Why We Fight

Jude

Jude 20–23 NKJV

20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. 22 And on some have compassion, making a distinction; 23 but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.

Brief background on Jude:

Jude tells us he is the brother of James, who was probably the brother of Jesus.

We don’t know when it was written, most likely at the end of the first century.

So, if this is the case, the believers have had time to not only multiply, but to solidify their beliefs in Christ.

One of the bad things regarding the church coming together and growing in the Lord is the inevitability of false teaching to come into the church.

Jude uses this letter to teach against a heresy known as Gnosticism. Basically, Gnostic philosophy taught that all spiritual matter was good and all physical matter was evil.

This Gnostic teaching had a way of telling people that since they were in the flesh, they could do whatever they wanted.

We see Jude rebuking them----they rebelled against authority, were presumptuous in their speech, and were sexually immoral.

They were also deceiving believers, corrupting the Lord’s Supper, and were overall, trying to tear apart the local church.

Now, what I’d like to do today is give you 2 reasons we need doctrinal integrity within our church. Why we need to fight to keep correct doctrine in front of us at all times:

There are those in the big C church who have a voice and teach a false or perverted gospel causing brothers and sisters to fall.

There are those outside the church who have their own ideas about God and need to be told the truth in order they be saved.

First, lets look at the law and see what God intended so we can have a baseline for this sermon.

Deut. 5:

Deuteronomy 5:6–21 NKJV

6 ‘I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 7 ‘You shall have no other gods before Me. 8 ‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 9 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 10 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. 11 ‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. 12 ‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. 16 ‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. 17 ‘You shall not murder. 18 ‘You shall not commit adultery. 19 ‘You shall not steal. 20 ‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 21 ‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.’

Then in chapter 6 he boiled the teaching down to one commandment:

Deut. 6:

Deuteronomy 6:4–6 NKJV

4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.

Moreover, God’s command was to teach them to our children, to talk of them in our homes and on our way, when we lie down and when we rise.

If we love Him, we’ll keep His commandments

Jesus echoes this to Peter in the John’s Gospel:

John 14:15 NKJV

15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.

John 14:16 NKJV

16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—

According to Jude, how do we do that?

Jude 20–21 NKJV

20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

What does it look like to “build yourselves up?”

We are to focus on the truths of the faith, which are found in scripture.

Do you want know what faithfulness looks like? Turn to Job.

Job 1:9 NKJV

9 So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing?

Job 1:8 NKJV

8 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?”

Do you want to be a better mom or dad? Allow Paul’s teachings to the church at Ephesus to permeate your heart.

Are you disappointed in a friend or hurt due to sin? Spend time in the gospels learning how Jesus was treated and His reaction to the abuse He took.

Building yourselves up looks more like a 24/7 calling than it does a weekend job at the mall.

Jude says, “keep yourselves in the love of God.”

Keeping yourselves in His love requires a commitment to others-allowing yourself to be under the authority of your pastor, your church, and others who have charge over you. ()

Keeping yourselves in His love requires a commitment to God’s Word. There are some who have misplaced their Bibles two years ago and can’t tell you were it is and others who would turn the house upside down because they want to be in God’s Word daily.

Keeping yourselves in His love requires a commitment to share the gospel. This is the “mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life” that Jude speaks of at the end of verse 21.

Friends, The gospel message is what saved you and I!

The gospel message is the only hope for a lost and dying world.

Look at what Jude says in verses 22-23.

Jude 22–23 NKJV

22 And on some have compassion, making a distinction; 23 but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.

On some have compassion-

Some aren’t going to stop perverting the gospel message, but that doesn’t stop us from having the responsibility of telling those inside the church to stop teaching falsely.

But on others, you save with a more urgent message.

You may have to use a shock and awe method, or you may need to employ a approach.

“other save with fear, pulling them out of the fire”

Your translation may say: “snatching them.”

The Greek word “arpazo” means- “to take away, seize, snatch away”

Look at how Jesus employed the word in

Matthew 13:19 NKJV

19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside.

Friends, be careful that you don’t fall into the same sin that they are teaching.

Just as the fireman goes directly into the flames to save a person in trouble, he is careful to recognize the potential danger to himself and the other firefighters.

Listen to bits of this testimony from now deceased Bob Harringon, the “Chaplain of Bourbon Street.”

“Three days after I was saved the church asked me to come back and give my testimony. That's when I was called to preach, that night during the invitation. I was thrilled to death that He included me as a preacher. It's amazing who God calls to preach.

A year later I took my wife and my two daughters and moved to New Orleans to go to seminary. The first week I was there I met Dr. J.D. Grey, the pastor of New Orleans First Baptist. I said, "Dr., if you'll hire me here at the church to be a personal soul winner, I'll guarantee you seven people every Sunday coming forward." For six months I brought people by letter, or statement, or rededication, or on a profession of faith. I've always taken personal soul winning serious.”

Listen to what happened next:

“I had fame, but when you get famous you start thinking, "Look at what I'm doing." After I got saved, I grew too fast — I didn't have a good, stable foundation. It's nobody's fault but mine, but when you get invitations to come give your testimony, you start adding more dates to it. I had to drop out of seminary because I was preaching two revivals a month. I was so caught up in being an evangelist. Money gets to flowing and you find yourself riding in a big customized bus, you find yourself flying in a Lear jet, and you find your staff members picking up your briefcases. Unless you've got a solid base, you can really fall into this. I started believing all my cockiness and all my press releases — and that precedes the fall.

Fame did that. And finance — you get money in your hand, and you're the president and the treasurer. Signatures are pretty easy to come by. The folks were just giving and giving.

Frolic — after a while you got those Bathsheba's, Delilah's, and Jezebel's out there in the church world - not the Bourbon Street world — that kind of temptation didn't bother me because I knew they were notoriously wicked. But these were sweet, little ol' church members. They start telling you how nice and neat you are, and how big and strong you are. Your wife isn't telling you that any more because she knows what you're turning into.

All those things — fame, finance, and frolic — led me to catch a pass that Satan threw at the peak of my success.”

Friends, why do we fight?

We fight to keep the gospel first and foremost in our church and on our lips.

We fight to keep doctrinal integrity so the church can preach a Biblical gospel and can build up and equip one another as a church body.

Jude 24–25 NKJV

24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, 25 To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen.

Have you repented and received Christ as your Savior?

Have you cried out to Him and received the free gift that only He gives?

You’ll not find salvation in church membership, your baptism, or any good thing you’ve done.

Cry out to Him in repentance and faith.