Our scripture reading for this evening, to which I do indeed invite you to turn with me at this time, is found near the end of the New Testament, right before the book of Revelation. We turn to the book of Jude, the single chapter book of Jude, right after the epistles of John, 1st, 2nd, 3rd John, Jude, chapter 1, the only chapter in the book of Jude. We will be beginning just a two-part series of messages this evening. on the book of Jude. And so for our purposes tonight, we'll be reading verses one through 16, verses one through 16. Lord willing, in our next study of the book, we'll pick up especially in verse 17 and read to the end of that chapter. But brothers and sisters, I draw your special attention this evening to the first three verses, as verses one through three will constitute our text for tonight. One commentator has said that Jude has been called the most neglected book in the New Testament. In fact, I think one theologian wrote a book called The Most Neglected Book in the New Testament. But many biblical scholars point out, brothers and sisters, that Jude is what is called a general or Catholic epistle. Now the entire Bible is for all the people of God through all the ages. But by that they mean that Jude is not directed specifically as are some of the other epistles to a particular person or to a particular congregation. And so again, it is called a general or Catholic or universal epistle for the people of God. But look with me then please at Jude verse one, we read through verse 16. But again, I draw your special attention to the first three verses of this epistle. Let us hear the word of the Lord. Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, to those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ, mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance. Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men who change the grace of God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only sovereign and Lord. Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered His people out of Egypt. but later destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home, these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great day. 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. In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority, and slander celestial beings. But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand. And what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals, these are the very things that destroy them. 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. These men 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. They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame, wandering stars for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever. Enoch the seventh from Adam prophesied about these men. See the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him. These men are grumblers and fault finders. They follow their own evil desires. They boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage. Thus far, the reading of God's holy word. And as always, brothers and sisters, I ask and urge you to keep your Bibles open and handy as we look to God's word together this evening. Dear congregation of Jesus Christ, recently I came across a very interesting article in the December 10, 2018 issue of the Weekly Standard News Magazine. The article, interestingly enough, is entitled Chick-fil-A Banned, Chick-fil-A Banned. And the article reads in part as follows, and I quote, consider, at Rider University in New Jersey this week, Campus administrators decided to remove Chick-fil-A from a list of potential campus franchises on the grounds that the restaurant chain, quote, is widely perceived to be in opposition to the LGBTQ community. Quote, we sought to be thoughtful and fair in balancing the desire to provide satisfying options for a new on-campus restaurant while also being faithful to our values of inclusion, explained Reuters president Gregory G. Del Omo and the school's vice president for student affairs, Leanna Fenneberg, in a letter. The Weekly Standard says that this is a bit of an intellectual pirouette, as it goes on to say, by proclaiming the virtues of inclusion, you can literally then exclude people in organizations you don't like. We're inclusive around here, now get out. Ryder Center for Diversity and Inclusion is organizing a campus forum, quote, so that the voices of students, faculty, staff, and others can continue to be heard, and that all involved can grow from this experience with Chick-fil-A, end of quote. And the article concludes by saying, what a relief to know that the school's students are working through such momentous problems at the annual tuition cost of $42,000 per year, end of quote. Now friends, think about this, think about this. Think about excluding Chick-fil-A from being able to apply for a franchise at Rider University in New Jersey in the name of inclusion, in the name of being inclusive. And yet when we pair this with what we perceive in our culture today as a growing antagonism to a Christian worldview, a biblical worldview, and a Christian moral ethic, this sort of news reporting ought not to surprise us. It ought not to surprise us in the least, especially when we consider what one commentator has said, namely, and I quote, Our contemporary culture has an increasing indifference to the question of truth. Think about that. Our contemporary culture has an increasing indifference to the question of truth. And when we put all of that together, we readily and I believe correctly conclude that we are living in very spiritually dangerous and treacherous times. Friends, if you were paying attention as we were reading God's Word a few moments ago in Jude chapter 1 or Jude verses 1 through 16, we find that this is really nothing new under the sun. Already way back 2,000 years ago in Jude's day, the various congregations of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ were being infiltrated by false teaching and by false teachers. And one of the primary false teachings, which Jude mentions here, is that they were saying, in effect, let us sin so that grace may abound. And the Apostle Paul addresses that heresy very specifically in the book of Romans, and he says, shall we sin so that grace may abound? By no means. But as we work our way through specifically the first three verses of this epistle of Jude, we find ourselves being both instructed and challenged by the fact that Jude actually changes the original tent with which he was going to write in this epistle. Did you catch that? He says, I wanted to write to you, brothers and sisters, about the salvation we share. He uses the word koinonia. We share this general salvation about our Lord Jesus Christ. Seemingly, he was going to simply write and celebrate the good news of the gospel. But because of what the church was going through, because they were living in a time, in a day, in an age, in a culture where, spiritually speaking, things were very precarious, they were very treacherous, just as they are today, you and I are no less susceptible, brothers and sisters, to such false teaching and false teachers, whether it comes from within or without the church of our Lord Jesus Christ. Brothers and sisters, that is why as we work our way through this text together, we must pray and plead for the grace and the mercy and the spirit and the power of the living God, that just as Jude was appealing to them in the 1st century AD, so the Word of God is appealing to you and me in the 21st century AD. As God's people individually, And as God's people collectively, we must hear and we must heed today and every day this earnest exhortation to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. Now then, As we begin to work our way through the words of our text together, we're going to first of all consider the author of this earnest exhortation to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. We're going to consider, first of all, the author. Look at verse 1 of Jude with me, if you would please. Here we read Jude. Stop right there for just a moment. We're going to pause on that name. It's interesting to note that many of the parents, the believing parents in the New Testament era, would name their children after the Old Testament patriarchs. But then they would Hellenize, or make Greek, the name. And so, for example, we think of Jacob's fourth son by Leah. His name was Judah. If you're taking notes, that's recorded for us in Genesis 29-35. Genesis 29-35, Jacob's fourth son by Leah. His name was Judah. which translates in Greek, Udos, Udos. And that's really what you read here in the Greek. It says Jude in the English, but in the Greek it says Udos. And it's the Greek equivalent of the Old Testament Hebrew name, Judah, Judah. Now, Judas, Judas in the Greek. was a name that took on great prominence and, shall I say, great favor because of Judas Maccabeus, whom we studied when we went through the book of Daniel. Judas Maccabeus was one of the leaders against Antiochus Epiphanes and the abomination of desolation and all those sorts of things. And so Judas, at the turn of the BCAD era, was a very popular name. Then in the New Testament, we come across Judas Iscariot, Judas Iscariot. The one who brought great shame and infamy to that name by being the betrayer of our blessed Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And so in the New Testament area, many parents didn't want to use the name Judas, and so they shortened it to Jude. They shortened it to Jude. And that is thus the name of this author of this particular epistle. Now, similarly, we learn some more things about this Jude. It says, Jude, a servant. The Greek says a doulos, meaning a bond slave or a slave of our Lord Jesus Christ, a doulos, a bond servant, a bond slave of Jesus Christ. And notice, a brother of James, a brother of James. Now, friends, once again, stay with me concerning these names. James in the New Testament in the Greek is Jacobus, which is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew patriarch Jacob. And according to what I have studied, there were five men named James in the New Testament. If you're taking notes, you may wish to jot them down. There was James, the son of Zebedee, the brother of John, who was killed by King Herod in Acts 12, verse 2. It's recorded in Acts 12, verse 2. So you've got James, son of Zebedee, brother of John. You've got James, the son of Alphaeus. You've got the one called James the younger, or James the less. He's recorded in Mark 15, verse 40. You have James who is the brother of our Lord Jesus, and we'll get to that more in just a moment. And then fifthly, you have James who is listed as the father of Judas, not Judas Iscariot, but James the father of Judas. He's listed both very briefly in Luke 6.16 and also in Acts 1.13. But when we allow Scripture to interpret Scripture and we compare all of these different passages on these different James, I believe, brothers and sisters, that this James is in fact the brother, we might say the half-brother, of our Lord Jesus Christ and the leader in the church in Jerusalem. And again, if you're taking notes, in the book of Galatians, the Apostle Paul mentions him as a leader or a pillar in the church in Jerusalem, and also as a brother of our Lord Jesus in Galatians 1.19, Galatians 1.19, and in Galatians 2, verse nine. Now just to flesh this out a bit more, turn with me if you would care to turn to the gospel according to Mark, the sixth chapter. Mark chapter six, and we're going to look at verses one through three. Mark chapter six, verses one through three. Very fascinating passage. Jesus left there and went to his hometown accompanied by his disciples. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue and many who heard him were amazed. Where did this man get these things, they asked? What's this wisdom that has been given him that he even does miracles? Isn't this the carpenter? Now stay with me. Isn't this Mary's son, notice, and the brother of James, count the siblings, and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, that would be Jude, and Simon? So you've got five brothers in the family, and aren't his sisters, plural, here with us? Some commentators say if Jesus only had two sisters, it would have said, aren't both of his sisters here with us? But the fact that it says, aren't his sisters, plural, here with us, they believe that Jesus had at least two sisters, possibly more, and they took offense at him. Meaning Jesus was at least one of seven children. He was at least one of seven children. And when you put it all together, brothers and sisters, I truly believe, and most commentators would agree, that when we read here of Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, Jude almost didn't want to have, should I say, the audacity to declare himself to be a brother of Jesus, because in John 7, verse 5, we read, for even his own brothers did not believe in him. They didn't believe in Jesus at first. But when we read Acts 1.14, Acts 1.14, we find his brothers at a prayer meeting with some of the godly women. And so apparently they did come to believe in him. But Jude, all he wants to acknowledge himself to be is a servant, a doulos of the Lord Jesus Christ. And brothers, that's our calling as well. It's not about us. It's about him, it's about him. We're servants, we're bond slaves, we're bond servants, we're doulos, douloi in the plural, we're douloi of Jesus Christ and he happens to be in the flesh a brother of James. That is the author, that is the human author of this earnest exhortation to be contending for the faith, to be contending for the faith. Well, let's go on as our text continues. We're not going to just consider then the author of this exhortation to contend for the faith. We're also gonna consider very carefully the audience, the audience of this exhortation to contend for the faith. Let's pick it up in verse one again. Look with me, please. Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called. Literally, the Greek says, to the called. One commentator says, brothers and sisters, this is a term which stresses the sovereignty of God's grace in summoning us to salvation. They are the called. Again, a term which stresses the sovereignty of God's grace in summoning us to salvation. The great reformer John Calvin says, and I quote, this is the effect of eternal election, that we are the call, that is the effect of eternal election. To those who have been called, stay with me. who are loved by God, who are loved by God. Now, I know some of you have King James Version, and you're wondering, where is he reading from? It doesn't say that in my King James Version. The King James Version says, to those who are sanctified or made holy by God. And friends, that is because some of the ancient manuscripts use the term hagiadzo, which means to make holy, rather than agapao, which means to love. And Calvin, in fact, he preferred the translation in the King James, made holy, but the more faithful manuscripts, I believe, are set forth by the ESV, the NIV, the NAS, et cetera. This reads correctly, I believe, with all humility. To those who have been called and who are loved, they are loved by God, the Father, and stay with me, and kept, and kept, or preserved by or in Jesus Christ. That word kept in the original is a perfect passive participle, which means it's referring to a one-time past action that has an ongoing enduring effect, and we were passive in the process. Boys and girls, I often have shared with you down through the years, our salvation, my young friends, does not depend so much on how tightly we are holding onto God, but it depends on how tightly He is holding onto us. Never forget that. We are kept, we are preserved, we are held, we are protected. by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In fact, that is why in John chapter 10, verse 28, our Lord Jesus is speaking of his sheep in John 10, 28. And he says, I give them eternal life and they shall never perish. No one can snatch them out of my hand. All glory be to God. Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ, a brother of James to those who have been called. Let that sink in for a moment by God's sovereign electing love to those who have been called. who are loved by God, who are loved by God, the Father, and kept by Jesus Christ. We have an eternal security. Philippians 1.6 says that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion in the name of Jesus Christ. And then verse two, mercy, mercy. Grace is being given what we don't deserve. Mercy is not being given what we do deserve. Mercy, peace. The Greek word is arene. It's the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word shalom. It's where we get our word irenic from. Peace, happiness, health, well-being, salvation. It's all included in that term. Mercy, peace, and love, agape. Romans 5.8, but God demonstrates his own love, agape, for us in this, while we were still sinners. Not while we were his friends. While we were still sinners. Christ died for us. Brothers and sisters, let this soak into your hearts, your minds, your souls. Mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance. Could also be translated, be multiplied to you. Be multiplied to you. You know, I was thinking about that word multiplied. Young people, do they still do, they still make you memorize addition, multiplication tables in school? You just have to do that or you just do everything on your phone. Do you still have to do that? Memorize the table? But now think about, my young friends, think about the difference between addition and multiplication. Help me out. I was never good in math. 2 plus 2 is? It's not a trick question, 4. 4 plus 4 is? 8 plus 8 is? Okay, very good. Now, compare that to multiplication. 2 times 2 is? Four times four is 16 times 16 is 256. It's 256, all right? Now, with that understanding, go back to the text. To those who have been called, who are loved by God, the Father, kept by Jesus Christ, mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you, to you. It doesn't get any better than that. To who? To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ. Friends, that is the audience to whom the author is writing concerning, thirdly and finally, the appeal, the appeal to contend for the faith once for all entrusted to the saints. And that brings us to verse three. Look with me, please. Dear friends, agapatoi, beloved, is probably a better translation. Some of the translations read, beloved, Although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we coin a. We share. I felt I had to write. An urge Paracleto appeal to you, exhort you strongly. I thought I had to write and urge you. To contend, wow, what a term, what a term. If you're taking notes, friends, I didn't know this before. That is the only place in the entire New Testament where that particular term is used. In the entire New Testament, it's found right here in verse three, to contend. The Greek word is epagonizostai. That's why it's probably only used once. It's quite the term, epagonizostai. You don't have to write that down. But please stay with me, because you tell me you're interested in this stuff. And again, if you're not, just read a psalm for a moment. Present infinitive, which denotes continuous action, contend. Guys, it's a word taken from the Olympic Games, specifically in reference to a wrestler. I don't know if any of you have wrestlers. Margaret's brothers used to be champion state wrestlers. Wrestling is incredibly grueling. And that's where the word is taken from. In fact, I'll quote one commentator who defines the term. He says, the meaning of the verb to contend is to combat for, to strive, to fight, to contend for. It is a word derived from the games and expresses a strenuous effort to earnestly contend or strenuously combat for the faith, not with the sword," I'm still quoting now, says Theodore Beza. Theodore Beza was a French Reformed theologian, disciple of John Calvin. Not with the sword, says Theodore Beza, but with sound doctrine and a holy life. And then it begs the question, what are we to contend for, brothers and sisters? The answer is found in the next part of the text. We are to contend for the faith. For the faith. Reformation Study Bible says here, faith indicates the content of the message taught by the apostles and held in common by all Christians rather than the personal exercise of trust by a believer. And I'm gonna read that again. When we are called and commanded to contend for the faith, the reference to Reformation Study Bible is faith indicating the content of the message taught by the apostles and held in common by all Christians rather than the personal exercise of trust by a believer. And so the faith concerns the incarnation of our blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The faith concerns his sinless life. The faith concerns his atoning death. The faith concerns his bodily, physical, literal, historical resurrection from the dead. The faith concerns his glorious ascension on high. The faith concerns his rule and reign at the right hand of God the Father, his session. And the faith concerns his return in glory on the clouds of glory to judge the living and the dead. That's the faith. It's being questioned, it's being undermined, it's being qualified, it's being attacked increasingly in our day, not only from without, but within the church of Christ. I love my catechism class, I always have. And a few weeks ago, I shared with them, we were talking about worship, and we were talking about the word of God being central in worship, and that's why we have the pulpit here, and the sanctuary, and so on. and it's kind of heavy, some of them are on rollers today. Joel Nader had told me one time, former CRC, Back to God Hour pastor, he told me that one time he was speaking somewhere, and he didn't realize the pulpit was on wheels, and he leaned on it, and the whole thing went right over, and he fell right down. This is not gonna move, this is good. But I said to the young people, we're talking about this, and I'm gonna just name the name, because he's out there in the public arena on social media, there was a guy named Rob Bell, I believe he was a CRC pastor in Grand Rapids area, And he got a big warehouse and he started dressing up in the garb of the biblical characters and preaching that way. And it became a big theatrical show. And Rob Bell, he wrote a book called Velvet Elvis that may ring some bells with you. And and he ended up going out to the West Coast. And I just read maybe in the last four or five, six months that Rob Bell has now written a book called Love Wins. Maybe you've heard of the book. It's called Love Wins. And you know what the book's about. How could a loving God send anybody to hell? In the end, love wins and everybody is saved. Everybody is saved. Insidious. I was at a pastor's conference that you graciously enabled me to go to about 10 years ago down in Orlando, Florida with R.C. Sproul, probably about 500, 600 pastors there. And R.C. Sproul is now in glory, of course, made the very insightful comment. He says, you know what our culture believes? Our culture believes in justification by death. Think about that. All you need to do to be saved is to die. That's where the culture's at. Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, he apparently just wanted to celebrate the gospel. But because of what he was dealing with, because of what you and I are dealing with, the Spirit moved him and inspired him to say, but I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. Who are the saints? The Greek word is hagioi, which means the holy ones. It means those who have been set apart by God for God. Those are the saints. The hagioi, the holy ones, those that have been set apart by God for God. And brothers and sisters, how are we to contend for the faith? That begs that question. How then we're supposed to contend for the faith? How do we do that? Matthew Henry put it this way, quote, as the apostles did, by suffering patiently and courageously for it. as the apostles did, by suffering patiently and courageously for it. In fact, if your Bibles are open and you would care to turn with me, just go back a few pages, please, to the book of Hebrews, the 11th chapter, Hebrews chapter 11, verses 32 through 40, Hebrews 11, 32 through 40. Here the author of the Hebrews writes, and what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised, who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword. whose weakness was turned to strength, and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted, and mistreated. The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains and in caves and holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, and yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us, so that only together with us would they be made perfect. And brothers and sisters, considering us, considering you and me, The sacred songwriter has said, Oh, may thy soldiers faithful, true and bold fight as the saints who nobly fought of old and win with them the victor's crown of gold. Alleluia. Alleluia. And so. My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord. To those who have been called. Who are loved by God, the father. And kept by Jesus Christ. by His grace and mercy, by His strength and spirit, through faith in the name of Jesus, today and every day, individually and corporately, may we be found faithful in earnestly contending for the faith. Amen. Let's bow our heads and our hearts together in prayer. O Lord, our God, Our spiritual forefathers and subscribers to the Belgic Confession said that they would offer their backs to stripes, their tongues to knives, their mouths to gags, and their whole bodies to the fire, rather than deny the truth expressed in this confession. Therefore, O faithful father, by your grace alone, Through faith alone, in Christ alone, and by the person and power of your precious Holy Spirit, enable and equip each and every one of us as well, we pray, each and every day, to be found faithful in contending for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.