Protecting the Truth ~ God's Truth: Protecting God's Truth Within (Part 3)

Part 8 TRUTH The Answer to Every Test & Trial in 2021 ~ Know God’s Truth Protecting the TRUTH ~ God’s Truth Protecting God’s Truth Within Enemies of Truth – God’s TRUTH [SLIDE] JUDE ~ NKJV 1 Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ: 2 Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. 3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. 5 But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. Apostates Predicted 16 These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage. Page | 1 17 But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: 18 how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. 19 These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit. Maintain Your Life with God 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. Glory to God 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 [n]God our Savior, [o]Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and [p]power, Both now and forever. Amen. John 8:31-32 NKJV The Truth Shall Make You Free Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” 31 Then GM, GP Today’s message: Page | 2 Protecting the TRUTH ~ God’s Truth Protecting God’s Truth Within GM GP This morning we’ll push across the finish line of our series on TRUTH. Today, is our eighth installment and the focus is on Protecting God’s Truth Within – within us. Last week, our teaching left off with a couple of illustrations that showed us to what extent false teachers, whom we have come to know as apostates, agents of Satan will go to make the TRUTH of God a lie. But it remains that the most courageous thing Jude did in his letter was to uncover the imposters and haters of God’s Truth. The one thing we don’t want to miss is the boldness and audacity of Satan and his pimps – that is, they come right for the church to do their dirtiest work. [SLIDE] Jude said in verse 4 4 For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. We have learned that these false teachers are known as apostates and according to Jude – they were infiltrating, dishonest teachers pretending to be true, who on the surface looked like the real thing but whose intentions were to lead God’s people astray. [Matt. 7:15; Acts 20:29; Gal 2:4,5; 1 Tim 4:1-3; 2 Peter 2: 1,20; 1 John 2:18-23]. Page | 3 They were Satan’s counterfeits, never born again; and their stealth, undercover ways made them dangerous both inside and outside of the church. They were characterized by three features: they were ungodly, they perverted grace, and they denied Christ. Be remined that they use the church as ground zero and move into other territories to wreak even more havoc. Here’s why they start and the church and remain there as long as they feel they’re making progress. The answer is found in First Timothy 3:15b NKJV. The Apostle Paul says to Timothy and the church: [SLIDE] Timothy 3:15b NKJV 15 15b “ . . . I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. The church is God’s guaranteed dispenser and disseminator of TRUTH in all the world. If Truth can’t be found ministered at the House of God, we are doomed. Secondarily, if an apostate can’t make progress at the church, then they move on . . . temporarily or lower their heads. They back off because the Capital T Truth is being taught to clearly and profoundly. But, where do false teachers go in addition to the church. Page | 4 The Apostle Paul said they go to people’s houses who are ripe for deception. Listen to 2 Timothy 3:5-7 [SLIDE] 2 Timothy 3:5-7 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. This is a signal that apostates will stop at nothing – they are knocking on doors in every neighborhood, college campus, shopping center, seminaries, bookstores, Internet, social media, and on and on. They even have letter writing campaigns. Apostates want to turn Believers, even -- would-be Believers, and could-be Believers from the Truth. They are in search of what I have labeled: The Tossed, The Doubters, The Fence Sitters and The Free Agents. [SLIDE] Apostates are gunning for at least these four categories of people: • The Tossed – “that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery Page | 5 of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,” Ephesians 4:14 • The Doubters – Jude 22; Address those experiencing spiritual doubt where they question what they believe about their religion or God. Jude calls the believer to “have mercy on those who doubt. Three levels of doubt: o I don’t know; o I don’t feel; o and I don’t want • The Fence-sitters – those who are indecisive – usually clueless, and oblivious to the importance of the need for God’s Truth in their lives. So, because they never make up their minds, apostates deal a convincing lie, a convincing blow, that snatches them away and into a false cult. Matt 13:18 18 “Therefore hear the parable of the sower: 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. • The Free Agents – usually socially conscious people who don’t claim any religion; they don’t belong to any church, but they’ll help out in any way. They will give of their time to godly deeds just as easily as they would a deed that is in direct opposition the Truth of God. What has this to do with us today? Page | 6 It should convey to us that the war against the very Truth of God we stand on today is still being attacked at the same level of intensity it was in Jude’s day. That’s why he insisted that the saints Contend Earnestly for the faith that was once for all time delivered to the saints. When Jude wrote his letter to us, he wasn’t worried about us losing our salvation, but rather he was concerned about the number of apostates dispatched to the church to attempt to cast seeds of doubt and deception among the saints. [SLIDE] We must remain woke and to call them out and expose them. We must Wage war against the error they attempt to sow among us in all forms, and fight persistently for the Truth, like a soldier who has been entrusted with a sacred task of guarding a holy treasure. The salvation and the Truth that sustains that salvation – both are holy sacred treasures. We must put up a real fight for the faith which has been once and for all committed to those who belong to Christ. We must not be like the saints were that Peter alluded to in 2 Peter 1: 510 [SLIDE] 2 Peter 1: 5-10 Page | 7 5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to selfcontrol perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; This is a warning. Don’t handle your salvation the Truth that sustains it lightly. We must be serious about living by it and living it out. Otherwise, we’ll be found doing exactly like Peter said – lacking fruitful growth in the faith once delivered to the saints. As the fight continues, we can rest on God’s historical promise that He will one day judge all apostates for their deeds. Jude 5,6 &7 cites three illustrations of God’s imminent judgment upon disobedient false teachers who spread lies among the people and those who fall prey – believing their lie and never accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior. [SLIDE] Listen to Jude 5,6,& 7 Page | 8 5 But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; 7 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Israel failed to possess the Promised Land (when just 2 spies agreed with God to take the Land without fear or hesitation), the case of Fallen Angels failed to stay in their domain as celestial beings but mingled with humans; and the people of Sodom and Gomorrah drowned in their wicked immorality. Again Paul said of two of Moses men, in 2 Timothy 3:8 & 9 8 Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; 9 but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was. If TRUTH messages from previous weeks revealed to us the importance of knowing the Truth and living by it, then this week’s message is about showing us how precious, yet [how] threatened the truth that we stand on is by envious Satan and his imposters. Page | 9 Together, they only want to entice me and you into abandoning God’s Truth, which leads to a “false truth” that daily renounces our Savior. That false truth is lived out every day by any and everyone who has not yet accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord. So, like Jude I want to leave you with two final reminders centered around the words REMIND and REMEMBER from this message: [SLIDE] Notice what Jude said in verse 5 : “But I want to REMIND you” . . . though you once knew this . . . ; Then in verse 17 he comes back to say: 17 But you, beloved, REMEMBER the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: 18 how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. All of this “reminding” and “remembering” is critical because it is connected to helping us protect the Truth we have been made free through Jesus Christ. We cannot forget it! It is what will sustain us when the devil starts talking. So, Jude said contend for the Faith by standing for the Truth, fighting for the Truth and living out the Truth as if you life depended on it. And it does. Page | 10 I’ve already reminded you of the potential tragedy of not holding to the truth afresh daily. Here it is again: [SLIDE] 2 Peter 1: 5-11 5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to selfcontrol perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; 11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Now, how do we keep up our courage and stamina to forever be earnest contenders, challengers, a force to be reckoned with in our salvation walk? We do it by following Jude’s final instructions: Listen to Jude 20-25 . . . these are our further instructions: [SLIDE] Jude 20-25 20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of Page | 11 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. 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. Protecting the TRUTH ~ God’s Truth Protecting God’s Truth Within %%%%%%%%%%END%%%%%%%%%% Page | 12