The Church in Danger

This morning we are beginning a brand-new message series entitled, “Hey Jude”. I couldn’t help it. The sermon series title just wrote itself. I don’t know how many Beetle references we will have during the series, but I will try to keep them to a minimum. Let’s COME TOGETHER right now and read the new theme verse.

Jude 3 CSB

3 Dear friends, although I was eager to write you about the salvation we share, I found it necessary to write, appealing to you to contend for the faith that was delivered to the saints once for all.

Jude is a very interesting biblical character. To start, he was one of the four half-brothers of Jesus. Jesus had at least four half-brothers: James, Joseph, Simon, and Jude. He was not a disciple and probably missed most of Jesus’ earthly ministry. He didn’t follow around his older brother and probably didn’t even believe in Jesus until after the resurrection. If there was one person who could easily refute Jesus’ claims, it would have been Jude.

I am the first-born in my family. How many first-borns are here this morning? Raise your hands. If there is one thing first-borns know it is that your younger siblings will rat you out. It is going to happen. We know it. They will tell mom on you at the drop of a hat. You are trying to impress your date and your younger siblings will call you out on everything. I used to think the proverb that said, “A brother is born for adversity” meant that your brothers are going to cause you problems. I know now that isn’t what the proverb means, but for a long time I was convinced that brothers were born to give you a hard time.

Listen to the way Jude speaks about Jesus, his older half-brother.

Jude 1–4 CSB

1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James: To those who are the called, loved by God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ. 2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. 3 Dear friends, although I was eager to write you about the salvation we share, I found it necessary to write, appealing to you to contend for the faith that was delivered to the saints once for all. 4 For some people, who were designated for this judgment long ago, have come in by stealth; they are ungodly, turning the grace of our God into sensuality and denying Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord.

Jude placed himself as a servant of Jesus. He recognized Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah who had come to bring salvation. In verse four, he acknowledged Jesus as our only Master and Lord. Something had changed in the way Jude viewed Jesus. Jesus wasn’t just his older half-brother anymore. Jesus was Jude’s Savior and Lord. Jesus was Jude’s master. The only thing that mattered was doing the will of Jesus. This testimony from Jude is an amazing authentication of who Jesus is.

After greeting the believers and followers of Jesus, Jude stated his purpose in writing. Originally, Jude intended to write about salvation. What an amazing topic! We can only imagine what insights Jude would have had to share with us concerning the topic of salvation because something else had become an imperative. Something was taking place in the church that had to be dealt with immediately. The church was in danger. Jude saw something happening in the church which caused him major concern.

Here is the thing. The church is still in danger today. People are drifting from the faith. People aren’t passionate about their walk with God. People aren’t making worshipping God a priority. People are living according to their own understanding. Even of more concern, just like it was in Jude’s day, the church has been infiltrated by people who really aren’t what they claim to be. People claim the name of Jesus, yet their behaviors and beliefs demonstrate they really aren’t true believers at all.

Jude said, in verse three, that he was appealing to them to “contend for the faith”.

Contend for the faith.

The word “contend” is the word

Contend: ἐπαγωνίζομαι - epagōnizomai - to struggle for, to exercise great effort and exertion for something.

The word was used of athletic contests. Athletes struggle and put forth maximum effort to win the game. We derive our word agonize from this word. Here is the reality. Many people, who claim Jesus, do not put much effort into their spiritual development. How can I make that claim? It is all about priorities and values. You put your maximum efforts into things you care about and neglect things of a lower priority. You guard things you value and let go of things that are not as valuable to you. The way we live our lives demonstrates what we love and value. Most people, who claim to love Jesus, aren’t living in such a way that would demonstrate that Jesus is their Master and Lord.

Jude said that we need to contend for the faith. We need to exercise great effort in our spiritual development. Why? Look at verse four.

Jude 4 CSB

4 For some people, who were designated for this judgment long ago, have come in by stealth; they are ungodly, turning the grace of our God into sensuality and denying Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord.

The church has been infiltrated by frauds.

Jude used the word

Stealth: παρείσακτος (pareisaktos) - to slip in alongside of secretly

It is a sinister and secretive word. It means to join a group under false pretenses. They are frauds. A fraud is something or someone who pretends to be something they are not for the purpose of deception. They earn your trust and use their position of trust to their own benefit. They seem like they are your friend, but really, they are just trying to sell you on a triangle scheme. The church has been infiltrated by frauds.

Look at how Jude describes these frauds.

1. Frauds are ungodly.

They behave like genuine believers at first. They are welcomed by the church as brothers and sisters. They may even gain positions of authority and influence, but they are frauds. Eventually, their attitudes and actions reveal what they really are. They live without regard for what they said they believed.

I couldn’t speak long enough to tell you all of the ways this can take form. Some of them are very subtle. Others are very bold. The only way I know to summarize the concept is by saying these are people who, by what they say and what they do, deny the truth of God’s Word. Listen to how Paul summarized these people.

2 Timothy 3:1–5 CSB

1 But know this: Hard times will come in the last days. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, demeaning, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good, 4 traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to the form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid these people.

These people may claim to be followers of Jesus, but they are living contrary to God’s will. They make an outward display that they believe, but it is all for show. They say they love God but live in sin and they are fine with it.

Jude 4 CSB

4 For some people, who were designated for this judgment long ago, have come in by stealth; they are ungodly, turning the grace of our God into sensuality and denying Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord.

2. Frauds abuse the grace of God.

Basically, these people use the grace of grace to justify sexual liberation. They approve of homosexuality and gay marriage. They say that “love is love” and God doesn’t care about how we conduct ourselves sexually because God is gracious. They use the grace of God as a license for lifestyles and beliefs which are completely contrary to God’s Word.

The grace of God is not a license to sin.

Romans 6:15 CSB

15 What then? Should we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? Absolutely not!

The grace of God is not permission to do whatever you want, live however you want, or think however you want. God has standards for living contained in his Word. Our duty, as followers of Jesus Christ, is to live according to God’s ways.

This is important and it is something we have lost. When you receive salvation, you are also acknowledging and accepting God’s authority over you. What you think about issues and what you want to do no longer matters. No longer are you master of your life. Jesus is Lord. What matters is what Jesus wants me to think. What matters is what Jesus wants me to do. What matters is how Jesus wants me to behave. He is our only Master and Lord.

Frauds are ungodly. Frauds abuse the grace of God.

3. Frauds deny Jesus Christ.

You might think, “How can a person deny the One they are saying they are following?” It is easier than you think. Many people do this. They acknowledge Jesus with their lips, but their heart is far from him. They sing, “I love you Lord”, but they deny him by how they live. When we think of denial, maybe we think of Peter who verbally denied knowing Jesus three times. Maybe we think of Judas who spent so much time with Jesus, but then betrayed him for 30 pieces of silver. Like the other two aspects, denying Jesus can take many forms.

One way is by denying Jesus is who he said he is.

Denying Jesus is who he said he is.

1 John 2:22–23 CSB

22 Who is the liar, if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This one is the antichrist: the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; he who confesses the Son has the Father as well.

Some say Jesus was a great teacher. Others that he was a good man who was enlightened. Some people think they can worship God in their own way. They think there are many ways to God. Jesus didn’t leave any other option open to us. He said,

John 14:6 CSB

6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Another way is by failing to acknowledge Jesus before others.

Failing to acknowledge Jesus before others.

Matthew 10:32–33 CSB

32 “Therefore, everyone who will acknowledge me before others, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever denies me before others, I will also deny him before my Father in heaven.

“So maybe we do confess that Jesus is Lord in our hearts. But we can still deny Him by being ashamed of Him before others. Now, we have all been slow to admit our faith before others. We live in a culture that is increasingly hostile towards religion and specifically Christianity. Christians are painted as morons who believe in stupid, harmful, and bigoted fairy tales. This can sometimes lead us to shrink back, and refuse to acknowledge Jesus before those who we think will mock us.

This is tragic. It makes Jesus look small and it’s a denial of everything that He is. But be warned, if we decide to deny Jesus before men, He will also deny us before the Father. And when we stand in the presence of God unless Jesus says, “He’s with me,” we’re not getting in. The proper response to the Christ is not shame or fear, but boldness and an eagerness to share Him before others.”

Others deny him by what they do.

Denying him by what they do.

Titus 1:16 CSB

16 They claim to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work.

“Any of us can live in a way that contradicts what we say. Faith in Jesus will always change the way we live. So, if your life looks like nothing has changed, something’s not right. Our lust is a denial of God’s good plan for sexual desire. Our pride is a denial of God’s place as center of all things. All of our disobedience is a denial of God’s role as rightful Lord of all Creation.”

The church is in danger. Some people, who aren’t really one of us have slipped in. They slip in on the Internet and teach things that are contrary to God’s word. They slip into our minds through the books we read. They slip and affect the ways we think and what we do. We must be so very careful in allowing influences into our lives, even influences who claim to be Christians. There are those who claim the name of Christ, but they are frauds.

The best way to expose a fraud is to know the truth.

Know the truth from God’s Word.

John 8:32 CSB

32 You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

I say this so many times and I hope it sinks into your mind. Know the truth of God’s Word. Read it. Study it. Memorize it. The Bible is the truth. It is the truth that sets you free. Knowing the truth contained in God’s Word is the way we are to protect ourselves from error. Do you know God’s Word? Are you spending quality time in Bible Study? If not, what you need to do is straightforward. Get into it. If you don’t know what to read or where to start, use our reading plan.

Could you pick out a fraud? Would you know one if you saw one? “Many of us will look at these points and see some of ourselves in one or all of them. If you do feel shame because of the ways you’ve denied Him, there is Good News. Even denial of God was paid for at the cross by Jesus, as we see so clearly with Peter. If you turn from that sin of denial, and receive Jesus by faith, that sin will be forgiven.”

We need forgiveness. Jesus offers you forgiveness. Anything and everything you have ever done can be forgiven by God and you can be new. When Jesus washes away your sin, he cleanses you and he’s not only to be your Savior, but also your Lord. He is to be Lord of your life. He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. If you look at your life right now, how you spend your time, the way you spend your money, the way you invest your life, you would have to say, Jesus is not my Lord. Do you feel the Holy Spirit calling to you? You know you need Jesus to save you – to deliver you from your sins. You know you need forgiveness.

I invite you to pray this prayer with me to express your faith in Jesus.

“Heavenly Father, forgive me for my sins, make me new. I ask Jesus to be my Savior and to be the Lord of my life, first in every way. My life is not my own, I give it to you. Thank you for new life. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.”

With heads bowed and eyes closed, if you prayed that prayer for the first time and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord, will you raise your hand this morning?

Close in Prayer.