Contend for the Faith
Notes
Transcript
Planning
Planning
Passage
Passage
1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: 2 Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance. 3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. 4 For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. 5 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire. 8 In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings. 9 But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” 10 Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them. 11 Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion. 12 These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. 13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever. 14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage. 17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18 They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” 19 These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. 20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. 22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. 24 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
Passage structure
Passage structure
Introduction and purpose of the letter - Jude 1-4
The nature and consequence of ungodliness - Jude 5-19
A call to persevere - Jude 20-23
Doxology - Jude 24-25
Big stuff
Big stuff
Big idea: Contend for the faith
Fallen condition focus: We become complacent with our faith.
Good news statement: God shows us how to stand firm and he keeps us standing firm.
Felt need: We don’t want to fall away.
Big question: How do we stand firm in the faith?
Sermon structure
Sermon structure
Intro
Someone falling away… could that be us too?
Fear in Christians about their own salvation
How can we stand firm?
Jude context
Jude
Brother of James and Jesus
Servant of Jesus
Purpose
Jude 1–3 “1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: 2 Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance. 3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.”
How does he help them contend for the faith?
Sermon structure: two actions and one reminder
1, Keep away from ungodliness (Jude 1-19)
2, Keep yourselves in God’s love (Jude 20-23)
3, Kept by God’s power (Jude 1-2, 24-25)
1, Keep away from ungodliness (Jude 4-19)
“Ungodly” or “ungodliness” comes up six times in this passage in the NIV
First time in verse 4
Jude 4 “4 For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.”
The threat to Jude’s readers
Why are they ungodly?
Maybe they believe that Jesus is Saviour (“grace of our God”)
But not Lord
A long list of examples of ungodliness
Purpose is to exposing the nature of ungodliness and the result of ungodliness
Long list - will go quickly
Quick examples (don’t read passage)
Jude 5 “5 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe.”
(Numbers 13-14)
Nature: Israel rejecting God’s promise that he will take them into the Promised Land
Result: Destroyed
Jude 6 “6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.”
Nature: Angels abandoning their positions of authority - a sign of lack of faith in God
Result: Bound for judgement on the great Day.
Jude 7 “7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.”
(Genesis 19)
Nature: Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion - rejection of God’s good commands
Result: God rained down sulfur
Paralleled with hell - “punishment of eternal fire”
Acknowledgement of discomfort
Real warning about ungodliness
Wedding Cake Rock
Real danger
Real warning - good
Ignoring the warning
Heeding the warning
What’s the warning? Ungodliness could lead you to hell.
But isn’t everyone ungodly? Everyone sins, including me and you.
Everyone, if God doesn’t intervene, is deserving of hell.
But God has intervened in given us Christ.
PSA
Confidence of salvation
And yet there is still a particular danger of ungodliness for Christians.
Jude is writing to Christians about the danger of ungodliness
A false teaching that probably accepts Jesus as Saviour but not as Lord
Ungodliness could lead you to denying Jesus as Lord
A genuine faith in Jesus is trusting in him as Saviour AND Lord
So if ungodliness means you deny Jesus as Lord, then you aren’t really trusting in Jesus, the only one who can save you from hell
The warning is a warning to Christians that ungodliness can lead them to deny Jesus as Lord
But maybe you feel like this warning of ungodliness isn’t that relevant to you
The examples of the Israelites in the wilderness and the fallen angels might feel a bit distant.
“ungodliness” language is Christian jargon
Is this warning about ungodliness relevant in today’s society?
Well let’s think about how some of the ungodliness that Jude mentions comes up today.
Sexual immorality
(don’t read) Jude 7 “7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.”
Today’s society: anything goes as long as there’s consent… because you should do what feels good to you as long as it’s not harmful
Rejection of authority
(don’t read) Jude 8–10 “8 In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings. 9 But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” 10 Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them.”
Why is that ungodly?
God is the ultimate authority.
God has placed other authorities over us, like the government.
But these ungodly people reject authority (v. 8) and slander (v. 10)
Australians reject authority
Making fun of God - using Jesus Christ as a swear word
Making fun of the government
Jealousy
Jude 11 “11 Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; … ”
Australians look at those richer and more powerful and complain about what they don’t have.
Greed
Jude 11 “11 … they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s … ”
Australians want more and more.
Rejection of authority again
Jude 11 “11 … they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.”
Korah didn’t respect the authority that God had given Moses and Aaron.
Result: The ground swallowed up Korah and those who rebelled.
Application
Know the nature of ungodliness - sexual immorality, rejection of authority, jealousy, greed
Vomit / dog poo
Motivates us to keep away from ungodliness
Know the result of ungodliness - hell
Punishment of eternal fire
Motivates us to keep away from ungodliness
We can be tempted to ignore hell or to forget about it since it seems quite distant.
But Jude is clear that Jesus is returning to judge all ungodliness.
Jude 14–16 “14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.”
These ungodly people will even scoff at us.
High school friends, colleague when I was an engineer
Helpful reminders to deal with this
1: There will be scoffing
2: They aren’t speaking the truth, but are just following instincts and don’t have the Spirit to help them work out the truth
Jude 17–19 “17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18 They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” 19 These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.”
Summary: Jude is giving us a warning.
Ungodliness can lead us to deny Jesus as Lord.
Ungodliness can lead us to hell.
And so we must keep away from it.
If ungodliness is what we shouldn’t do, what are we to do?
2, Keep yourselves in God’s love (Jude 20-23)
The main command/imperative is to keep yourselves in God’s love
Three ways of doing that are shown as well.
Jude 20–21 “20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.”
Keep yourselves in God’s love
Danger: out of God’s love
Rejecting God, rejecting God’s offer of returning to him through Jesus
In God’s love
We are continuing to trust in Jesus as Lord and Saviour
The command is about persevering in faith (contending for the faith in verse 3)
How?
1. Building yourselves up in the most holy faith
Church
Home group
Personal Bible reading
2. Prayer
Church
Prayer meeting (first Saturday of each month, 8 am in the church building)
Personal prayer
Why: God is able to keep you in his love
3. Waiting
We don’t expect everything to be perfect now.
When we face temptation, we must remember that ungodliness will be punished.
When we face suffering, we remember that Jesus will restore the world.
We can persevere because we look forward to Christ bringing us into eternal life.
“Keep yourselves” is plural - we help each other (vv. 22-23)
Jude 22 “22 Be merciful to those who doubt;”
Story of youth leaders helping me in my doubt
Jude 23a “23 save others by snatching them from the fire; … ”
Makes me think of a toddler who has wandered too close to the fire
People close to falling away
Jude 23b “23 ... to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.”
People struggling with sin - mercy and fear
E.g., porn
Real responsibility - keep yourselves in God’s love
Does that mean our salvation is ultimately in our hands and not God’s?
3, Kept by God’s power - (Jude 1-2, 24-25)
Jude not only shows us our real responsibility in keeping ourselves in God’s love.
He also he tells us that we are kept by God’s power.
Jude 24 “24 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—”
Is this just “able to”?
“able to” (δύναμαι) emphasises God’s power
More certainty in Jude 1-2
Jude 1–2 “1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: 2 Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.”
God is able to keep us and he does keep us!
Perseverance of the Saints
A genuine Christian will persevere in their faith.
But if a genuine Christian will persevere in their faith, what’s the point of all these warnings? What’s the point of telling them to keep themselves in God’s love?
The answer is that these warnings and commands are part of how God keeps us in the faith.
Example of
Jude’s letter
Real danger and real warning
Real responsibility
All of this is how God keeps his people in his love
Application of God keeping us
v. 2 - peace
Prevents us from getting too caught up with all the stuff we have to do and helps us to focus on God instead
That should drive us to continue in God’s love
As we focus on God, we praise him
God has the power to keep us.
God does keep us from stumbling.
He is the one who declares us righteous in Christ.
He has given us life through Christ.
So we praise him.
Jude 24–25 “24 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”
Conclusion
What about my friend who told me he no longer believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
Affirmation of perseverance of the saints
So:
Never was a Christian
Still a Christian but that doubt is speaking very loudly
I don’t know, so I still pray for him
My question after he spoke to me about my own standing
Keep away from ungodliness
Keep myself in God’s love
Kept in God’s power
Sermon
Sermon
Didn’t have time to write the whole transcript due to Assembly
Intro
Intro
A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned someone who used to call himself a Christian.
He told me earlier this year that he doesn’t believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
That news was heartbreaking for me.
And while I was processing how I was feeling about it, one question that popped up was this:
Could I end up like him?
He used to go to church regularly.
He used to read the Bible often.
I do the same things too!
But might I still end up rejecting the faith?
I know that some people share this concern for themselves as well.
We know that Jesus is the only way.
We don’t want to fall away.
So what should we do if we want to stand firm in our faith instead?
What should we do if we want to stand firm?
Jude context
Jude
Brother of James and Jesus
Servant of Jesus
Purpose
1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: 2 Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance. 3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.
How does he help them contend for the faith?
Sermon structure: two actions and one reminder
1, Keep away from ungodliness (Jude 1-19)
2, Keep yourselves in God’s love (Jude 20-23)
3, Kept by God’s power (Jude 1-2, 24-25)
1, Keep away from ungodliness (Jude 4-19)
1, Keep away from ungodliness (Jude 4-19)
“Ungodly” or “ungodliness” comes up six times in this passage in the NIV
First time in verse 4
4 For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
The threat to Jude’s readers
Why are they ungodly?
Maybe they believe that Jesus is Saviour (“grace of our God”)
But not Lord
A long list of examples of ungodliness
Purpose is to exposing the nature of ungodliness and the result of ungodliness
Long list - will go quickly
Quick examples (don’t read passages)
5 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe.
(Numbers 13-14)
Nature: Israel rejecting God’s promise that he will take them into the Promised Land
Result: Destroyed
6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.
Nature: Angels abandoning their positions of authority - a sign of lack of faith in God
Result: Bound for judgement on the great Day.
7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
(Genesis 19)
Nature: Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion - rejection of God’s good commands
Result: God rained down sulfur
Paralleled with hell - “punishment of eternal fire”
Acknowledgement of discomfort
Real warning about ungodliness
Wedding Cake Rock
Real danger
Real warning - good
Ignoring the warning
Heeding the warning
What’s the warning? Ungodliness could lead you to hell.
But isn’t everyone ungodly? Everyone sins, including me and you.
Everyone, if God doesn’t intervene, is deserving of hell.
But God has intervened in given us Christ.
PSA
Confidence of salvation
And yet there is still a particular danger of ungodliness for Christians.
Jude is writing to Christians about the danger of ungodliness
A false teaching that probably accepts Jesus as Saviour but not as Lord
Ungodliness could lead you to denying Jesus as Lord
A genuine faith in Jesus is trusting in him as Saviour AND Lord
So if ungodliness means you deny Jesus as Lord, then you aren’t really trusting in Jesus, the only one who can save you from hell
The warning is a warning to Christians that ungodliness can lead them to deny Jesus as Lord
But maybe you feel like this warning of ungodliness isn’t that relevant to you
The examples of the Israelites in the wilderness and the fallen angels might feel a bit distant.
“ungodliness” language is Christian jargon
Is this warning about ungodliness relevant in today’s society?
Well let’s think about how some of the ungodliness that Jude mentions comes up today.
Sexual immorality
(don’t read)
7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
Today’s society: anything goes as long as there’s consent… because you should do what feels good to you as long as it’s not harmful
Rejection of authority
(don’t read)
8 In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings. 9 But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” 10 Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them.
Why is that ungodly?
God is the ultimate authority.
God has placed other authorities over us, like the government.
But these ungodly people reject authority (v. 8) and slander (v. 10)
Australians reject authority
Making fun of God - using Jesus Christ as a swear word
Making fun of the government
Jealousy
Jude 11 “11 Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; … ”
11 Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.
Australians look at those richer and more powerful and complain about what they don’t have.
Greed
Jude 11 “11 … they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s … ”
Australians want more and more.
Rejection of authority again
Jude 11 “11 … they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.”
Korah didn’t respect the authority that God had given Moses and Aaron.
Result: The ground swallowed up Korah and those who rebelled.
Application
Know the nature of ungodliness - sexual immorality, rejection of authority, jealousy, greed
Vomit / dog poo
Motivates us to keep away from ungodliness
Know the result of ungodliness - hell
Punishment of eternal fire
Motivates us to keep away from ungodliness
We can be tempted to ignore hell or to forget about it since it seems quite distant.
But Jude is clear that Jesus is returning to judge all ungodliness.
14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.
These ungodly people will even scoff at us.
High school friends, colleague when I was an engineer
Helpful reminders to deal with this
1: There will be scoffing
2: They aren’t speaking the truth, but are just following instincts and don’t have the Spirit to help them work out the truth
17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18 They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” 19 These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
Summary: Jude is giving us a warning.
Ungodliness can lead us to deny Jesus as Lord.
Ungodliness can lead us to hell.
And so we must keep away from it.
If ungodliness is what we shouldn’t do, what are we to do?
2, Keep yourselves in God’s love (Jude 20-23)
2, Keep yourselves in God’s love (Jude 20-23)
The main command/imperative is to keep yourselves in God’s love
Three ways of doing that are shown as well.
20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
Keep yourselves in God’s love
Danger: out of God’s love
Rejecting God, rejecting God’s offer of returning to him through Jesus
In God’s love
We are continuing to trust in Jesus as Lord and Saviour
The command is about persevering in faith (contending for the faith in verse 3)
How?
1. Building yourselves up in the most holy faith
Church
Home group
Personal Bible reading
2. Prayer
Church
Prayer meeting (first Saturday of each month, 8 am in the church building)
Personal prayer
Why: God is able to keep you in his love
3. Waiting
We don’t expect everything to be perfect now.
When we face temptation, we must remember that ungodliness will be punished.
When we face suffering, we remember that Jesus will restore the world.
We can persevere because we look forward to Christ bringing us into eternal life.
“Keep yourselves” is plural - we help each other (vv. 22-23)
22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
Jude 22 “22 Be merciful to those who doubt;”
Story of youth leaders helping me in my doubt
Jude 23a “23 save others by snatching them from the fire; … ”
Makes me think of a toddler who has wandered too close to the fire
People close to falling away
Jude 23b “23 ... to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.”
People struggling with sin - mercy and fear
E.g., porn
Real responsibility - keep yourselves in God’s love
Does that mean our salvation is ultimately in our hands and not God’s?
3, Kept by God’s power (Jude 1-2, 24-25)
3, Kept by God’s power (Jude 1-2, 24-25)
Jude not only shows us our real responsibility in keeping ourselves in God’s love.
He also he tells us that we are kept by God’s power.
24 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—
Is this just “able to”?
“able to” (δύναμαι) emphasises God’s power
More certainty in Jude 1-2
1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: 2 Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.
God is able to keep us and he does keep us!
Perseverance of the Saints
A genuine Christian will persevere in their faith.
But if a genuine Christian will persevere in their faith, what’s the point of all these warnings? What’s the point of telling them to keep themselves in God’s love?
The answer is that these warnings and commands are part of how God keeps us in the faith.
Example of
Jude’s letter
Real danger and real warning
Real responsibility
All of this is how God keeps his people in his love
Application of God keeping us
v. 2 - peace
Prevents us from getting too caught up with all the stuff we have to do and helps us to focus on God instead
That should drive us to continue in God’s love
As we focus on God, we praise him
God has the power to keep us.
God does keep us from stumbling.
He is the one who declares us righteous in Christ.
He has given us life through Christ.
So we praise him.
24 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
Conclusion
Conclusion
What about my friend who told me he no longer believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
Affirmation of perseverance of the saints
So:
Never was a Christian
Still a Christian but that doubt is speaking very loudly
I don’t know, so I still pray for him
My question after he spoke to me about my own standing
Keep away from ungodliness
Keep myself in God’s love
Kept in God’s power
