Thank you for listening to Servants for Christ. In all that we do, in all that we say, we want to give glory and honor to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Thank you for tuning us in as we get into the wonderful Word of God. For the next few minutes, let's take the beautiful Word of God and share it with each and every one of you as we have a sense of anticipation to take the Word of God and to listen to its truth for each and every one. Thank you, I'm Darrell Bailey. Thank you for tuning us in. Servants for Christ. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. Here as we continue on in our Bible study in the book of Jude. Shield up, because Jude says, but ye beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith. You know, salvation is the foundation. but there is a structure that is to be built on that foundation, and salvation is where we get it. But there's the matter of going on. See, Jude describes it as a developing process. If there's not a proper foundation, it's impossible to build a strong, sturdy building. And so, It all begins with the truth of the Word of God. There are many that belong to a church who have never been saved. Many are professors, but they're not possessors. They're religious, but they're not saved. Jude wrote to those same believers who had received Peter's letters, intending to stir them up and remind them to take Peter's warning to heart. If you'll just discover the parallels between Jude and 2 Peter, you'll see a fascinating but neglected letter when we look at it. Our five-fold mission and purpose for being Christians is to share the word of God with the world, number one. Number two, support the belief of the minister of the laban in understanding the preaching, the teaching of God's word. And number three, prepare everything we can to lead men, women, boys, and girls to give their hearts and lives to Jesus Christ to secure their eternal life. Number four, ensure all that we can to minister to the needy of the world. And lastly, not least, but number five, provide Jesus Christ his proper place, which the word of God gives him. And so we share, we support, we prepare, we ensure all and we provide because you can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips. Here, In Jude chapter 1 verses 3 and 4, I want to talk about standing firm, the call to defend the faith. And so, as we open up reading verses 3 and 4 of Jude chapter 1, because there's only one chapter, the Bible says, Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints." Now what is he saying? He's saying the very, I'm eager to write to you about our common salvation and that I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for that faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. He goes on in verse four and he says, for there are certain men that are crept in unawares who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. And so he says, that there are certain people that have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for condemnation, ungodly people who perverted the grace of God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. And so, let's open with a word of prayer. We come before you with hearts full of gratitude for unwavering our love and grace as we gather to reflect on your word from the book of Jude, We seek your guidance and strength to stand firm in defending the faith that you've entrusted to us. Grant us the courage to contend earnestly for the truth as Jude exhorts us against the subtle and pervasive threats to the gospel. Fill us with a deep compassion, unwavering conviction to uphold your teachings with integrity and wisdom, and may your Holy Spirit illuminate our understanding and empower us to recognize and counter the deceit that seeks to undermine our faith and our local churches and body of Christ. We ask for your presence among us. Let your truth resonate in our hearts and minds, equipping us to stand firm, boldly proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. In your mercy, protect us from the error and guide us in the path of righteousness. In Jesus' mighty name we pray. Amen. Now, there's a terrible danger facing all believers, a horrifying danger that always lies right over the horizon. What is it? It's the danger of false teaching. Because if a believer swallows any bit of false teaching, he or she is doomed. Any person that denies that God sent his Son into the world to save man, who denies that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Savior of the world, will never be accepted by God. He's doomed to spend eternity cut off from God. Why? Hey, because they have not believed in the name of God's Son. Time and time again, God warns believers of apostasy. This is the very reason for the books of Jude and 2 Peter being written. And strong warnings against false teachers are also issued by Paul in the book of Galatians, in the book of Colossians, in the book of Thessalonians. Thessalonians, the book of Timothy, and also the book of Titus. There are severe warnings all throughout the book of Hebrew also. And Christ himself gave a strong warning time and time again throughout all the Gospels. So no matter who the person is, no matter how well-liked and influential and attractive in their teachings may be, if he or she denies Jesus Christ and God's Word, he or she is a false teacher. And so the thrust of the letter of Jude is the very purpose for which Jude writes this letter. And it's one of the most horrifying pictures in all of the Bible. A picture of the characteristics and the judgment of false teachers. And so, there are so many of them out there. And you know what? They're in it just to rake in the money. They're all about making a living with the gospel. They make their money from the gospel. They live their life based on the gospel. But yet, it's all about trying to make something for themselves. And they don't care if they're false and not called according to the purpose of God and are not teaching the true word of God. And so, Believers are to contend for the faith against these false teachers. I'm going to be talking about standing firm. It's the call to defend the faith in our series Shield Up. and Jude verses 3 and 4. And so, to illustrate the call to defend the faith with courage and conviction, would you consider the story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor, a theologian during the Second World War? Bonhoeffer sterned firm in his faith despite facing immense pressure and danger. He was a vocal critic of the Nazi regime and the atrocities and particularly its persecution of the Jewish people. In 1943, Bonhoeffer was arrested for his involvement in a plot to overthrow Hitler. Despite being imprisoned and tortured, he remained resolute in his faith. and commitment to justice. His writing from prison included the cost of discipleship. He continued to inspire Christians worldwide to stand firm in their beliefs and live out their convictions no matter the cost. Bonhoeffer's story serves as a powerful example of what it means to contend earnestly for the faith, standing firm against overwhelming opposition as we reflect on Jude verses 3 and 4. Let his courage and let his dedication inspire us to defend our faith with a similar resolve and integrity. Consider the origin of some of America's most prestigious universities. I'm talking about Harvard. I'm talking about Yale and Columbia, Dartmouth, William and Mary, Brown and Princeton. Each of these were established by Christians with the primary aim of advancing Christianity and training ministers of the gospel. Of the first hundred colleges and universities founded in the United States of America, 88 were created with the intention of promoting the gospel of Jesus Christ on the cornerstone of Harvard University. Named after Reverend John Harvard, the inscription reads, and I quote, after God had carried us safe to New England and we had built our houses, provided necessaries for our livelihood, reared convenient places for God's worship, settled the civil government, one of the next things that we longed for and looked after was to advance learning and perpetuate to prosperity, dreading to leave an illiterate ministry to the churches when our present ministers shall lie in the dust." Now I want you to reflect on what I just read. The very first institution of higher education in America was founded to equip ministers of the gospel to champion the cause of faith, to defend the Word of God. The Harvard's 1643 handbook mandated three key principles for its students. Number one, students should be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider Well, the main end of their life and studies to know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life. The second of the three key principles for students that was mandated in the Harvard 1643 handbook. Number two, students should seek wisdom through prayer as the Lord giveth wisdom. And the third key principle that was mandated that students should engage in daily scripture reading to be prepared to account for their knowledge of both theoretical and practical truths. Princeton University initially required its faculty to be firmly convinced of the necessities of the religious experience of salvation. Brown's university charter mandated that a significant majority of its trustees be Baptist, with its president being a member of the Baptist Church for life. But today, These same institutions are often strongholds of secular humanism, with Christianity being either minimally tolerated or actively ridiculed. People today are wearing t-shirts with terrorist things and phrases on them in those colleges. And the shift is both tragic and simple. Why? Because God's people did not heed the warning from Jude. And so, He says, Beloved, while I was very diligent to write unto you of the coming salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you and to exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of God into lasciviousness and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. When we reflect on the words of Martin Luther that begin to nail the 93 Caesars on the Catholic Church door to break away, who emphasized the need for strong defenders of the faith, he said, Christendom must have people who can beat down their adversaries and opponents and tear off the devil's equipment and armor. But for this work, powerful warriors are needed who are thoroughly familiar with the scriptures, unquote. You see, Martin Luther's message underscores the truth. It's right to fight when you fight for the right. And Jude's letter is a call to arms, urging us to be vigilant defenders of the faith. And so, we gotta stand firm, the call to defend that faith, amen. In our walk with Christ, we are called to actively engage in our faith in three critical ways that I'm gonna be talking about. Number one, being diligent extenders of the faith. Because as we read about the first three, that Jude initially intended to write about the joy of salvation, but he found it more necessary to address the urgent need to defend the faith. He said, beloved, while I was very diligent to write unto you of the common salvation, you see, salvation ignites our passion. C.S. Lewis, in his writing, conveys how salvation brings profound joy and urgency. In the book Mere Christianity, he discusses how the joy of salvation should motivate us to live differently. And so, salvation unites us. In the stories of the Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis portrays how shared faith in Aslan unites the characters, showing how the common salvation brings us all together. And so, believers are to contend for the faith against false teachers. That Jude had planned to write the believers, but he had never planned to write this particular letter. He had planned to write about the great subject of salvation, but he was not able to. The beliefs were being attacked, but not by persecutors. They were being attacked by false teachers and their false beliefs. Jude is forced to snatch up his ink pen, his writing utensil of that day, to expose the heretical teachers, and he was forced to warn believers of the horrible danger of apostasy. He wanted to write a pastoral letter to encourage them to grow in Christ, but now he must warn them and he must exhort them. They must go to war, to spiritual war. They must earnestly contend and fight for the faith. They must be diligent and thrive unceasingly in the fight against false teaching. They must not buckle under any whatsoever in standing up for the faith that has been delivered to the saints. And so the faith must not be twisted, added to, or taken away from. It must be kept pure and free from all error. Why? Because certain men had unknowingly crept into the church and they were teaching false doctrine. And the characteristics and the judgment of false teachers show how terrible, how horrible false teaching is to God. You know, sometimes there's men and women that have went through horrible lives And they've made a drastic change. But the only thing that's lacking, even though they make a change, is they don't have the experience sometimes because they've lived in sin the entirety of their life. And you know what? Sometimes when you begin to do something for the Lord, it takes a little bit of time to know what you're talking about. and to understand it and sometimes people that have been pulled out of the fires of hell through the journey of life they're still learning themselves so they don't know have the ability to teach it because they're still learning and so we look at the false teachers to be the worst of all men upon earth because the issues are of the most severe warning the warnings that far exceed the warnings to other men and so I'm glad that we see that we actively engage in our faith in three critical ways. Number one, I said in verse three, be diligent extenders of the faith. But secondly, to be devoted defenders of the faith, because I'm glad when we stand firm, the call to defend the faith, we as Jude's exhortation to contend earnestly for the faith underscores the need to defend our beliefs rigorously. And so, the faith is definite. I'm glad Charles Spurgeon emphasized the importance of Scripture's infallibility in determined truth and highlighting the necessity of defending the core doctrines of the faith. And so each and every one of us as we go through life and we begin to remember how that the Lord has done so many things for us. We see that through the faith is dogmatic and it's complete because the five fundamentals of the faith outline the key tenets of Christianity that are non-negotiable, reinforcing the importance of holding firm to these truths because the faith is delivered to us. And so I'm glad that each and every one of us as we go through life, amen, and we begin to learn of what is taking place that we've gotta be able to understand what the Lord is wanting to do in all of our lives, amen. And so, when we do that, to be diligent, amen, in the faith. to be able to stand firm on what the Lord wants us to do, praise God. I'm glad that to be devoted, to be devoted defenders of the faith in verse three, amen. I'm glad that here he said that we're to contend earnestly for that faith. And so, I'm glad the core of theology is, as Charles Spurgeon said, the turning point of the battle between those who hold the faith once and for all delivered to the saints and their opponents lies in the true and real inspiration of the Holy Scriptures. And Charles Spurgeon was exactly right. The river of all truth flows from this scriptural fountain and must never be culminated with the mere opinions of men And so, I'm glad that a faith that is once and for all delivered, that it's complete. The Bible is the only word that we have from God and the only word that we need from God. And with the Old Testament and the New Testament, we don't need any other testament. We don't need a revelation of a new truth. We just need an application of the old truth. And so we don't need a Joseph Smith and a Mary Baker Eddy and an Ellen White and golden tablets or dreams and visions. All we need is what we have, which is an inspired truth of the infallible word, because there is so many false teachers out there that have been around for centuries teaching a false ministry. And this faith is once and for all delivered to the saints, because it means that it's been entrusted and deposited with. And so in 1 Thessalonians 2, we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We're stewards of that truth. The faith was not discovered by saints. It was delivered to the saints. And we are going to be held accountable as to how we protect it, preserve it, and preach it. We, as Judaic sorts, are to contend earnestly for the faith. The Greek word for contend gives us our English word agonize, and it's referred to as an athlete struggling for a victory in a wrestling match when others When other athletes struggle for victory, when others corrupt the faith, we're to contend for the faith. And when others deny the faith, we're to defend that faith. And it is right to fight when you fight for the right thing. John Calvin said that a dog barks when his master's attacked, and I would be a coward if I saw God's truth being attacked and remain silent without giving any sound. And there are those who say, we don't need to fight. We just need to get along with one another. We need to get all of our denominations. We need to just be a unilized religion. We need to love one another, accept all the differences, celebrate diversity. We don't need to rock a boat. Well, it's the better it is better that belief should rock the boat than that unbelief should wreck the boat. We don't need to be timid, nor do we need to be intimidated or be by a secular press or those who claim to be on our side. And so, as all of those in the days past that were such a horrible person, we look and realize that the responsibility Our responsibility and our encourage is to faithfully embody these principles, amen. And so I'm glad that when we look and realize that what we're looking at, that the message will guide us through our responsibilities, amen, that we engage in our faith in three critical ways, and that is, be diligent extenders of the faith, in verse three. Be devoted defenders of that faith, in verse three. But lastly, in closing, be determined defenders of the faith, in verse four. Because he said in verse four, for there are certain men creeping unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. Jude warns that these false teachers and apostates infiltrate the faith, often unnoticed. And so, when we look and realize that we've got to keep our guard up, the reason why we ought to keep our guard up is because of what he says. We've got to have our shield up because certain men have crept in unnoticed. And the word Crip refers to a criminal exiled from a country who slips back across the border under the cover of darkness. And it's a picture of a crocodile who can slip in the water without making a ripple. Boy, I know there's a lot of crocodiles out across the world today. Jude has warned us that that spiritual crocodile line lines the banks of the river of Christianity, waiting to slip in and devour our colleges, our seminaries, our churches, our denominations, and to bring it up to a modern-day terminology, they're stealth liberals. who are flying in under spiritual radar and that's why it's happening to our children and that's what's happening to America that they take over and steal that which has been built by the Bible-believing conservatives of what this nation of democracy was built on and they want to come in and change that. Joseph Tyson is, as we look at, one of the most respected evangelical leaders of the modern world. He was from Romania and he grew up in a communist country. Nevertheless, early in life, he became a Christian. He held fast to his faith despite the Marxist indoctrination that he received in schools. He learned English so that he could further his theological knowledge. But the first English thought theology book that he read cast him into despair because it undermined the reliability of the Bible. You know, you wonder how many Bible teachers today in colleges are there, but they ain't a one of them. They ain't a one of them saved. And all of them are liberals teaching our young minds of our Bible schools and colleges and universities from all of these liberal unsaved professors and teachers that are out there today in America. Dr. Tyson said that he did not know then that there was a difference between liberal and conservative scholarship and the result was that he temporarily abandoned the faith. Now listen to what he said. My faith wasn't killed by Marxism and communism. My faith was killed by liberal theologians. Liberal theologians who undermine the faith of their nation and the Bible and they work for a communist takeover of their land. That sounds like what we're dealing with with the leadership across America right now. Now, I'm not knocking. I'm telling you the plain fact of truth. And if I wasn't, I'd say so. But I'm going to tell you, I'm telling you the truth when I say that, and I don't have to have any regrets by saying that. I have more respect for a burglar that puts a Jimmy under the window and steals somebody's things in their house than for any PhD college professor that is cutting the class of criticism against the Bible and breaks the home of faith against all of our kids that are taking the classes. I want to tell you that a faith-stealing liberal is lower than a rattlesnake. At least a rattlesnake will give you a warning before it strikes, but a liberal never does. And keep in mind that Jude's not talking about false teachers. He's talking about apostates. What's the difference? An apostate claims to be a Christian, but a false teacher doesn't. The most dangerous enemy is the one that looks the most like a friend that is beside you in church, and the most dangerous counterfeit is the one that looks like the most real thing. An apostate is someone who will use our vocabulary but not our dictionary. Jude tells us exactly how to point out that apostate because these men crept in unaware. The ungodly men that turned the grace of our God into lewdness. They see grace as a license to sin, not as the liberty not to sin. They put the grace of God in a showcase and the judgment of God in a suitcase. They'll say things like homosexuality is all right with God as long as two people love each other and they will be committed to each other in a monogamous relationship. God will approve of that because after all God is a God of grace. Don't never forget. I don't care what degrees he or she has. I don't care what title is in front of their name. I don't care how sweet he or she may sound. When you hear someone talk like that, You're listening to the rough worst of all, an apostate. And they are the ones that deny the only Lord. Because the word used here for the Lord for the very first time is different from the word used for the Lord the second time. The Greek word gives us our English word despot. And it always is this word is a negative word that literally means someone who has absolute power and demands absolute control. In other words, they defy the authority of God. They defy the right of God to call the shots in their lives. So what does the apostate do? He or she drinks the world's booze. He or she speaks the world's language. He or she defends the world's morals. And he or she either says God doesn't care or God doesn't matter. They deny our Lord Jesus Christ because as we look at the test of an apostate, there's some who say that for the Christian, it is never right to fight. But Jews says again, it is right when you fight for the right. It's wrong not to fight when the right is at stake. When a professor or a preacher says Jesus was not born of a virgin, that's fighting words. When a professor or a preacher says Jesus is not God, those are fighting words. When a professor or a preacher says Jesus did not have to die on a cross for our salvation, those are fighting words. When a professor or a preacher, liberal, that Jesus was not raised from the dead, that's fighting words. And when a professor or preacher says Jesus is not coming again, those are fighting words. Because Jesus, some of them will say, Jesus is not God's only way to heaven. Those are the people that you better look out for, because the next time someone knocks you on your door with their religious perversity, or sit under a preacher behind a pulpit, or a professor behind a podium, don't ever forget what I'm about to tell you, that that person is wrong about Jesus. And it doesn't matter what else they're right about, because when you look at what else happens, whatever else, everyone else, when we look, that everybody else may listen to, I'm going to tell you that you better be listening to Jesus and the Word of God. Because Charles Spurgeon once said that the greatest compliment ever given to him was not spoken by a friend, but by one of his most bitter enemies. And here was what that enemy said. And I quote, here is a man who has not moved an inch forward in all of his ministry. At the close of the 19th century, he's still teaching the theology of the first century, and he's still proclaiming doctrine current in Nazareth and Jerusalem in the first century." Well, that's fantastic, because what is about Christ never changes, and I'm glad that every one of us, some people may say, you're out of date. and that you are just old and need to get out of the way. But I'm gonna tell you something, the gospel will never change. And I'm glad that when we look and realize that as we come together in our time, I know that as we need to be diligent extenders of the faith, devoted defenders of that faith, and determined defenders of that faith, that as Jude warns, I hope and pray that a dramatic example of standing firm in the face of danger occurred in Nairobi, Kenya on September the 21st, 2013, when terrorists attacked the Westgate Mall. Among the victims were members of a local church who were shopping and gathering with their families. The attack was brutal, aimed to instill fear and disrupt the community. And yet in the midst of this horror, there were reports of Christians who chose to stand firm in their faith. Some survivors recounted how believers, even as they faced imminent danger, showed incredible courage and compassion and they helped others find safety, prayed for those in fear, refused to let the violence deter their commitment to their faith and their values. One powerful account was a group of believers who, when confronted by the attackers, chose to pray, sing hymns rather than to cower in fear, and their unwavering faith and courage amidst such a dire situation became a testament to their belief in God's protection and the strength found in standing firm in faith. And that story always reminds me of the profound impact of standing firm in our convictions, even in the face of extreme adversity. And as we conclude, Let us be inspired by these real-life examples of the story of the Nairobi church attack that took place September the 21st, 2013, in the Westgate Mall, where they faced an extreme adversary. And so, by these real-life examples, We can commit ourselves to defend the faith with an unwavering compassion. And so, Jude's letter reminds us that it's both right and necessary to fight for the faith when it's under attack. As we face challenges and controversies, let us remember that we're diligent extenders of the faith, that we should be passionate about sharing the joy of our salvation and uniting with others around this common hope, that we're devoted defenders of the faith, that we must rigorously uphold and defend the core truths of Christianity against distortions and false teachings, and that we are determined in our defense to be vigilant and resolute against those who seek to undermine or dilute our faith. May we stand firm and fight the good fight of faith, knowing that our efforts are for the glory of God and the preservation of his truth. I'm going to close out, as we close out standing firm, the call to defend the faith of Jude verses 3 and 4. Father, as we conclude our time together, we thank you for the strength and the insight that you provided us through your word. We're grateful for the call to defend the faith, for the reminder of your responsibility to uphold the truth of the gospel, to instill in us a lasting commitment to contend earnestly for the faith with love and grace. Empower us to live out our convictions with integrity, to address the false teachings with compassion and clarity. And may we always reflect your light and truth in the world that desperately needs both, that we ask that you continue to guide us, protect us as we go forth from this place. Let your spirit be our guide, your word our foundation, your love our motivation, strengthen our resolve, deepen our compassion so that we may honor you in all that we do and stand firm in the faith that you called us to defend. In the mighty name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. you