurray finds one in Australia, Brother Walter Gruber
finds one in Mexico, or one's found here in Ashland, or Ironton,
or Russell, or Grayson, they all have one Lord, one faith. They're one body, one spirit,
one hope, one common salvation, one common faith, and common
trials. They all sing the same song,
worship the same Lord, clothe with the same righteousness,
look for the same blood, and go into the same place. They
won. Won. And then he said, secondly, I
gave diligence to write unto you concerning this common salvation. It was needful for me to write
unto you and exhort you that you contend for this one faith.
and one gospel, which was once delivered to the saints. I exhort
you, I exhort you earnestly. Listen to these strong words.
I exhort you. I gave diligence to write to
you concerning the common salvation, the common faith and gospel.
And I exhort you, I exhort you earnestly. Don't take this lightly. contend for this gospel, continue
in this gospel, which was once delivered to the saints. It was
delivered to the saints in promise. The Father promised the Redeemer.
It was delivered to the saints in prophecies. It was delivered
to the saints in the Old Testament pictures and patterns. It was
delivered to the saints by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. God
spake to our fathers by the prophets and to us by His Son. It was
delivered unto us by the apostles who heard Him. And it was delivered
to us by faithful men called of God to preach this faith.
It's called the Word of Faith. Faith cometh by hearing, hearing
by the Word. It's called the faith of the gospel. I'm not
ashamed of the gospel. It's the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believe it, to the Jew first and also to
the Greek, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed
from faith to faith in that gospel, from one degree of faith to the
other. It's called the mystery of faith. Behold, I show you
a mystery. A mystery. Great is the mystery. of godliness. God was manifest
in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of the angels, believed
on in the world. For Ewan and I to believe on
him is as great a miracle as for him to come to this earth.
Takes as great a miracle to make a son of man a son of God as
to make the Son of God a son of man. The miracle of faith,
the mystery of faith, the word of faith, the most holy faith!
If you have that faith, continue in it. And contend for it, if you have
it. And I'll tell you who has it.
Whom he foreknew. He predestinated to be conformed
to the image of His Son. Whom He predestinated to be conformed
to the image of His Son, He called. And whom He called, He justified.
And whom He justified, He glorified. It's a holy faith. But it's a common faith. How
can anything be so holy, so magnificent, so mysterious, so wonderful,
and thus common everyday? People possess it. The gift of
God. A miracle of revelation. God
who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined in
our hearts to give us a knowledge of the glory of God, where? In
the face of Christ Jesus. Believe it. Preach it. Support it. Contend for it. Pray for its success. Encourage
those that believe it. No, don't be contentious. Nothing
profited by that. The wrath of man does not work
the righteousness of God. But, oh, be firm. I write unto
you, beloved. Look at that verse again. 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, encourage you, that you should earnestly I told my class
this morning, we're not playing games, that you should earnestly
contend for the faith, the faith, not a faith, there's just one
faith, one Lord, one gospel, one Redeemer, one blood, one
righteousness, one kingdom, one God, one Father, one hope, one
spirit. The faith is once delivered. to the saints. Old Martin Luther. I don't think he was contentious
because they would have cut his head off right then, but he was
contending. And he stood rather alone there
in Germany, Catholic country, dominated, controlled by Catholicism,
superstition, the evil of religion. And there he was in that in that
examination with all of those people around him, the judges,
and priests, and bishops, and rulers, and soldiers, and all
of these people in authority and command, and he stood alone. He stood for God's sovereignty
and God's grace and God's elective grace and Christ's personal effectual
work and the call of the Spirit and justification by faith, not
by works. And they said, we can't deny.
He said, I can't. Here I stand. Here I stand. I can do no other. Do what you
want to. Say what you want to. Here I
stand. And I write to you, He said,
don't you let them talk to you out of faith, or buy you out
of faith. You stand. Because He said in
verse 4, there's certain men, there's certain men who crept
in unawares. They weren't born in this family,
they crept in. They weren't regenerated by the
Spirit of God. They weren't called. They crept
in. They invaded this kingdom. They
invaded this home. And the enemy sowed them like
he sowed the tares among the wheat. They crept in. That's
not the way God's preachers come in. They're born in. They're
called in. They're invited in. They're sent. These fellas sneaked in. They even camouflaged themselves. They're wolves, but they covered
themselves in sheep's clothing, and they crept in, unawares,
didn't know they were there till they said something. Didn't know
they were there. But, don't be too alarmed, they
were before of old ordained to this condemnation. Even our trials
are ordained of God. Even the heresies among us are
ordained of God. They'll serve his purpose. The
wrath of man will praise the Lord. The rest he'll restrain.
But the error was twofold. There are men who crept in. They
were before of old like Judas, ordained to this condemnation,
son of perdition from the beginning. God's true preachers are known
to God before they were born. And false preachers are known
before they were born, too. Ungodly men. And here's their
twofold error. They turn the grace of God into
lasciviousness. They use religion for fleshly
purposes. We see so much of that today.
Making merchandise of men and women to profit and to gain. Using religion, using the Bible,
using the name of Jesus Christ, using the church, using these
things for their own personal gain and satisfaction and pleasure
and profit. Ungodly men. They don't have
your good at heart. They don't have the glory of
God at heart. They don't have the gospel in their hearts. They're
men who are in religion for a purpose. for profit, for applause. Isaiah described them in Isaiah
56. Turn over there and listen to
what he says about them. He calls them greedy dogs, dumb dogs. That's hard language. Well, they're hard men. A man that'll
rob your house is a bad man. A man that'll rob your soul is
a worse man. A man that'll lie to you, lie
to you and put your body in danger is a bad man, but a man that'll
lie to you and put your soul in danger of God's wrath, he's
a bad man. He's an ungodly man. He's a greedy
dog. Anybody that'll use this precious
book and this sacred place for personal gain is the lowest creature
God ever let live. Isn't that right, Ken? lowest
creature God ever let be. Listen, Isaiah said, chapter
56, verse 10, his watchmen are blind. They're ignorant. They're
all ignorant. They're dumb dogs. They cannot
bark, sleeping, dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber. They're
greedy dogs. They can never have enough. Keep
sending me money now. I never get enough. Never get
enough. I want to build me a bigger swimming pool. People don't send
it in. People do. They never get enough. They're shepherds that can't
understand. They look to their own way, everyone for his own
gain, from his own quarter. Oh, how evil. Look back at the
text. They use, they turn the grace
of God, the goodness of God, the glory of God, the gospel
of God into fleshly purposes. And secondly, here's their second
area, they deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.
They deny His atonement. They deny His grace. They deny
His righteousness. They tell men and women how good
they are. They're saved by works. Jesus has done all He can do,
and that's up to you. They deny His power, His person,
His glory, His purpose. They deny His Word. They deny
the Lord Jesus Christ. But he says here in verse 5,
it's been men before them. Let me show you over here in
1 Peter, 2 Peter 2. There's always been these false prophets. Always 2 Peter 2, verse 1 said,
there were false prophets also among the people, among Israel.
Even as there shall be false teachers among you who privately
crept in, sneaked in, bring in damnable heresies, even denying
the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And oh, unfortunately, many will
follow their pernicious ways, their lascivious ways, By reason of whom the way of
truth shall be evil spoken of, they speak evil of grace, the
gospel of grace, the way of Christ. And through covetousness shall
they with feigned words, sweet words, persuasive words, flattering
words, make merchandise of you. These fellows are like a man
running a store. He's selling everything, an old
general store. He's selling pots and pans. He's
selling bolts of cloth. He's selling needles and thread.
He's selling groceries. And that merchandise, he's not
in love with those bolts of cloth. He'll sell them to you to make
money. He's not in love with those pots and pans. He doesn't
care who buys them. He'll sell them to a snake or
he'll sell them to an honest man. He doesn't care who and
what you do with that pot and pan. He doesn't care. It's merchandise. And these false preachers, Peter
said, you know what you are to them? Merchandise. Merchandise. You're a number. We had 30 baptized
last month, and you're one of them. What's his name? Oh, what's
his name? He doesn't mean anything. I'm going to put you in remembrance.
He said, verse 5 of Jude, I want to put you in remembrance. You
once knew this. The Lord saved the people out
of Egypt and afterward destroyed them that believed not. There
were some that didn't continue, and they perished. Some that
didn't walk with him, and they were destroyed. And then he said
the angels, which kept not their first estate, but left their
own habitation. They were angels that followed
Lucifer. He said, I'll be like God. I'll
exalt my throne above the stars of God. I'll ascend into the
heights of the clouds, I will." And we don't know how many angels
followed him, but those who did kept not their first estate of
blessings and glory as ministers of God, but they turned on the
Lord God, and they left their habitation, and God hath reserved
them in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of
that day. Need I remind you of this, he said? If in any way you're entertaining
a departure, an indifference, a turning from this, then need
I remind you of they could not enter in because of unbelief?
Need I remind you of how high these angels were and how far
they've fallen, and they're reserved inescapably to judgment? Verse seven, need I remind you
of Sodom and Gomorrah? You knew this. I call it your
remembrance. Sodom and Gomorrah? That's San Francisco and Los
Angeles. The cities about them in like
manner, giving themselves over to strange flesh, fornication. Giving themselves over to strange
flesh, contrary to the ways of God. homosexuality, and set forth for an example,
suffering the vengeance of God Almighty's eternal power. Do
we have to be reminded of that? And I want to tell you something
about these preachers. He said, verse 8, there are four marks of these
false preachers who crept in. First of all, he said they're
dreamers. Now listen, they're dreamers. Filthy dreamers. Filthy dreamers. What does that
mean? It means they don't preach the
Word of God, they preach their dreams, their imaginations. Let me show you that in Jeremiah
23. Now turn over there, everybody's
got a Bible. Turn to Jeremiah 23. These false prophets, they
don't preach the Word of God. What I'm doing here each day
and what Ken does and these elders that preach, Bob and John and
Ronnie and Cecil and Dan and all of them, they go verse 5
and they teach you the Word. They preach the Word. These fellows
preach their dreams. Jeremiah 23, verse 29. Listen, "'Is not my Word like
a fire?' said the Lord." Jeremiah 23, 29. It's like a fire. It's
like a hammer. It breaks the rock in pieces. Therefore, behold,
I'm against the prophets, saith the Lord, that steal my words,
every one from his neighbors." They don't preach the Word of
God. Back in verse 28, it says this, "...the prophet that hath
a dream, let him tell his dream, and he that hath my word, let
him speak my word." That's who he's talking about. And verse
31 says, I'm against these prophets, saith the Lord, that use their
tongue and say, he saith, behold, I'm against them that prophesy
false dreams. They're not hearing from God. They're making up these things,
saith the Lord. And they tell them and cause my people to err
by their lies and by their lightness, their frivolity, and fickleness,
and fun, and entertainment, lightness. I didn't send them. I sent them
not. I didn't command them. Therefore
they shall not profit this people at all. They tell their dreams. And secondly, they're not only
dreamers. Look at my text again. They defile the flesh. They glory
in your flesh. They glory in your flesh. What
does that mean? Preach you to hang out in the honky-tonks and
commit adultery? No, sir. That's not what it's
talking about, because a lot of them are clean livers and moral men.
The Pharisees were. And they fight the sins of their
day, the outward sins of their day. They're moral leaders. They'd
be fighting different outward sins, pornography and abortion,
all these things. But yet, they defile the flesh.
What does that mean? They glory in the flesh, in your
flesh. They glow in numbers. They glow
in crowds. They glow in buildings. They
glow in wealth, and applause, and health, and decisions, and
accomplishments, and organizations, and things of the flesh. That's
what they glow in. We of the circumcision who worship
God in spirit, God doesn't dwell in houses made with hands. The
heaven of heavens won't contain Him. Our buildings aren't impressive,
our numbers aren't impressive. Where two or three are met in
my name, I'll be in the midst of them. Men aren't saved by the strength
of men, by the strength of horses, by the strength of crowds and
multitude. They're saved by grace. These
men glory in your flesh. Numbers Amounts who how much
how many how big and then watch this they despise dominion What's
that mean they despise dominion? Well who has dominion? That turned
to Daniel. I'll show you Here's what they
despise They despise dominion Daniel 4 Oh Nebuchadnezzar sums
it up for us listen in Daniel 4 verse 34, And at
the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven,
my understanding returned to me, and I blessed the Most High,
and I praised and honored him that liveth forever, whose dominion
is an everlasting dominion. And his kingdom is from generation
to generation. And all the inhabitants of the
earth are reputed to be nothing. And he doeth according to his
will, in the armies of heaven among the inhabitants of the
earth, and none can stay his hand or say unto him, What doest
thou?" That's the dominion. Authority. All authority, Christ
said, is given to me in heaven and earth. I am all authority
over all flesh. And these filthy dreamers who
defile the flesh despise His dominion. That's right. I'll not have this man reign
over me. And then what else do they do?
They speak evil of dignities. They don't hesitate to raise
their opinions and their thoughts above the Word of God. They don't hesitate. I know that's
what the Bible says, but I'll tell you what I think. They don't
hesitate. to question the word of the prophets,
to question the word of the apostles, to question the word of the reformers,
to question the word of pastors and teachers. They'll challenge God's servant. They despise dominion and they
speak evil of dignities. I tell you, if God has sent someone
and put his hand on someone, He intends for someone to hear
that someone. And not to speak evil of that
one. We can learn something here in
verse 9. Yet Michael the archangel, now
you think of the power of Michael. I don't know, I don't know two angels that are
named the word Michael and Gabriel. You know any more than the name
Lucifer was fallen. Michael, the archangel. When
God told Moses he couldn't go into the promised land. See,
Moses is the law, Joshua, Jesus. Joshua had taken him in, but
Moses, he didn't sanctify the Lord and he smote that rock the
second time, so God said, you're not going to the promised land.
So God took him up on Mount Pisgah, I believe it was. From Mount
Pisgah's lofty heights, I view my home and take my flight. That's
where Moses, God took him home. Moses died on that mountain. And God buried him. You know
who buried him? Michael did. God sent Michael
to bury Moses. And Satan came up. And he said, don't bury him.
He's a great man. People need to have an opportunity
to go to his sepulchre. The people need an opportunity
to to have a place where they can make pilgrimages to Moses. Give me his body. You see, it
says here, Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil,
he disputed about the body of Moses. Satan is a great counterfeiter,
imitator. He's religious. He gets people
to worship the wrong things. The wrong things. He says, let's
put a sepulcher for Moses. Let me have his body, and I'll
take his body down there among the people. And they can carry
it along with them everywhere they go, you know. They can mummify
it and so forth. And you know what Michael did? See, Satan, Lucifer, is a power,
principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness, spiritual wickedness
in high places. But Michael wouldn't challenge
it. Michael wouldn't try to handle him. You know what Michael said?
Michael did not bring against him any railing accusation. He
didn't say, you old devil, you, you old cloven-foot devil with
a pointed tail, get back to heaven. No, he didn't. He said, God will
take care of you. That's what it says. The Lord
will do things. Why did he put that in there?
To warn us. Isn't this right, Kent? To warn
us, be careful, be careful about resting the scriptures, questioning
the apostles, sitting in judgment on the prophets, those pastors
and teachers and faithful men whom God sends to minister the
gospel. Be careful now. They're not yours
to straighten out and rebuke and deny and reject and resist. They're His. They're His. And it would be so... Now, when
they question the gospel, that's another matter. These filthy
dreamers, they're to be rebuked. These who despise dominion, they're
to be rebuked. If they speak not according to
the law and the prophets, there's no truth in them. I'm talking
about dignities. God's own. But, verse 10 says,
these fellows speak evil of things which they don't know. This is
the thing, they don't know anything. They don't know anything. They're
speaking evil of things they do not know. But what they do
know, naturally. What do they know naturally?
There's a God. What do they know naturally? There's a law. It's
written on their hearts. What do they know naturally?
God created all things, didn't he? They know that, but the things
that are seen. What do they know naturally? In these very things
they corrupt themselves. The very things that ought to
point them to Him. They got a Bible, haven't they?
What they know naturally. Some of them are reading the
same things I'm reading this morning. And these are naturally things
that the natural man, When they knew God, they glorified Him
not as God, but became vain in their imaginations. They speak evil of grace, and
election, and God's redemption, and God's faithful men, and faithful
prophets and preachers. And they don't understand them.
They don't know their message, don't know their gospel. But
what they do know, what could be a rock for them is a stumbling
stone. What could be a table? That reveals the good manner
and bread of God becomes a snare, a trap. They go into the ministry that
ought to be a way to point them to God, and they use it to profit
and damn their own soul. In the very things that they
know, naturally, they commit suicide. Woe to them, verse 11,
woe to them, They've gone the way of Cain. What did Cain do?
No atonement, no blood. They ran greedily after the heir
of Balaam. What did Balaam do? Preach for money. I'll say what you want me to
say if you pay me enough. That's old Balaam. And perished
in the gainsayers of Corrie. What did Corrie do? He said to
Moses, you've taken too much on yourself, Moses. All of God's
servants. are holy to the Lord. And we're
not going to listen to you. That's just your opinion. That's just your opinion. You
see, we know something about the Bible. And God opened the
ground and swallowed them up. And He says about them, He said,
there's spots in your feast of charity and love. When they feast
with you, they feed themselves. They're not interested in you.
They feed themselves without fear. They're clouds without
water, tantalizing, tempting. They offer so much and give nothing.
Carried about with winds, trees whose fruit withereth. They got
fruit on them, but it's rotten. Without fruit, twice dead, plucked
up by the roots. They're raging waves of the sea,
foaming out their own shame. They're wandering stars, that's
shooting stars that go through the air and they blaze for a
few moments and then they're dead. And to whom is reserved
the blackness of darkness forever? God's judgment's waiting on them. To deny His Word and teach men
so, it'd be better to tie a millstone around your neck and fall into
the deepest lake. Enoch, also the seventh from
Adam, he talked about these fellows. He says, Behold, the Lord comes
with ten thousand of his saints to execute judgment on all, and
to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly
deeds. Among whom? Among his church,
among his people whom they have ungodly committed, and of all
their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
How many times I've heard people say this. That God you preach is not my
God. One man said, if Jesus Christ only died for the elect, He's
no savior of mine. That's a pretty hard speech,
isn't it? If I believe what you believe,
I'd just go out and sin all I want to. That's pretty hard, isn't
it? Watch out. He's coming with ten thousand
of His saints to execute judgment on these ungodly men who have
spoken ungodly words against Him. against him. Well, one man said, one man,
your God's my devil. Your God's a monster, he said.
Your God that elected a people and passed by others is a monster. Old Brother Barnard said, well,
get ready to deal with a monster then. Because it's his world. And he'll do with it what he
will. Then you get ready to deal with a monster. I'm going to
deal with a merciful God in Christ. He's, to me, He's merciful. To
you, He's a monster. He'll meet you either way. He'll
meet you in mercy, or He'll meet you as a monster. Either way. He's a merciful, gracious Lord.
Merciful in Christ, outside of Christ. He's a consuming fire. You talk about a monster. Your
God's a monster. That's pretty, that's pretty
hard. That's pretty hard. Well, the Lord rebuked them.
Now these are, what they are is murmurers, complainers. They
walk after their own lust. Their mouths speak great swelling
words. God says, having men's persian
in admiration because of advantage. I'll kind of butter up this fella
because he can help me more. I'll butter up this one because
he'd recommend me somewhere else. I'll deal with this one here
in compromise because I don't want to offend him. He can do
things for me. Men's admiration. Because of advantage. If I please
men, I'm not the servant of God. That's right. Just not God's servant. Love
to please. I love to please. Don't you? I love to please.
I love to please. And I tell you this, those who
love Him, I please. I please. They love the shepherd and the
under-shepherd because he feeds them good clover. Beloved, remember
ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our
Lord Jesus, how that they told you that you should be mockers
in the last time who walk, who should walk after their own ungodly
lusts. These be they who separate themselves
sensual, having not the Spirit. Now in closing, He gives us five
things. I want you to mark these five
things, and I'll close. You, beloved, you do these five
things here now. Number one, you build up yourselves
on your most holy faith. How do you do that? By studying
the Word. Just what you're doing right
now. This will build you up on your faith. This will build up
your faith. Faith comes by hearing, hearing with the Word of God.
Desire the sincere milk of the Word that you may grow thereby.
This is how you build yourself up on faith, by the Word. Build
yourself up. Now don't neglect the hearing
of the Word. Secondly, pray. Praying in the Holy Ghost. Don't
neglect the prayer closet. The older you get, the more mature
you get in Christ, the more you ought to pray, and will pray.
The more you feel the need to pray. The more you see others
who feel the need of your prayers. The more helpless you feel without
prayer, John Bunyan said, I soon expect a natural man to live
without breathing, as a spiritual man to live without praying.
It's impossible. Pray. You say, well, you said
the Word before prayer. It comes before prayer. What
God has to say to you is more important than what you have
to say to Him. That's where it comes first. Build yourself up
on the Word, your faith, and then pray. Pray. Private prayer,
private good. Thirdly, keep yourself in the
love of God. This is threefold. His love for you. His love for
you. Amazing love. Your love for Him. And your love for others. Don't
let a root of bitterness come in. Don't do that. Stay in love with Christ. Stay
in love with His people. Keep yourself in the love of
God. Don't get sidetracked. Over in Revelation, he rebuked
that church because they had a lot of commendable things,
didn't they? He said, you can't stand those that are wrong, and
you fight against those that are wrong, and you contend for
this, contend for that, but I've got something against you. You've
left your first love. I tell people who are married, and they say, well, pray for
me, my family, my wife and I have some trouble. One time you were
awful much in love. Why don't you go back to that
time? There was a time when she was
everything to you, and you to her. And all of what you've got
going here is you've got busy, and you've got all these other
activities, and work, and debts, and all these other things, and
you've left your first love. And that's the way it is. Christ
is my first love. You stay right there. Keep yourself
in love with Christ. Keep yourself in love. Keep yourself
low and humble and like a child, teach me, humble at the feet
of Christ, like Mary of old. Martha, you're busy. You're too
busy. Come on in here and get at my
feet. Now, keep yourself in the love.
Look, look. Study, pray, love. And look for
the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto ever eternal life. Keep
looking to Christ. Keep looking. I looked to Christ, and the dove
of peace flew in my heart. I looked in my heart, and He
flew away. Keep looking. Keep coming to Christ. Look into
Christ. You can't fail if you look into
Him. Don't look up here. Don't look at this one, that
one, that one. Look to Him. Wives, don't look to your husbands.
Look to Him. And then, down in verse 24, here's
the whole key. Down to Him, He's able to keep
you from falling. And He's able to present you
faultless before His presence with exceeding joy. To the only wise God, our Savior,
be glory, majesty, dominion. and power both now and forever. I believe I'm stronger in that
gospel now than I was when I got up here this morning. I believe
I believe Him. Don't you? A little more. Just
a little more. I believe I see His glory. A
little more. I believe I do. I believe I see
the importance of this, what we're doing right here. A little
more. Don't you? And I believe I'm coming back
tonight to hear Ken and learn a little more about this. I believe
I will. And I believe next week I'm going
to get into this Word a little more and build myself up on this
Holy Faith. I believe I'm going to watch
the root of bitterness and make sure it doesn't keep me from
Christ. I believe I'm going to pray a little more. I believe
so. I believe so. Because I don't
want to be like Cain and Balaam all these others that perished.

Continue In the Faith

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Continue In the Faith

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