Good morning everyone…I hope you are having a great morning! Welcome kids to go to class (something fun) welcome those joining online.

So we have been in this series called Watch our for Wolves for the last couple of months. I hope that you have been encouraged and challanged as we have looked at what it means to defend against false teaching. There are plenty of online teachers that preach a different Gospel than the Bible teaches. You have the big ones like Joel Osteen and Joyce Meyer as well as Kenneth Copeland and Jack Hagee who all teach a version of the prosperity Gospel. They may sprinkle some true Gospel in there as well, but they all teach some version of prosperity. Then you have the TikTok teachers like Brandon Robertson or Colby Martin who are popularizing the teachings of progressive Christianity. Then there are those at Bethel Church in Redding California who are led by Bill Johnson and chief prophet Kris Vallotton and then there is Todd White who all teach a version of prosperity with faith healing, saying that if you are not healed, it is because you do not posses enough faith. They have no theology of suffering…What is interesting about these folks is that there are some of these teachers, I think of Joyce Meyer and Todd White at least who have repented of their false theology at one point, but then went right back to teaching the same thing…It’s interesting and you have to question are they acknowledging the Gospel as a ploy, or is God truly working in their hearts and they have come to believe their own false teachings. I’ve seen it happen with multiple pastors specifically who are teaching some version of soft prosperity. When you are surrounded with people who agree with false teaching, eventually you begin to believe the lie that is being talked about so much, even if in your heart you know it isn’t true.

I was reading earlier this week and came across a story that perfectly illustrates this idea…Now, to be clear, I do not know that this is a true story, but it illustrates the point so clearly.

Billy is a seven-year-old boy who loves to draw pictures. But he’s not your typical seven-year-old who likes to draw. He has an unmatched talent as an artist. The pictures he sketches are riveting. Billy’s parents are highly moralistic. They are also coldly disengaged from their son’s talent.

They fear that Billy will grow up very prideful over his unique talents as an artist. Plus, forging a career as an artist is not a noble goal in their eyes. So Billy’s parents tell him that his drawings are not very good and that he should stop drawing. So he does. Billy lays down his crayons, his colored pencils, and his markers.

Ten years pass by, and Billy is a high school student. He takes health as one of his electives. One day his teacher gives her students an exercise in projective personality tests. Each student must draw a picture depicting the happiest moment in his or her life and the saddest moment. To his surprise, Billy finds himself doing something that he hasn’t done in ten years. He begins to draw pictures. Upon finishing his pictures, four students who are sitting nearby take a peek at the product of his pen. They are aghast.

They blurt out, “My goodness, Billy, that’s awesome! Wow, you have a real gift, man.” Billy is shocked. He suspects that they are poking fun at him. “Yeah right,” he retorts. “I know I can’t draw, so save the sarcasm.” One of the four students waves the teacher over, saying, “You gotta get over here and see this.”

As the teacher walks over to Billy’s desk, her eyes widen. She says to the young man, “Billy, these are the most incredible drawings I’ve ever seen. You really have a talent. Have you considered taking art class?”  Still, Billy has a hard time believing what he is hearing. Why? Because for the last decade his parents have told him that he cannot draw well. Yet the reality all along was that Billy was a gifted artist. But that’s not how he perceived himself. The lie was easy to believe because it was repeatedly told to him by those he expected to tell the truth.

You see, what happened is that Billy heard from trusted sources for so long that the truth was blurred with the lie. That same thing happens to us as we listen to false teaching. If we hear that false teaching enough…eventually it begins to seep in and folds itself into our own theology. That is why it is soooo important to set our emotions aside and simply look at what Scripture actually teaches. Again, if it is in this book....it never has and never will change…This is something you hold with a closed hand, meaning that no one can take that belief from you. However, if it is not in this book, then you must hold that with an open hand, meaning it is not crucial to who you are or what you believe. You can think that, you can even believe that…but I’m not gonna get mad if someone doesn’t believe along side with me. I’m ok with those differences. Frankly, I expect there to be differences, and these are differences that I can still be joined in the unity of the Lord. Frankly, this is where the potential of a name change comes in. Leaf River Baptist Church is not found in Scripture, so I’m not going to hold to that name with a closed hand…However, all of the theology that we just went over in the I Believe series I am going to hold with a closed hand because those are the things in Scripture. That is kind of what we are talking about today. Today we are talking about

Standing Firm: Overcoming the influence of False Teachers

This is an incredibly important topic because there are so many things that we might instinctively believe, but they are not strictly found in Scripture…they are simply things that you learned through classes or conversations. For instance....for a very long time I believed that Southern Baptist were the only people that would be going to Heaven. Many years ago I was actually encouraged not to even attend another church that was not SBC if I ever wanted to become a pastor. Those are real words that were said to me. well…then something really interesting happened to me. I began to meet people who were not SBC and they truly loved the Lord. Then I searched Scriptures, and do you know what I didn’t find…I didn’t find that only SBC folks go to heaven…That means I had to drop that as a belief didn’t I?

So let’s open up our Bibles and see what the Bible actually says before we make any decisions about anything in life. You see, I actually believe that the Bible is a true and authoritative book, and if you believe that as well, then you and I are going to get along really well. Now, today we are going to be in a new book that we haven’t been to before. Go ahead and open your Bibles to the book of Jude…It is only a couple pages long depending on how you Bible is laid out. Now Jude is right before Revelation which is the last book of the Bible. While you are turning there, let me give you a little info on Jude. You see, this letter from Jude actually warns against those who are already in the church and are perverting the Gospel. Jude is warning against those who deny Jesus as Messiah. Jude also urges Christians to continue in godliness and love towards those false teachers we will encounter. Jude was written by a man named Jude who identifies himself as the brother of James. It is believed he is referring to James the brother of Jesus, meaning that this is written by another of Jesus’ brothers. it is believed he did not identify as Jesus’ brother because he was identifying himself as Jesus’ servant.

Here is why Jude is important. You see, the message of Jude is frequently ignored because it is so small…but also because Jude is very clear that the Lord will judge harshly the evil that has attempted to come into the church to corrupt the pure Gospel. That is a message of judgement that strikes people as “unloving” and “intolerant”. Now, let’s be clear here…this message that Jude wrote over 2000 years ago is just as relevant today as it was then. It is just as relevant to the American church as it was to the church that Jude wrote to. Jude is a letter that we can read as if he wrote this especially for us here in 2023…Let’s take a look at

Jude 3–4 (ESV)

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

Now we need to start off here understanding where Jude is coming from. It’s actually really interesting becuase Jude says that originally he wanted to write a different letter. He wanted to write about their mutual salvation, but then he found out about the heinous things being done within the church. Specifically the heinous things of allowing false teaching in the church. This was not a good thing, and Jude knew that there was false teaching going on. So what is false teaching? False teaching is anything that goes against the clear teaching of Scripture. Anything…It’s so important that we talk about this stuff because there are such eternal consequences aren’t there? I mean, on the one hand if I avoid the false teacher I avoid a bad conversation. On the other hand if i avoid the false teacher others GO. TO.HELL…That is incredibly important to realize. I’m glad he stepped up and said what needed to be said, even if it was considered hateful by some people. Have you every experienced that? Have you ever experienced a conversation with someone that was teaching something false and been told you were hateful or you should just leave it alone because that is not the loving thing to do? I have…Listen, there is a real and present danger to allowing false teaching to go on unchecked. First of all you can take someone and lead them away from the Gospel. Thats a pretty big deal. Second, you can take someone who has believed in the Gospel, you can’t loose that, but you can absolutely drive them to believe things that are not true and then they no longer fulfill their God given mission to share the Gospel with others. So really what this passage comes down to in the word, CONTEND. The reason it comes down to this word, is becuase these two verses basically describe everyone…We will start by looking at

Those who Contend:

Now, I am going to be a little heartless here this morning. I can do that though because you guys all keep coming back :) Actually no, I am not going to be heartless, but i might sound heartless because this morning I am going to group everyone into one of two groups. There will be no in between in our discussions this morning. So, I hope this is an encouragement to you that either you should continue serving as God has been leading you, or you need to jump off the sidelines, and do what God has been leading you to do.

So what does it mean to contend for the faith? To contend for the faith means to quite a bit actually, so I left you some room in your note sheet to write this out however you want to. To contend is actually a bit of an interesting word. You see, with this term there is an idea of struggling, or engaging in a struggle. You also have an idea of exerting extreme effort. So the real question is what is this talking about. In what context is this being written? Is this in the context of reading…I will contend to read the Bible this year? Is this in the context of walking…I will contend to not fall again this week. (for me that is a daily struggle I contend with) :) What is the context that the author is writing about and what should we think about this term being used in relation to the Gospel?

Well, I would argue that what Jude is referring to is a vigorous defense of the Gospel. I say that becuase we see that Jude is calling believers to contend for the faith, and not for something else. We see Jude as already expressed the concern with the false teachers in his letter, that is why he was unable to write an enjoyable letter, but a letter that expresses these concerns. So Jude is calling Christians out telling them…and us that we need to contend. We need to vigorously defend the Gospel in the midst of all of the false teaching that goes on all around us. I love what a theologian said,

Contending for the faith is not just a vigorous defense of the Christian faith but an advancement of the gospel as well. These actions must be accompanied by an obedient lifestyle — Terry L. Wilder

Isn’t that just an amazing picture that we should be mirroring? Listen, we should not just wait to be attacked with falsehoods about Christ, we should be out there making Jesus famous in a good way, right? We must be advancing the gospel, not just quietly living with the knowledge of the gospel. So…are you? Are you contending for the faith? Are you obedient to Scriptures making it your goal to advance the cause of Christ? Because that is what Jude is encouraging us to do right here!

Now earlier I said I was going to be a little heartless, right? I don’t think I have been heartless yet…but I’m not finished. You see, if we have looked at those who contend…next we have to look at

Those who Deny:

Yeah…I said there were really only two groups of people right? This is where I get a little more heartless..or at least this is where some may say I am being a bit heartless. Here’s the thing though earlier I asked you if you had talked to anyone about their false teaching and been told you were hateful or unloving? I have…I remember times I have been called a pharisee because I actually believe if the Bible spells something out, then it is settled. For instance…call me old fashion, but I believe murder is wrong…including the murder of the pre-born. I’ve been told you can’t tell people that becuase it might hurt them to know that they killed a child. Well…here’s the thing, if you don’t know you did something wrong, then you don’t have a need for a savior. See thats the whole reason the Law was given…we read that in Romans. The Law was given to show man how terrible we actually are. So, I believe murder is wrong. I also believe sexualizing children is wrong, but I believe any sexual activity outside of a marriage between 1 man and 1 woman is wrong as well…That means pornography, and sexting, as well as having a physical affair…all of these actions are wrong. I’ve been told that is unloving and that I shouldn’t tell people they are wrong.

Listen, there are two types of people, those who contend, and those who deny…so, which are you? When I asked you earlier if you contended for the gospel, meaning you actively are advancing the cause of Christ, that was a real question becuase here’s the deal…if you answered no to that question…then you are one of those who deny. This is where I get a little heartless sounding. Listen, Im not saying everyone has to be perfect, I am far from that. I am saying that if you claim to follow Christ, yet you do not tell others actively…then who are you actually following? If you claim to follow Christ, yet you keep your mouth shut at work, then who are you actually following. You see, you are known by your actions, whatever they might be, and if you are known more because you are a farmer, or a millwright, or a mechanic, or whatever it is that you do. If you are known more for your profession than for your Lord, then who are you actually following? Listen, I know this is rough, and Im talking to myself here to…but the reality is that we are called to contend, and if we are not doing that, then the only other option is that we are denying?

Did you see what Jude says about those who deny? He said that they have crept into the church and then Jude tells us four things about these people.

Their judgement has been predicted long ago.

They are ungodly.

They turn God’s grace into a license to sin.

They deny Jesus as Lord

Is this a group that you want to be lumped in with, because I know I do not want to be in this group. The thing is, if I really believe that I am a sinner in need of a saviour, and I am incapable of my own salvation and that Jesus literally lived and died for my salvation, then I will be moved into action. So if you are not contending for the faith, then either you are lying to yourself…or you are one of those who deny. You have crept into the church and have attended, but have not repented and focused on the Lordship of Christ, listen if that is you, please reach out this morning and let’s get that taken care of together today before you leave. What is the truth of your heart focus this morning? Will you contend for the faith…or will you deny the faith?

There is one other option that I want to share with you this morning. Maybe you have contended for the faith, but over the years you have forgotten what it means to contend for the faith. Maybe you are one that needs to repent because for too long you have made church about you or about your desires and not about defending the gospel as well as actively advancing the gospel. Maybe you are one who at one time realized what Jesus did for you, but after a few years of attending worship you have forgotten what Jesus pulled you out of, or protected you from. You see, I know for a fact that some of you in this room right now would fall into that category. You would say that you can remember what it was like when you first commited your life to Christ, but you have since lost your passion about what Christ did for you. You know, but you have forgotten your first love and filled that space with something else…When you come to church are you more focused on a job you have to do, or a God you get to worship? When you come to church are you more focused on how you are inconvenienced and how something is going to be hard, or are you more focused on the reality that God allows you…fallible you to do this work in his house.

You see, I want you to really focus on where your heart is this morning. This is just between you and God, no one else…but I want you to think about this question... Am I one who is contending…or am I one who is denying?

This is the last week we are focused on looking at false teaching, but this is not the last week we should, as a church, be defending and advancing the cause of Christ. Next week we we will start a brand new series about what all God has given to us, but we should always be focused on sharing the truth of the Gospel and ensuring that no one around you is sharing a false gospel. I want you to go out this week and be proud about the gospel of Jesus Christ and be prepared to tell everyone. listen, its easy to announce this on Facebook…can you announce this at work? Maybe you make it known that you are a person that people can come to if they have something they are struggling with and you will pray for them right then and there…you are a person who will contend for the faith!

Let’s pray—pray that God will open eyes and convict those who are denying through their actions.