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[0:00] Jude, the second to last book, it's one of the shortest books in the Bible. And Jude, his! name means praise. And the book of Jude, the message of Jude, it shows us directly relevant! messages for us now, in this time, in this last time. Jude shows us our faith, faith, true biblical faith, and faith victorious, even while it's under attack in a day of falsehood, which we can identify with, I put to you today. And Jude issues for us a call to arms, a call to arms to fight for the truth, for the faith, once delivered, once for all, delivered to the saints. And so we're going to go to Jude, and we're going to step by step work through the book, God helping us, to see we have a fight on our hands. Jude chapter 1, verse 1. It says, Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ and called. Verse 2, mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied. Jude calls himself a servant. Jude, the servant of Jesus

[1:16] Christ. Jude, a willing servant. We all are likewise servants of God, under his authority of our Lord and Master, our Lord Jesus. And think of it, brother, sister today, if you're a Christian, you are a servant. A servant is first bought and paid for. If you are a Christian, you have been bought with a price, and you belong to God. You belong to Him. Live like it. You have been purchased by the precious blood of Christ. No greater item, no greater value than that precious blood. Nothing compares. Amen? You've been bought with that. Wow. You are precious today. And Jude is writing to the saved. He's writing to the saved. That's you and me. It's to us, to the saved, to the sanctified, the secured. We are called. We are sanctified. We're preserved. We're beloved. And we're kept. These are all words that speak to us. And Jude speaks to us even now, in this 21st century. We are under his guard. We have a blessed assurance. And we are born into

[2:26] God's family. You are ransomed, redeemed. God glorified, yet to be. But ultimately, we are God's children in the present, kept by the power of God until the ultimate glorification to come. We are called.

[2:41] We are set apart. You know, what a joy, what a blessing when we think of all these wonderful truths that apply to you and me today, here and now. We're called to be saints, to be holy. And we know His mercy, peace and love. Look at that. Mercy unto you and peace and love. Be multiplied. God is love and He has loved us with what kind of love? An everlasting love. That's the kind of love you love with today.

[3:09] And Jude calls for discernment here and for a defense of biblical truth. Now we're going to talk through this book, walk through this book and see how it's relevant. It's real. It's meaningful. It's applicable for you and me, for the here and now. Because we have a faith worth fighting for. Amen?

[3:28] We have a faith. A faith once delivered, once for all, to the saints, delivered to us. And we've got a call to discern and to defend that which has been delivered to us against false teachers, false doctrine, false teaching. So we'll move on. Verse 3. Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith once delivered, which was once delivered unto the saints. We're in Jude chapter 1, verse 3. Beloved. Wow, you're beloved today, aren't you?

[4:10] Can you get a hold of that? Can you grasp that? We can't get that, can we? In our comprehension that you, me, we are beloved. Beloved, loved of God. We are loved of Him. And God has placed His great love upon us. You know, the word tells us of our Lord, greater love has no man than this, than He laid down His life for His friends. That's what our God has done. And Jude says He gave all diligence. All diligence. We touched on that earlier today, that He's given all diligence to us. He gave all diligence. Diligence is steady, constant, applied effort. And we need diligence today. In the word in Proverbs 4.23, it says, keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.

[4:58] What should we be diligent about? Be diligent in prayer. Be diligent in labouring for God. Many other things we could see, for example, in 2 Peter 1 verse 5, where Peter says, and beside this, giving all diligence, he uses the same phrase, add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge, temperance, and to temperance, patience, and to patience, godliness, and to godliness, brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, charity. Let's not just stay put, let's keep on growing. Keep on reaching forward. Jude talks about salvation here. He says it's a common salvation. Jude, so this is verse 3, he gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation. Salvation is common because we all need it. It's a need for everybody, isn't it? We need it, I need it, you need it. The whole world out there needs it. This salvation is because of that common need we have for it. It's a need of salvation that is shared by all. It's common. Every man has this common need, and every man can have salvation. Whosoever will may come. Everyone who receives salvation is made a new creation, and we are kept out of the same hell, and we go to the same heaven. It's common in the sense we've got that blessed mutual need of it and receptivity of it, and God is no respecter of persons that we all can likewise, as we likewise all have need of it, we likewise all can receive it the same way, by faith. Jude tells of a vigorous contention here, of a combat, of a battle for the right. Verse 3 is talking about an earnestly contending. Friends, there's a conflict going on.

[6:55] That's why I believe, really, this book is relevant for now. The book of Jude is relevant for here and now, because there is a conflict going on between light and darkness, between truth and error, between lies and falsehood, and that which is the blessed truth of God, the word of God.

[7:11] And this faith, it says, this faith, the faith, this faith has been once delivered unto the saints. Friends, God cares about the truth. How we worship, what we minister, what we preach, what we teach, it must be the truth, because the church is the pillar and ground of the truth. We're about the truth, we care about the truth. The truth matters, matters to God, and it should matter to us. So, because we care about the truth, we must withstand error. And Jude shows us here how to discern.

[7:47] We've got to discern between truth and lies. Not everything you get told is true. Now, who's ever bought a used car? You know, sometimes you can't believe what you're told. You know, you can't believe what you're told, because sometimes you're not told the whole truth.

[8:04] But God tells us the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth. And we're called because we are called to consent earnestly for the faith. This faith is true. We are to defend it, to believe it, wholeheartedly grasp it and apply it. And Paul talks about in Titus 1 verse 9, holding fast the faithful word. And it's interesting, this word holding fast, this is Titus 1 verse 9. It means holding fast the truth, holding the truth fast against a contrary force. It's like the winds are buffeting, but we hold this book. We hold this truth. We will not be moved. We hold it fast, the faithful word. And we're living in a day and age when error is spreading and growing and corrupting. You see, it's mind boggling when you see some of the recent, then the new stories about what's going on in some church circles. It's like, how do people swallow that? How do they, why are they jumping on that bandwagon? What's driving that? And it's not being driven by the truth. That's the problem. That's the problem. So I put to you today that we're living in a time when many are earnestly corrupting the truth. Instead of contending for it, we're corrupting the truth. Jude gives warning now, verse 4. He says, for there are certain men crept in unawares.

[9:29] They kind of snuck in, crept in, and who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and in other words, immorality, and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. So verse 4, Jude gives warning here. He tells of ungodly men. He says they've crept their way in. They snuck in, unnoticed, craftily, they're pretenders, carnal. He's talking about false teachers. And false teachers, false teaching is something the word of God urges us to be mindful of, to be alert to, especially in the context of the end days. He talks about, as our Lord says, we should beware lest any man deceive us. He says that we should be on the alert. And likewise, we see false teachers are talked about as a threat to the church. They're like wolves. We must oppose them.

[10:36] And in Isaiah 56, verse 10, Isaiah talks about prophets who will not speak out, that they're like dumb dogs that cannot bark. They're useless. You know, even just a little yappy dog will scare a thief away. But these are dumb dogs. They don't have a mouth. They don't have a voice.

[10:55] They don't speak. They don't bark. They cannot bark. And this is no time for dogs that cannot bark. We need to be barking when there's an intruder, when there's an offender. And friends, there's need for us to be on our guard, to be like a guard dog, and especially as those that minister. We all call to this. This faith has been delivered to us, all of us. We all have the faith, this faith. And it's been committed to our trust. So we have a solemn duty to defend it. Every one of you, every one of you, as a Bible-believing Christian, this truth is too important for us to deviate or to dilute. This faith has been once delivered to the saints.

[11:45] I know a friend of mine says this, and as I read in another commentary, this faith has been once delivered to the saints, not to the scholars. Amen? It's been delivered to the saints, the saints of God, the ordinary believers, ordinary believers like you and me. Some would take it and try to distort it and cast doubt upon it. But no, this faith has been delivered to the saints, the men and women of God, ordinary believers who believe God. What are we living in these days? We see many disobeying Christ as Lord. They deny God's authority. They deny the authority of this word. They try to redefine it or revise it such that they've taken the meat out of it. They deny the authority of his word. They deny the self-sufficiency, the all-sufficiency of the word, the sufficiency of the scriptures. You get away from that, you just go off with some whatever left field cult comes out there where some prophet comes spouting some controversial extra-biblical revelation. If we get away from the foundation, then what shall the righteous do? The Bible warns us about evil workers and we must withstand them.

[13:04] So this is the context of what Jude is highlighting here. We see that ungodly may profess to know Christ, but in their works they deny him. You've got to watch for that. You measure things. You measure not just what people mouth, but what it's showing in their lives. They profess they know Christ, but in works they deny him. And in verses 5 through 11, Jude compares false teachers with unbelieving Israel, number one, with angels that sinned, number two, and with the evil people of Sodom and Gomorrah. He uses these examples to compare to false teachers. What is he saying here? He's saying in these next verses 5 through 11 that false teaching is tied up with unbelief, with rebellion, and with immorality. And what does it ultimately bring? God's judgment.

[13:56] God's against it and God will judge it. And these examples of Israel, of the angels that fell, of Sodom and Gomorrah, they serve as an example, as a warning to us. So we'll go through that.

[14:07] Verse 5. Jude says, I will therefore put you in remembrance, though you once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.

[14:18] Here was the children of Israel delivered by the God's glorious hand out of the bondage of Egypt. And God provided them through this journey with water, with quail, with manna.

[14:29] But they yet turned from God's grace. They turned to idolatry. They gave glory to idols to give them credit for their saving. They fell into sin and they faced God's judgment. Amen.

[14:44] The children of Israel. What an example. We see the verse 6, another example, the rebellious angels. Verse 6. And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation he had reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

[15:02] Even the angels, Lucifer and a third of the angels fell with him. They rebelled and God removed them in judgment. You think if God spared not the angels, you think he's going to spare the wicked today? Judgment is ahead of us, people. Judgment is ahead. Judgment looms.

[15:19] Jude's telling us this. Verse 7. Another example. Even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. God judged the wicked. And we see our world today is increasingly like Sodom, isn't it? It's more and more so like Sodom and Gomorrah. And Jude warns us through these painters that God's judgment looms. It's around the corner. And the ungodly are in peril.

[15:55] We must not trifle. We dare not trifle with the things of God. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Hebrews 10.31. We've got to take this seriously. The judgment that looms. Jude is saying here, we have to protect the church from these creepers, if you like. These ones who've crept in. You know, there's some kind of advert of, I know people might recollect of some times ago of what the police call them creepers, don't they? You've seen that one where they creep over the speed limit. They just creep. And look, I must say there's occasion when I've done a bit of creeping. But, you know, we creep. We just creep over the speed limit. Oh, just a few k's over won't hurt. But, you know, the Bible talks about these creepers. They're creeping. They're creeping into the church. Just kind of gradually, imperceptibly, bit by bit, weaseling their way in. And we have to be aware of that and protect the church from creepers. Take heed. Keep biblical. Keep watching. Keep praying. And friends, in this world where the internet, you can tune into all manner of false teaching that's out there.

[17:07] You can tune in to any heretic that's out there and find something to feed your mind and soul with and undiscerningly you're being deceived. It's creeping up on you. Verse 8. Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion and speak evil of dignitaries. Jude's saying these creepers, these ones who've crept in, these ones who've snuck in, these false teachers, they're like filthy dreamers. They're defiling. They're despising dominion. They're speaking evil. And people rebel against the things of God.

[17:42] Rebellion. That's what it is. It's lawlessness. It's rebellion. It's at the heart of man. Rebellion. And they would rebel against the word of God. Oh, that God says, thus saith the Lord. Well, I don't like that. Too bad. They're rebelling. Don't rebel against the word of God.

[17:59] Don't rebel against the things of God. 1 Samuel 15, 23, it says that rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness as iniquity and idolatry. God says he hates that if we rebel against him and his truth. Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. How bad can it be? Rebellion is bad. It's witchcraft. It's like witchcraft. Anyone who defies the authority of God is in rebellion to God. Amen. And what is the authority of God? It is this word. This is the authority of God. It's his authority. It's authorised. Jude calls them dreamers. He says they defile the flesh. They live in this dream world where they set their own rules of right and wrong, not what the Bible says. Some people live in this dream world. Spiritually. Theologically.

[18:54] And it sounds a bit like this drug crazed world, doesn't it? They offered the fairies. This drug crazed world. They despise dominion, it says. They please themselves. They corrupt themselves. They defile themselves. They're dirty. Friends, we've got to be cautioned.

[19:11] When I tell you something and it's backed up by scripture, believe God. Even though you don't like what I'm telling you. The word warns us of those who are careless. They're as foolish virgins who went to sleep in Matthew 25. The context is of the Lord coming back and these ones were sleeping. They were dreaming. They were asleep when they should have been ready.

[19:38] They should have been ready, but they were asleep. And it's a picture of the world, of the church today, where the door of God's grace is shut to them. They've missed it. Jude warns of these false teachers. They'll creep in unawares. And look how false religion starts. It's when people get away from the authority. We see Catholics, they look to the Pope for their authority.

[19:59] The so-called Pope. Papa. Pope. We shouldn't even call him that because the Bible says call no man father. He's not, we shouldn't even call him the Pope. But they look to the Pope as their authority. Mormons look to the Book of Mormon as their authority. You know, even Protestants can look to committees and denominations and councils for their authority. To some hierarchical structure of man to be an authority. People can look to the authority of experience. Oh, you can't deny my experience. Well, does it add up? Is it actually biblical? Oh, but that's my experience. I've experienced this. I know what the Bible says, but I believe what I felt.

[20:41] No. If it's not biblical, don't believe it. Some preachers set themselves up as the absolute authority. Outside the parameters of the word of God. Preachers can take an authority to themselves that is unbiblical too. Amen. I've got to guard against that. Every church has to. Every church has to be under the word of God in what it does. We have to come under his dominion.

[21:07] That's what matters. Ungodly men, it says, they defile the flesh. You know, false doctrine leads to sinful living. Oh, I'll just be my own authority. I'll just do my own thing. It doesn't matter what the Bible says. If it feels right. No, it's not about that. Is it right?

[21:24] The ungodly, they despise dominion. They will not be ruled. They will not come under the authority of God. Friends, God must govern us. He must. We must come under his government.

[21:37] His government is wise. It's godly. It's gracious. It's loving. It's rightful. God must govern you and me. Verse 9 says, Michael, the archangel, when contending with the devil, he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, the Lord rebuke thee. Michael contending with the devil. Ultimately, we are contending with the devil, aren't we? We're not fighting flesh and blood. We're fighting against principalities and his powers. We're fighting against spiritual wickedness in high places. We're contending with the devil, it says. And the Lord has the authority over the devil. How are we to handle the devil?

[22:14] 1 Peter 5, 8 through 9. You know this. Be sober, be vigilant. Because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour, whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. Be sober. Be vigilant. This is no time to be glug, glug, glug. Be sober. Be vigilant.

[22:44] Have your eyes peeled. We're under attack. This is no time for triviality. This is no time for superficiality. We have to be alert. We have to be awake. We have to be wise. We have to be temperate. Jude says they corrupt themselves. Verse 9. But they speak evil of those things which they know not. But what they know naturally as brute beasts and those things, they corrupt themselves. As I say, false doctrine leads to a corruption of life. It leads to sin. We've got to get close to him, close to his word. Don't give an inch. Don't, how does it say, you know, don't give place to the devil. Don't give him access. Don't give him leeway. Don't make room for the devil. Make room for God. Make God your trust. And it goes on, verse 11. Jude gives us some more examples here. He says, woe unto them. He says they're in danger. Woe unto them. They're in peril of judgment. For they have gone, it says, in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of

[23:53] Balaam for reward and perished in the gainsaying of Korah. So Jude's here giving three more examples. It talks about the way of Cain. It talks about the error of Balaam. It talks about the gainsaying of Korah. Let's look at these three. Jude speaks of the way of Cain. Who was Cain? Cain and Abel. Cain rejected the blood. He didn't want to have a blood sacrifice. He refused the blood. He refused to listen.

[24:16] He rejected God's plan of salvation. He rejected God's word and he followed the father of lies. He thought his own little sacrifice of his own doing, of his own working, would suffice. But no, it was wrong. It was wrong. And Cain later rebuilt a city. He lived a life without God and he reaped disaster. What happened to Cain? He killed his brother. Then he raised another murderer. It was one of his offspring. The way of Cain. Avoid it. The way of Cain is the way of self-will and pride. It's the way of false religion. Ultimately, it's the way of religion of works, isn't it? It's a false religion. It's self-righteousness. Don't go Cain's way.

[24:55] Go God's way. Avoid the way of Cain. The second example is Balaam. We read of Balaam in Numbers 22. Balak, the king of Moab, thought if he could get this prophet of God to bring a curse on the people of God, he could kill the Israelites and take over. This is Balak, the king of Moab.

[25:14] He talked into Balaam and Balaam kind of got steered off down this detour and Balaam offered a sacrifice on the altar of Baal. He just got talked into this and he did not separate from evil was Balaam's problem. You know, we've got to separate from evil. If it's wrong, separate from it. It's going to hurt, it's going to cost, but separate. Balaam led Israel astray by his actions and at the end of Balaam's life, he was living with the enemies of God. Friends, don't make the mistake of Balaam. He didn't separate from the ways, the thinking, the philosophy of the world. And we can get steered that way.

[25:55] Church is kind of marketing such that we're just like the world. You know, we follow the ways of the world such that the ways of God are gone. We should separate from the ways of the world. Don't make the mistake of Balaam. And thirdly, we see Jude gives the example, another example of Korah. Number 16 tells how Korah rebelled against God-given authority, against God's man at this time. He tried to take over and many died as a result of Korah's actions. It was rebellion, basically in a nutshell, by Korah. And rebellion is a big hallmark today, isn't it? Oh, you can't tell me what to do.

[26:34] Oh, I'm not going to listen to you. Oh, I believe differently from you. But look, if the church, and hopefully the preaching, is godly and biblical, if it can be verified and if it's founded on this, then we can't argue with it. Of course, if it's not, we can argue with it.

[26:57] We should. For us today, we can see that Australia is under judgment, can't we? It's under God's judgment. And yeah, we see things happening right now, but really, generally, it's under God's judgment because Australia is in sin and rebellion against God. We see the laws, the lawmaking, the trend, the direction is hellward, it's godless, it's in darkness, our land.

[27:27] Verse 12, we read on. What are these false teachers? They're spots in your feasts of charity. When they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear. He defines these false teachers, he says they're like clouds without water, carried about of winds, trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots, raging waves of the sea, foaming out of their own shame, wandering stars to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. Jesus here describing these deceivers, he's using picturesque language. You can see the hidden dangers here.

[28:00] Now we could use a light kind of example that's familiar of creeping error as like a Trojan horse. Bringing in error, just, it says that they crept in, it's like the Trojan horse, they opened the doors for the Trojan horse. Come in, this looks like a nice gift from the enemy camp. Of course, the story of the legend of the Trojan horse, but this Trojan horse contained the enemies and they just welcomed them in unknowing until in darkness they escaped the Trojan horse and took over the city.

[28:35] You know, that's just one example of how we can be deceived as the Trojan horse was a deceiving example. And Jude gives us here some examples of these deceivers, of these false teachers.

[28:50] He says, they are clouds without water. Now when I was driving home, or driving one day, I saw it looked like a really cloudy day and we saw the weather forecast, the rain was on its way, but those clouds were without water at that time. And it's just, oh, what a disappointment.

[29:07] You know, when you, especially when you want some rain to fall. And this is what, a picture of these false teachers, that these clouds, they, they, they look like they're going to bring some rain, there's some hope for this parched land, but these clouds without water just bring disappointment.

[29:21] And it's likewise too with false teaching, false churches, false doctrine. And that's why some people say, look, I've been to church, I've, I've been there, I've done that, you know, I was in whatever it be, Hillsong or whatever. And, you know, it's just empty, emptiness. It's clouds without water. And they get such that, oh, I'm not going to go to church anymore. If that's church, I don't want it. Clouds without water, they just bring disappointment, don't they? And sadly, when people experience some of these things, these false teachings, these false movements, that it's, it's such a huge disappointment. Oh, look, you don't know what I've been through. Church. When we do door knocking, witnessing, you see people and they think, oh, look, my experience of church, forget it. You know, clouds without water, just disappointment. False teaching will disappoint. False teachers, they bring no truth, only a false sense of hope. Like clouds without water, we must withstand them. It says they're carried about of winds. False teachers. They're like, they're some new thing. You know, Ephesians 4.14 talks about every wind of doctrine as if there's some, you know, just blown this way, blown that way, with all the, whatever the women fancy of, of what the fad and fancy of the time is. False teachers don't care. They don't care about what's biblical. They just run with what's popular. What's going to draw a crowd this week? Who's the latest and greatest evangelist we can have or the greatest act or performance or band we can have to draw a crowd? It's about the winds that they want to just follow the wind, set their sail to whatever's going to catch the popular breeze of the time.

[31:09] But in contrast to these winds without, these clouds without water, in contrast to these winds that blow, that carry about, we see the word of God is likened to refreshing rain. In Deuteronomy 32.2, our Lord says, my doctrine shall drop as the rain. My speech shall distill as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, as the showers upon the grass. My doctrine shall drop as the rain. Now this book, these words, this is light. This is water. This is the water of the word.

[31:44] This is refreshment. This is nourishment. This is a feeding of our thirsty soul. It shall drop as the rain. We must have God's word. It's the counteracting to the false teachers. It is the truth of God's word.

[32:01] We contradict the lies of false teachers by the truth of God's word. And that's to say, all of us, we need to be subject to this. I can be, I'll admit it today that there's been times when I'm looking back, I believe some things that now I would see as false doctrine. God helps you to see things. He opens your eyes. And I'm still on the journey. There's things I yet may see. Of course, we need God's word, don't we? That we can discern things by. He goes on there, trees without, his fruit withers.

[32:33] This fruit is rotten. It's worthless. You know, have you ever had a tree in your backyard and it looks nice and pleasant to the eye and you take a bite and oh, it's bitter. It's, it's, there's something wrong. There's worms in it, whatever. That's like corrupt doctrine, isn't it?

[32:51] Corrupt doctrine will produce corrupt fruit. And Jude says they're like a sea making this whole lot of foam, a whole lot of noise and commotion, but it's empty. You know, you see when you go down to St Kilda, see that frothy, foamy stuff blow across the road. It's just foam. Just like fairy floss, isn't it? No substance to it. Just foam. And the Bible says these false teachers are like that.

[33:14] It says they have wandering stars. Wandering star, they're just like a shooting star. Just a poof and gone. They're just, there's no steady or lasting impact. Jude says false teachers are like wandering stars. So there's a lot of reasons why we should be alert, shouldn't we? And mindful of this and warned. Let's go to verse 14. Let's come down to the coming of the Lord. Here's the context of Jude.

[33:41] He says, and Enoch also, this is verse 14, the seventh from Adam prophesied of these saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints. He's saying the Lord is coming. And he's saying he's going to come to execute judgment upon all and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds, which they have ungodly committed, and of their hard speeches, which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. God's against the ungodly. Let's not be in their number. Now I was in their number, as we all were. Amen? Ungodly. But when he gets saved, he changes your nature, doesn't he? He changes your heart. Mind you, you've still got some flesh to deal with. I've got some still in me. But we don't want to be numbered among the ungodly.

[34:34] We want to be numbered among the godly. And there's a big difference. It says, when our Lord returns, he'll deal with the ungodly. The ungodly are people who do not fear or reverence God. They don't care about the truth. We need to be aware. We need to be alert. Jude says about the ungodly here, he uses the word ungodly numbers of times here. Ungodly works, ungodly words. God will judge.

[34:58] Spiritual counterfeits will be seen for what they are, and they're going to face God's severe judgment. It says the Lord cometh. Maranatha, our Lord cometh, doesn't he? Our Lord is coming.

[35:09] Jesus is coming. Jesus is coming again. Get ready. Get ready, people. Shortly we'll have the snatching away of the saints. We'll have the saints appear in heaven before the judgment scene of Christ, and on earth the tribulation will be played out. Then we'll see the judgment of those not saved.

[35:27] Revelation 20. Friends, judgment looms. Get ready. Will you face him as your judge or as your saviour? Of course he will be our judge still. As we talked about earlier today, the judgment of the saved.

[35:40] But yet it's a judgment of reward, of works, of reward. Verse 16, it goes on. These false teachers, they're murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts. They're mouth speaking great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage. Paul, Jude tells of people murmuring, of complaining, of finding fault. You know, we see through the word, I was doing some readings in my early devotions of the murmurings of the children of Israel. It's like they're constantly murmuring and complaining, finding fault. And God says when they're doing that of Moses, they're doing it of him.

[36:20] Let's not murmur. That's not to say we can't have some helpful feedback. I need that. I want that. But there's a sense of murmuring, stirring up. People walking after their own lusts, it talks about.

[36:35] It's ungodliness, isn't it? Sowing discord and such. Verse 17, but we're beloved. Again, we're beloved. He says, remember the words, remember the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[36:50] Jude urges us, remember... ... ... ...

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[39:29] Just go with the flow.

[39:43] Just swallow it up. Just go with it. They get hypnotized like they're in this trance. It's sensuality.

[39:54] It's not spirituality. They're sensual. And it says they're worldly minded. It says they separate themselves. In other words, they're full of discord and division.

[40:05] They separate themselves. They don't embed themselves and unite themselves. They separate themselves. They go and, oh, look, okay, I like some of what your church preaches, but I just like something a bit more warm and fluffy and a bit more airy-fairy, a bit more jazzy and jivey, a bit more glamorous and glitzy and razzmatazzi, and they just flit, and they're sensual.

[40:33] They're following their senses. They're not following the word, the scriptures. They just go with what they feel, what they want, what feels right, and they wonder why they get in trouble.

[40:44] They just want to please themselves. It says of them, these false teachers, the spirit is not within them. And we've got to look at that verse 19. It says that they have not the spirit. It says if you have not the spirit of Christ, you're not of his.

[40:56] The bottom line with these false teachers, and it's kind of mind-boggling to actually state this, but they aren't even saved. They're not even saved. This could be true.

[41:08] Now, I'm not saying that I can name a name necessarily, but the Bible says if they're separating themselves, if they're kind of sensual, it says they have not the spirit.

[41:18] These ungodly, these false teachers, it says the spirit is not within them. They aren't even saved. Could it be that some of these TV preachers are not even saved?

[41:30] That's mind-boggling, isn't it? That is mind-boggling. We've seen these ungodly men, they're ungodly deeds, and in contrast now, just in wrapping up verse 20, we see the godly. Thank God.

[41:40] We get to some good things now. We've seen the ungodly, we've seen those who creep in, the creeps, the creepers. We've seen the ungodly men, their ungodly deeds. Let's look in contrast now at the godly from verse 20.

[41:52] It says these people are praying in the Holy Ghost. It says they're keeping in the love of God. It says they're waiting for God's mercy. It says they're winning souls for Christ. It says they're resting in God's keeping power.

[42:03] Let's just work through verse 20. But ye beloved. There's that word again. Wow, he loves you. He loves you and me. He's your beloved, beloved, beloved. Beloved, he says, building up yourselves in your most holy faith, on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost.

[42:21] Friends, as the return of Christ draws near, as the judgment looms, as we see the error of the ungodly, as we see the falling away, as we're seeing this sensuality, this superficiality, this unscriptural action, this clouds without water.

[42:42] May we be found in the fellowship of the godly. Amen. May we be found there, wherever they be, wherever they gather. It could be they gather in small numbers here and there and about the place, even in homes and other settings than theirs.

[42:55] There's pockets of them through this city of Adelaide. Let's gather with the godly. Let's know the fellowship of the godly. And friends, these words are timely for today because the return of Christ is near.

[43:08] He is coming. Are we ready? What does Jude say? He says, build up yourselves. Don't just settle for where you have been. Don't just settle for the stagnant, the static of what was, what you have learnt, what you do know.

[43:23] Keep growing. Keep growing. Keep on growing. Grow in your faith. Grow in the grace. Grow in the knowledge of Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 3, 18. He says, build up yourselves.

[43:34] There's a sense of building together. You're not building on your own. We're building as a team, as a corporate body of people, as in Nehemiah's day. They built one next to another, families next to families.

[43:47] They built together. And the wall was built because they built it together. And we're building a church. God is building the church through living stones such as you and me. 1 Thessalonians 5, 11.

[43:59] He says, wherefore comfort yourselves together and edify one another, even as also you do. And when you come to church, you edify one another.

[44:09] When you are the church, which you are full time, 24 by 7, when you mix and relate to another believer, 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 11, Paul says, edify one another.

[44:22] Edify me, please. I need some. I'll try to edify you. It's mutual, isn't it? And as a strong church, it's a group effort. Build yourselves together, it says, on your most holy faith.

[44:34] Notice the faith of believers is what kind of faith? A most holy faith. And we miss that, don't we, sometimes? Our faith should be a most holy faith.

[44:46] Now, some people look at the Amish or whatever and kind of laugh. And, you know, they're kind of the pun, the ridicule of people's jokes and that they would dare to be different. I'm not saying we've got to look like the Amish, believe me.

[44:58] But there's a sense where they don't care what other people think about them, do they? They just want to try to be godly. Isn't that a good thing?

[45:12] You know? Our faith should be a most holy faith such that we are distinct. We are godly. Jesus says, praying in the Holy Ghost. Pray.

[45:23] Depend upon the Holy Spirit. Depend upon God. It says that the Spirit helps our infirmities. We don't know what to pray. He helps us pray. He helps this infirmity, this lack, this missing bit, this infirmity that is in us.

[45:38] He helps us to pray. He makes up for our lack. And we know that the Holy Spirit, he's our comforter. He's the paraclete. The one who comes alongside to help. Don't we need that? I need that, don't you?

[45:50] Someone who comes alongside to help. When you're struggling. When you know, I know I call on some dead people in my life quite often to come alongside me and help. I just can't get to everything.

[46:01] And the Holy Spirit, he comes alongside to help, doesn't he? Praise God for that. Don't you need that? I need that. He comes alongside of us to help bear the burden. He sustains us. He strengthens us.

[46:12] He teaches us to pray. And as we pray in the Holy Ghost, it's about desiring God's will. It's about what does God want? That's what drives me. That's when I pray in the Holy Ghost is I pray as God would will.

[46:25] As God would want. As God would lead. As God would intercede for me. That I would desire God's will. That I would surrender my will to his will. To his leading.

[46:36] My desires and aspirations to his authority. That's really the sense of it. Verse 21. Keep yourselves in the love of God. Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

[46:49] Keep yourselves in the love of God. Amen. Amen. Jesus loves you. You're beloved. Beloved. Beloved. Amen. Keep yourselves in the love of God. Do we love him such that we care about what he says?

[47:05] And he convicts us when we know we're not where we ought to be. Because we love him. It makes us tender towards him, doesn't it? And we know, Lord, I've failed you. I've sinned.

[47:16] That's God's love, isn't it? It's God's love that says, wow, I'm ashamed. I'm sorry, Lord. Give me. We want to keep that closeness, don't we?

[47:28] To the one that we love. Some would love more this present world, like Demas. Love. Some would love the present world. Some would love material things.

[47:40] Lovers of pleasure. More than lovers of God. Love this world. One John 2. Some would be lovers of this world. The lust of the flesh. The lust of the eyes.

[47:50] The pride of life. They would have love for money. More than they have love for God. There's lots of loves you can have, isn't there? But beloved, that's the love that matters, isn't it?

[48:01] It's love. And looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is coming. Are you ready? We look for his returning. We're looking, it says, looking for the mercy of. Looking for it.

[48:12] Looking for it. There's an earnest expecting here. There's the sense of it. And it's a light to Titus 2.13. Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

[48:24] Wow, it's glorious. He's coming. One day he's going to break through the clouds. He's going to break through the gloom. And we're going to see the great and glorious appearing of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

[48:36] Don't you long for that? He's returning. Are you expecting it? Are you living like it's real? That this is not just a theological theory, a doctrine, a principle, but it's actually truth.

[48:48] He's coming. Are you looking for his coming? Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ? Look for his mercy. Look for his mercy. We need his mercy, don't we? Mercy.

[48:58] Now, people would know that mercy and grace are kind of like of sorts, and some have reckoned mercy is God not giving us what we deserve, isn't it?

[49:08] He doesn't give us what we deserve. He extends mercy. And grace. Grace is God giving us what we do not deserve. Grace.

[49:20] Thank God for grace and mercy. Friends, we're coming to a close here. Numbers 14, it says, the Lord is long-suffering and of great mercy. Thank God, isn't it? Thank God for that.

[49:32] Now, sometimes we might think, well, I need his mercy just like anybody else does. Don't you? His great mercy. His mercy is great, it says.

[49:42] Numbers 14, verse 18. And it goes on, Jude says, about looking for his mercy, it says, looking for eternal life, essentially. I've just lost it there.

[49:54] Verse 21. Unto eternal life. This promise, his promise to you is eternal life. Grasp that today. In some minute way, you can grasp it, that you have been saved from eternal death.

[50:11] That's amazing, isn't it? How can I be saved from eternal death? What have I done? Nothing to deserve it. Saved from the wrath of God. Saved from the wrath of God that I deserve.

[50:26] Saved from the penalty of my sin. Saved. Saved. Glory. I'm saved. Eternal life. That matters, doesn't it?

[50:37] And we want to share it, don't we? This eternal life is too precious for us just to keep to ourselves. Jude says, be compassionate. Verse 22. Be compassionate.

[50:51] Some have compassion. Making a difference. He says, be compassionate. He says, have fear. Friends, there's people in spiritual danger. As our team was out Saturday and I knocked on that door and Fred talked to me, a lapsed Jehovah's witness.

[51:08] And my heart went out to him. I had tears in my eyes for him. He's going to help. He's lost. He's a lost man. He was a religious man. Now he's an unbelieving man.

[51:20] Seen some things that put him off religion. We should have compassion for people like Fred. Have some compassion.

[51:36] Be called to compassion. Make a difference. People that are weak. Let's be kind. Be patient.

[51:48] Be patient. Doesn't mean we excuse their sin. We'll say this wrong. Because we love them. But we reach them with the truth.

[52:00] We reach them in love. Because the truth shall make you free. That's what they need. People need the truth. We have to give them the truth. Truth is the word of God. Verse 23. Others save with fear.

[52:11] Pulling them out of the fire. Hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. There's much talk of fires these days. We are called to fire service.

[52:23] Aren't we? Yeah. Country fire service. Let's sign up today. Amen. Our land is in peril.

[52:36] We're called to the work of rescue. Rescue the perishing. Not saying join the CFS. But there's a sense where we are the fire rescue team. Aren't we? Jesus says pull them out of the fire.

[52:48] People are going to help. You believe it. The book says there's going to be a hell. There is a hell and it's eternal hell. It's everlasting fire. You might say I don't like that.

[52:59] It doesn't matter. God says that's what it is. And what matters is we want to reach people and snatch them out of the fire. Fire. Who's ever been burned? Ouch.

[53:10] You don't want to go near it anymore. That fire can hurt. It can kill. It can destroy. It's dangerous. Fire will scar you. We need to be a search and rescue team, don't we? Search and rescue.

[53:22] Sent into the fire zone. See those pictures of the fire trucks and everything's burning around them. They're going there because there's people to save.

[53:33] Friends, we need to have the same heart, don't we? Spiritually, don't we? Pull them out of the fire. Hating even the garments spotted by the flesh. You could consider that Jude might have been referring to the garments worn by lepers.

[53:50] No. Oh. A leper has worn this. I'm not aware of that. If a priest thought that a garment was worn by someone infected with leprosy, they had to burn the garment.

[54:01] We hate those things that are devolved by leprosy. Leprosy is likened to sin. And the Bible tells us what should we do about sin? Hate it. Hate sin.

[54:12] Don't try to excuse it, to accommodate it, to justify it. If it's sin, it's sin. Hate it. Hate evil, the Bible says.

[54:24] Guard yourself from sin and self. See it for what it is. It's hurtful to God. Sin defiles. It damages. Abstain from all appearance of evil. Friends, I'm talking to myself.

[54:35] You might say, oh, preacher, you're having a go at me again. No. Look, I'm in the same boat as you. I'm just as guilty. I'm just as faulty. Just as failing as the next man.

[54:47] What should we do about sin? Confess your sin. 1 John 1 verse 9. Confess your sins unto him. He's faithful. He's just to forgive you his sins, to cleanse you.

[54:58] Wow. Don't you need cleansing? Isn't it good to be clean? Do a dirty job and you go and have a wash and you think, oh, it's so much better. Just to be clean.

[55:09] You can be clean before God by the blood of Jesus. Hate sin. Hate it. Hate the garment spotted by the flesh. Hate it like you'd hate a leprous garment. Like a garment that's full of that which would hurt you and contaminate you.

[55:25] Hate it. Hate sin. Jude 1.24. Now unto him that he's able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.

[55:36] Our Lord wants to present you with exceeding joy. One day he's going to present you. Will it be with exceeding joy?

[55:48] I pray so. I pray so for you, soul. I pray for you that God will present you with exceeding joy. Joy. That there will be joy when he presents you.

[55:59] faultless. Me? Faultless? Yes, you. You faultless. As a glorious church without spot or wrinkle or any such thing.

[56:14] This church? Yes, even this church. That we would be a spotless church. Glorious church without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. Because Jesus does it, doesn't he?

[56:26] And this book rounds off with a call to worship. Verse 25. To the only wise God, our saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power both now and ever. Amen.

[56:38] Glory. It rounds up with praise. Jude means praise. And he says praise here, doesn't he? Our great God. The only wise God. Be glory, dominion, power.

[56:49] His majesty, his rule, his authority. That we want to come under that. That we call him Lord, but not just call him Lord.

[57:00] He is Lord. He is master. He is saviour. Both now and ever. Without end. God can help you today. He can help you to praise him.

[57:11] He can help you to prepare for his coming. He can preserve you for eternity. Friends, whatever's going on in your heart and life right now. Jesus is with you. And he says, beloved.

[57:24] Jesus loves you today. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you. Lord, you call us beloved. We can't fathom it, Lord, that you would call us beloved. That such as we can be beloved of God.

[57:35] Loved of God. Lord, that we can have such that we can have a compassion too. That we can have a love that flows out of us too. Lord, we can snatch them from the fire.

[57:45] We can see your working in our own soul such that we can see it in others. We can be such a people that we prepared for your coming. We'll be alert to false teaching and false teachers.

[57:56] We'll see those that might want to sneak in and bring something that's out of accord. Lord, that we don't want to see our church fall prey to those that might be of the way of Cain, of Balaam. Lord, we want to be those that stand firm and solid, that stand fast and strong, that stand for the truth, that contend earnestly for the faith once delivered unto the saints.

[58:17] Lord, that we care about the truth such that we'll tell the truth, we'll speak the truth in love. Lord, help us to be a gracious people, to be kind, to be gracious, to be compassionate, to be making a difference even in this planet.

[58:30] Lord, that we can be a place of this planet that you've placed us, Lord, that we can bloom where we planted and we can be all to your praise. Lord, we can be a people who delight ourselves in the Lord. Help us to deal with the defiling of sin, that we won't be amongst the ungodly because you've changed us, you've transformed us, you've taken us out of darkness.

[58:49]  Lord, and you'll help us when we do stumble, that you'll keep us from falling. You'll keep us from falling. You'll keep us from falling. We praise you, Lord. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.