Staying in fellowship with the Holy Spirit is the only way to stop yourself and others believing garbage.
Notes
Transcript
Jude 17-25.
Move 1/
One time when my grandmother was still alive and we lived a long way from where she was, she called me.
She was concerned about a friend’s son.
This young man was receiving a great deal of attention from some cult members.
It seems that they were working hard to lead this fellow into their group and he was beginning to pay them a lot of attention.
My Grandmother wanted me to help, to see if there was anything I could do.
That somehow I could work some miracle from 1000km away.
Have you found that, your mother or grandmotehr wants you to fix something that they are deeply concerned about when you aren’t even in the same city.
Unfortunately, the only thing I was able to do was to advise that the family should break all contact with this group immediately.
That they should tell them not to call or make contact with their son on threat of legal action.
The son was young enough that this course might work, but he was old enough that he may decide to chase after this group.
Details of local Christian churches were offered with the advice that these would provide a safe and reliable way for the son to explore his interest in religion without the risk of being brain washed.
This young man had fallen under the influence of a group who were a long way of course.
This group probably started out like a missile or a plane.
That is just one degree of target.
The difference seems small and insignificant at first, but throughout the flight, the error increases more and more.
The end result is unintended disaster.
I nearly had an experience like that once in a plane.
Dodgy brother’s airline we used to call it.
One of the men in our team had a pilots licence.
We were working in central Queensland and decided it would be quicker, cheaper, and safer, to charter a plane than to drive.
Normally it was a great plane trip, but this day the weather closed in and we could not cross a mountain range.
So, it was decided to land at Kingaroy airport.
We called up the runway lights on the radio and started our approach.
The pilot decided the runway did not look right so we circled to check it out.
The runway turned out to be the main street of Nanango.
Any of you who know that area know that Nanango is some distance from Kingaroy.
You see we were only slightly off course.
But that is often the way with many cults, on the outside they look like nice decent people.
However, in reality they are off course, headed for disaster.
The warning that the book of Jude gives us about such people can be summed up by this quote,
“One is reminded by way of contrast with the Lord, whom these men deny. He is the rock of our salvation; they are hidden rocks, threatening shipwreck to the faith. He comes with clouds to refresh his people forever; they are clouds that do not even bring temporary blessing. He is the tree of life; they are trees dead. He leads beside still waters; they are like the restless sea. He is the bright and morning star heralding the coming day; they are wandering stars presaging a night of eternal darkness.”
Move 2/
So, what can we do about such threats to ourselves and others?
I want us to look at some practical action we can take to be better equipped to firstly stay on track and secondly to rescue those who are at risk of going astray.
Let us take a look at Jude verses 20 to 23 to see what lessons we can learn.
There are four injunctions or commands in verses 20 to 21.
Firstly, we are told to build ourselves up in our most holy faith.
We are not to wander around looking for truth; it is right here in front of us.
We have the apostles teaching so we should use it.
The Scriptures tell us in Acts chapter 2 verse 42, that the early church devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
If the early church thought it was a good idea to listen to and study the teachings of the apostles then so should we.
Pick up your Bible during the week and read it.
Gather with other Christians and recognized teachers and learn about God’s word
2 Timothy 2:15 tells us to do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
There is only one way you can meet that requirement, that is to spend time in God’s word learning what it says and doing it.
Then you will have an essential element necessary for victory against false teachers.
The second thing that verse 20 tells us we should do is Pray in the Holy Spirit.
Or be in constant fellowship with Him so that you remain strong and have a vital and effective prayer life.
2 Corinthians 10: 3 - 5 says,
We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.
Throughout the Bible we find that it is only as the Holy Spirit has control of your life that you are able to effectively know God’s will and have the power to do it.
That can not happen if the Holy Spirit is not permitted to have an intimate and honest relationship with you.
Galatians chapter 5 indicates to us that to be lead by the Spirit in prayer is to be lead by him in all things.
So do something really radical, get down on your knees and pray.
The third thing that verses 20 and 21 tell us to do is to keep ourselves in God’s love.
How do you do that?
The answer is found in John 15: 9 -10
9 “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. 10 When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.
You remain in God’s love by obeying his commands.
The Nike’ slogan is apt here.
Just Do It!
The fourth thing that we need to pay attention to is in verse 22.
We need to wait for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ to bring us to eternal life.
Please always remember that it is only because of Christ and what he did on the cross that we have eternal life.
That is a hope, something to look forward to with certainty that only Christians can have.
Keep that in mind all the time.
But please don’t be so heavenly minded that you are of no earthly good, as some tend to be with their preoccupation on when Christ is returning.
It is also a common characteristic of false teachers to constantly be emphasizing the return of Christ.
Some set dates others are always saying this or that is a sign that it is coming soon.
They are always wrong.
As Christians we should live like it could be any moment whilst exercising good stewardship in making plans for the future.
So there we have 4 practical commands that will keep us strong and able to be of use in the kingdom of God.
Move 3/
Next I want us to look at three situations where we can seek to rescue those who have gone astray.
But we always need to remember to be careful that we don’t ourselves fall under the influence of false teachers.
We are looking now at verses 22 and 23.
When you are dealing with someone who is at risk of going off the right path you need to be like the emergency service people.
Firemen, ambulance officers, police and SES workers are all trained in rescue.
But one of the first things that they are taught is to not make yourself a casualty of the rescue operation.
Watch out for your own safety whilst trying to save someone else.
When dealing with false teachers we are not just talking about physical life and death, we are talking about your soul, about eternity.
The first instance is in verse 22.
Here we are talking about those whose faith is a little bit shaky.
A case I once encountered was of a young university student.
He had been one of my star young people.
He was leading an ISCF group at his high school the year before he went to university.
He unfortunately had a couple of things happen that shook him up a bit.
Some fool told him he should do religious studies as part of his Uni. course.
He wasn’t ready for the attack on Christianity that he encountered from the lecturer.
His faith was weakened by this supposedly learned professor’s attack on everything that he had been taught was true.
He started to experience spiritual attack and his faith was nearly wreaked.
Praise God that some Christian people took seriously this part of Scripture that says to show mercy to those who doubt.
They came along side this young man and just gently, with the emphasis on gently, encouraged him.
They were true friends to him and because they were the people who were close to him he was supported by their faith and was in turn strengthened in his own faith.
There are many people around like this young man.
They just need some encouragement!
The second group I want us to look at is those who need to be snatched from the fire.
These are people who have come under the influence of a false teacher and are about to jump in boots and all.
They might be people who have believed the false teacher and are about to move from a Christian church to some pseudo-Christian group such as the JWs or Mormons.
They might be a regular churchgoer who has joined a faction within the church and is about to join in a split or attack on the church leadership.
They might be a Christian who has taken up reading a lot of books that you know are suspect and could lead them into serious error.
There is often no time for niceties with these people.
They are on the cliff edge and are about to step off without even realizing it.
Grab them!
These are the people who need a direct confrontation.
There is no time for the gentle approach.
Sit them down and tell them that they are in danger of falling away from the faith.
But be careful not to get burnt yourself in the process.
The third and most dangerous group that Jude tells us about is those who are totally committed to falsehood.
These are the one to who we should show mercy mixed with fear, hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
These are the false teachers themselves.
If you can, show love and kindness to these people so that you may win them over.
But please exercise extreme caution in case they trap you with their clever but false arguments.
These are the sort of people who don’t embrace the Bible, who use reason and argument to sidestep many of its commands.
They add to or take away from Scripture.
They claim special knowledge that no one else can have.
Now please don’t be a fool and label those from other Christian denominations as the people Jude speaks against.
That would be sheer arrogance on your part.
Move 4/
Finally in Verses 24 and 25 we see the source of our ability to remain strong in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, ready to rescue those we can.
It is a dangerous thing to live for Christ in an atmosphere of false teaching and seductive morals.
It is a hazardous thing to try to rescue men for the gospel out of such an environment.
If you get to near the fire, it will burn you; If you get to near the garment stained by the flesh it will defile you.
Is withdrawal the answer, then? No.
Advance against the forces of evil, face the dangers involved, so long as you are strong in the Lord’s might.
This is the message of Jude’s final verses.
We have a God who is all-powerful.
He and he alone is able to keep you from falling.
He and he alone is the one who will present you pure, faultless and without stain before the throne in heaven.
He and he alone is the only one in the universe who is worthy of your worship.
He is the one who was and is and is to come.
Give him the praise for your life, for your salvation.
Look for ways to keep in step with him and you will stand firm in God.
Can I challenge you to keep in step with the Holy Spirit, to pray under his guidance and not your own?
Can I encourage you to study God’s word and to commit it to heart?
Can I challenge you to remain in God’s love by obeying his commands?
Can I encourage you to look forward to the day when you will be in heaven with the Lord?
I want to ask you now to commit yourself to doing the things we have talked about.
