Congregation this evening. Let's open our Bible to the book of Jude To Jude second to the last book in the scriptures We'll read that entire short letter of the Lord through Jude to the churches and Our attention will be on verses 22 and 23, but also this evening in our forms and prayers. The small book. Will turn to the Heidelberg Catechism continuing there in Lord's Day 41 tonight. Reminding ourselves that we are going through an explanation of an application of the 10 Commandments. We have come this evening to deal with the 7th Commandment. Now, certainly, and you'll realize this is true about all of the commandments, we could go in a variety of directions in regards to, and the Catechism gives us this, regards to the applications of each of these commandments. But tonight, a particular one from the Word of God and the Heidelberg Catechism, which is, I think, pertinent and significant to our day much, much more so than we may have already realized. But we'll see that as we go. So tonight to the book of Jude. And again, at verse one, reading through the entire letter, our attention being on verses 22 and 23, and then we'll read the Heidelberg Catechism out loud together next. 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, Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. 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. 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. 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. 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, as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them in 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 Likewise, also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, the Lord rebuke you. But these speak evil of whatever they do not know, and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts. In these things, they corrupt themselves. Woe to them. For they have gone in the way of Cain, they have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds, late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots, raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame, wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, behold, the Lord comes with 10,000 of his saints to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly, Among them, of all their ungodly deeds, which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him, these are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts, and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage. But you, beloved, Remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. These are sensual persons who cause divisions, not having the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And on some have compassion, making a distinction, but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh. 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, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen. And again, congregation, I'll read it for us. But keep your Bible open, our verses 22 and 23. And on some have compassion, making a distinction But others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh." Thus far, God's glorious word. Tonight, again, we'll keep our Bible open. But let's turn now to the summary of the teaching of the Word of God as we have it in the Heidelberg Catechism. This is on page 248 and Lord's Day 41, those two questions and answers. First-line congregation, what is God's will for us in the seventh commandment? That God condemns all unchastity and that we should therefore detest it wholeheartedly and live decent and unchaste lives within or outside of the holy state of marriage. Does God in this commandment forbid only such scandalous sins as adultery? We are temples of the Holy Spirit, body and soul. And God wants both to be kept clean and holy. That is why God forbids all unchaste actions, looks, talk, thoughts, or desires, and whatever may incite someone to them. These things, again, beloved, the word of God does teach. And therefore, the Christian believes Let's continue in prayer this evening and ask his help tonight. Let's pray. Father, now we thank you that we have the glorious truth of your word. We thank you for the privilege of taking the time now to look intently at what you say in your word. So that we might have the proper perspective. So that we might be able to run to those making choices they think have no consequences, or rather, as you tell us in Romans 1, suppressing what they know to be the eternal consequences, that we might run to them and speak plainly and openly. O Lord, help us. Help us to hear, to believe, and to live, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Dear congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, we live in the days of the power of lust. We live in the days of the power of lust. Not only is lust a power and force in our day in terms of vile things like pornography, prostitution, sex trafficking, but now lust has morphed into a power to redefine psychology and its definitions, to redefine birth, gender, power to push politicians policies and even the supreme court all of this is infecting the christian community it is infecting the christian church covenant family many christian preachers church leaders and whole denominations would say and are saying that we may no longer hate lust and the lifestyle choices born of lust. You see, homosexualism and gender manipulation are the choices of those who are refusing to submit to God in the seventh commandment and are demanding that their lust be made legal and good. The gospel is at stake, nothing less. The gospel is at stake. And beloved, we must stand our ground here. It is loving to do that. You see, love for sinners must be protected by a hatred for all sexual immorality. These are hard words. We don't like even to use that word. Love for sinners must be protected by a hatred for all sexual immorality. We'll see that in the following four ways tonight. First, God is perfectly clear. Hate all aspects of sexual immorality. Second, by such holy hatred, we will know they need to be saved. We won't know it otherwise. We won't know it otherwise. Third, That hatred preserves us from the temptation to tell half of what they need to hear. They need to hear. And fourth, such biblical hatred enables us to love the Lord and trust His word. So love for sinners must be protected by a hatred for all sexual immorality. These two things need to be understood together. God, then, is perfectly clear. Hate all aspects of sexual immorality. We could fairly and correctly say that the entire letter of Jude is a stark warning to the churches about the rampant, unchecked violations of the seventh commandment. Notice this from verse four, where Jude says that the grace of God has been morphed into an unlawfulness in terms of the language he uses here of lewdness. The grace of God has been morphed, he says, into the allowance of lewdness. Like those who are today saying you can be both gay or lesbian and also make a credible claim to be a Christian. Verse 7, he brings in as reference, saying it is a teaching illustration for us, Sodom and Gomorrah. That they were destroyed because of sexual immorality. Especially homosexuality. And so will be all who today in churches who refuse to repent and walk away from that vile lifestyle. But especially verse 23. Now we have in verse 22 compassion called to, a compassion that we'll need to understand. And then in verse 23, we are called to try with all our might to pull them out of the fire. We'll see that more clearly in a moment. But covenant family, covenant family, we hate even the garment defiled by the flesh. Hate. Again as we've said it, that's a difficult word for us. But it is interesting that in the Heidelberg Catechism, Answer 108 of the Catechism uses exactly that language. In fact, it's even, if we can put it this way, more forceful and clear in the Catechism's answer to these things about how we understand a certain aspect of the response of the believer to the seventh commandment. God condemns all unchastity, therefore we should, notice the language, detest it wholeheartedly. There's no wiggle room in that language. Well, then hate what? We're going to make much of this, but we need to understand it first from the text. Verse 23, Jude says, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh. That word in the original garment here that Jude is using would mean, and I just have to say it, sorry, but it would be translated in our language, underwear. It is that piece of the clothing which is worn closest to the flesh, nothing else between the flesh and that garment. And it is stained by the flesh, he says here. But what he means by flesh here is that fleshliness of the world. He means quite clearly sexual immorality. Hate that garment, which gives evidences of sexual immorality. We live in a day more and more when the only group of people acceptable to hate is Christians. Now that may again sound a little bit brash to say it. I was following a Facebook discussion this week, maybe you saw it, where one of our local television stations You know they all have their own Facebook accounts now. This local television station posted a story about a moral issue and it brought in a little bit of a hint about Christians in the headline and developed that a little bit in the story so that there was a little bit of an opposition there about what sort of what most people do as opposed to now what Christians are doing. The story was kind of normal in terms of how Christians are portrayed in the media in these days, but what was interesting to me were the comments by individuals that followed the story. And I'm not making this up. One lady here in our metro posted this as her comment to that story. And I quote, too many Christians, not enough lions. The lady who wrote that knows something about history. Because when she said that on her Facebook post, too many Christians, not enough lions, she was referring, of course, to how the Roman tyranny in the days of Nero and other emperors dealt with Christians. And do you know this, what happened? They would bring Christians into the arena and they would have lions there whom they had kept food away from for days and days so that those lions were starving and the crowds would come into the arena and sit in the seats paying good money to watch them. The Christians released into the arena. The lions let go so that the Christians were both killed and eaten in front of the cheering crowds. This again is history. It's what happened. So that this lady's comment, too many Christians, not enough lions, was alluding to exactly that. The allowance and agreeability in our current day and situation that Christians are the only group allowed now to be hated. We are not even really allowed to speak negatively about sexual immorality from a Christian position. Much less to say that we hate sexual immorality in our culture and society. But we must hate it. Hating even, verse 23, the garment defiled by the flesh. Hating, what Judah's saying here, hating sexual immorality. It must be hated. We can both love people and hate sexual immorality. The catechism, answer 108, God condemns all unchastity. We, therefore, must detest it wholeheartedly. Covenant family, let's put it even more bluntly. Covenant family, if we do not hate sexual immorality from the heart, if we do not hate sexual immorality from the heart and instead say, If we instead say that homosexuality, fornication, adultery, polyarmy are live and let live choices. If we say they are live and let live choices, then we have denied Jesus Christ and His Gospel. Now it may sound odd to say this and to say it this way, but hate is a necessary predecessor to love. As the Catechism puts it, we must first know how great our sin and misery is. Beloved, hate with all your heart all forms of sexual immorality. Second, by such holy hatred, we will know they need to be saved. This hatred, the hatred that God has, Catechism 108, for all sexual immorality and thus we could call it a holy hatred. This holy hatred is a powerful engine in Jude's constructing of the argument here for the rescue of those people who are in danger of fire. Notice this, beloved, in the day in which we are living where everyone is saying, well, just live and let live, let them do what they want. Jude has a passion, you see this, to see people rescued because he knows of the fire. The danger, the deadliness, the seriousness of sexual immorality is clear in his writing, isn't it? Like homosexuality. Why do we mention that one in particular? Because it is the act of lust that is taking the world by storm. It is the act of lust, and don't put it any other way. Homosexuality is an act of lust which is taking the world by storm. Because of the seriousness of it as a deadly behavior, Jude likens it, verse 23, to the fire. Do you see though, as we mentioned already, that he's talked about a fire once before in his letter? In the mentioning of Sodom and Gomorrah. And we think of that fire of Sodom and Gomorrah as the fire of judgment, don't we? Well, this is exactly what Jude intends for us to understand here at verse 23. We need to understand that they are in the dangers of hellfire in terms of their unchecked, unrepentant of disconcern about their lust. But the Word of God is not disinterested. But what so many so-called Christian preachers and so-called church leaders, like the Revoice Conference that a group of the Missouri Valley Presbytery of the PCA are dealing with, That revoice conference itself shows disinterest in the fire. We'll take that up more in our third point. But it is fire. We need to understand the Word of God and its value for us. Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them in similar manner, verse 7, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, another indication of nothing but homosexuality, Romans 1 makes that very clear, are set forth, verse 7, as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Beloved, we must have a holy hatred if we are going to have an active love. Covenant family. All those who live all those who live unrepentantly in sexual immorality are dishonoring to God. Now they are dishonoring to God now and will go to hell at death. Such persons, those living in sexual immorality are, says Jude, of two basic groups. And we need to understand this. Let me say something first before we define those two groups. We need to understand that we are called to speak to both groups. We cannot ignore group two, which we would rather do, actually. I'm in my castle, they can't touch me, I'm going to ignore them. No. Jude uses language here, it's illustrative language, it's picturesque language, but it is language intended to have the clear truth come to the church that the believer needs to speak. First of all, the church needs to speak prophetically about these things, and when the church is not speaking prophetically about these things, there's no hope, really, for them to be brought out of that fire, humanly speaking. Nonetheless, we are called to speak to both groups. Group one told to us in verse 22, the sum upon whom we are to have compassion. It seems best to understand this to be those who have admitted that their lust is wrong, but they are struggling to leave it. They are struggling. They're going back and forth in that lifestyle and out of it. Their friends are in that lifestyle, so it's hard to leave their friends. Their rhythm of life is in that lifestyle. It's hard for them to live it. And besides all of that, though, they know it's wrong and they seem to want to get out of it. They have the Hollywood machine. They have the media machine and the universities who are saying to these people, no, this is a great and acceptable kind of life. You need to live it. They're struggling to get out. They want to leave it. We're to have compassion on them. We're to speak to them lovingly, compassionately, patiently. Saying to them that they rather need to understand the biblical life, the call to a holy life in terms of sexual choices. We have to bear up with them. It might even be the case that they need counseling. Let's not be afraid to say that good biblical counseling and preaching and teaching, but counseling included in that, can begin to change them and help them. And this might be an opportunity for the church to say, listen, we'll help come alongside you. We'll even help to pay for your counseling so that you can be brought out of this. We'll help to fund that correction. We need to come alongside them and have compassion, making a distinction with whom. A distinction with the second group, verse 23. They're a different group. They have no concern whatsoever about their life. They're rather blatant about it. They want no such help. They may have that porn addiction and they love it and they don't want anybody to tell them differently and don't try to bring me out of it. They may have that interest in that person of the same sex as them. And let's not be afraid to use those languages. There are only two genders, two sexes, male and female. And when a man has an interest of another man and wants nobody to tell him differently, he is a part of this second group. They're heading down the road toward the fire, and they want nobody to tell them differently, but we are still called to speak to them in terms that Jude uses here, a very energetic language, pulling them. pulling them. Where today what we have are Christian so-called Christian groups say no it's fine you can be a homosexual and make a legitimate claim to be a Christian. That's not pulling them out of anything. That's pushing them toward hell. Covenant families such ones are burning Such ones are burning and will burn eternally. But while they are still on this earth, God can save them. And so we must speak to them. And we reason with them from the Scriptures. Do you know such a person? Do you know such a person at work? Do you know such a person in your circle of familiar people? Begin praying for them tonight. Begin praying for them. Lord, give me a way to converse with this person. Give me a way to approach them. Give me a way to reach by the Spirit their heart and say something to them about the gospel, about Jesus Christ who saves sinners. Give me a way. Begin praying for them so that we might pull them out. Third, then, that hatred preserves us from the temptation to tell half of what they need to hear. And this half-truth telling is what's going on today. And of course, maybe you've heard this from your parents or grandparents. It still is true today. A half-truth is nothing but a lie in a different language. It goes like this. They will say, in general terms, to any group of people gathered before them, Jesus Christ saves sinners. That's what they'll tell them, and then they'll say this. But your behavior and your lifestyle is not sin. It's actually okay. So where are such persons left? They're left not just moving toward the fire, but with great increase in speed and by way of an increase in confidence that their choice is good and acceptable. Beloved, they are hearing this from everywhere else in the media, and in the culture, and in the society, and in the government, and in the policies, and in the courts that we live in. Must they also hear it from the pulpits? God forbid. But you see, we have to understand that an answer to them in terms of the gospel begins with us having a holy hatred of sexual immorality. It must begin there, is what Jude says. When we do have a holy hatred for sexual immorality, including especially homosexuality, which lust is taking the world by storm, we then tell them the whole truth. This needs to be plainly spoken. Many so-called Christian preachers and church leaders and whole denominations are saying that gayness and Christianity are not opposed to each other, that gay people should be freely embraced as God-honoring Christians. All such teaching is called false teaching. All such teaching is called false teaching and needs to be rebuked in the strongest possible language. Christian leaders are called to pull people out of the fire. Not to tell them it's okay to stay moving toward it. Covenant family? Covenant family, any so-called Christian leader, or ministry, or book, or teaching that says homosexuality is acceptable and good is a lie from the pit of hell. Can we be more plain than that? Can we be more plain than that? Such teachers are liars and false teachers and deserve judgment and doom for telling people they are not sinning when God is telling them that they are. We need to speak. We need to pull from the fire while hating, says Jude, the practices of sexual immorality that they are engaged in. So what do we have that can help? What can we say to them? Well, the first thing is to be so clear that they're left without any possible way of misconstruing what we are saying to them about their lifestyle. When they get it clear from God's Word that their lustful, lust-borne behavior choices is nothing but sin, then we can tell them of Him who lived perfectly to save sinners from such sins. We would never dare to say that any kind of sexual immorality is outside of the realm of what Jesus Christ can forgive. Would we dare to say that? No. God forbid. And that is exactly what we do need to say to them. That Jesus Christ died satisfactorily to save sinners. Whether it be those public ones, it's very popular in the day today, the day that we live in today, or those private things that we ourselves hide in the closets. Jesus Christ forgives sin and sinners, right? Beloved, do you know someone who is lost and dying as a member of the homosexual world? And by the way, do you know that's what it is? Their circle of friends, the publications that they watch and read online, the groups they engage themselves in, the political movements they are part of. It's a different world. Really, it is. And the churches, if we can put it nicely, Those who have no real conscience are trying to tap into that world because there's money there and members to be gotten there. Oh beloved, do you know someone who lives in that world? Tell them of Jesus Christ. Tell them that Jesus is the friend of sinners. Tell them that Jesus acquainted Himself with sinners, that He didn't run to the goody-two-shoes of the day, as we might think of those things, but He frequented sinners and He was around sinners and He came to save those who knew themselves to be dead and on the path of destruction. Not the healthy, but the sick. Tell them that He would not give them a pass on their sinful lifestyle, lust-borne choices, but that he did go to the cross to forgive those kinds of sins as well. Tell them that they can be forgiven. Tell them that they must be forgiven. Covenant family, we have good news for those dying in hell's fire. We have good news for those dying in hell's fire, sexual immorality. So let's tell that good news to someone. If you are interested in social issues, that is to say in the right sense of the word, if you're interested in the sociology of our day and what's going on in our world, if you're at all in tune to The movements and the rhythms of the day that we live in, we cannot help but understand that this is a growing popular idea. Sexual freedom. Was it born in the 60s? No, probably it was born in the garden, right? All sins were. But it certainly came to an expression in America in the 60s, but those flower children have given out buds, right? And the growth of it is astonishing. And it's hit a whole new pace in the last number of years. We don't like to think about these things. It's the world we live in. Popularized television, internet, popularized social media. It is the cause celeb, as it is like to be called. The greatest and the best and the most popular are loving it and on board with it and advocating all of it. But it is for us, you see, beloved, and here's the point, a great opportunity to speak to the issue of the day with the gospel. Not to hide in the sand and say, well, it's not here because it's in churches already. to hold fast to the gospel with the privilege of telling them about Jesus Christ who came to save sinners. So that fourthly, such biblical hatred enables us to love the Lord and trust his word. Converted former lesbian university professor Rosaria Butterfield, who is now and has been for a number of years the wife of an RPCNA minister, Rosaria Butterfield said recently at a lecture series put on by one of our URC churches, she said, quote, celibate gay Christianity is the new neo-orthodoxy of our day. And she's exactly right. What that means is this. As with classical liberalism and neo-orthodoxy, the whole focus is on the person In terms of how we might, this is the so-called use of the Bible and use of the gospel, how we might as good Christian leaders and people make persons of all classes and groups to feel accepted and validated in their situation. In their situation. The whole focus is not on having them repent or calling them to account because of their sins or choices, but rather to say, you're OK. It's good. The Gospel of Jesus affirms you. We have come to that moment in history now where what God says, like in our text in Jude about sexual immorality, what God says on the one hand, and what our culture demands on the other hand, has come to a head-on crash course. We might even say that violent crash is happening right now. Covenant family, when the true believer is forced to choose, love God and trust His Word, or be accepted by one's culture, the choice is easy, though the results may not be. And aside from all else, we obey the Lord. What is Jude saying? Jude is saying that the church has a mission's focus and cause and need. And it is this, to be used of God to rescue people. Rescue whom? Rescue those who are living with stained garments, who are living an overtly sexually immoral life. We are to hate their sins, but we are to seek to rescue them. Can the church do both? Well, it depends, really. It depends on who we love and trust the most. And when the church trusts God's word rather than the secular humanists whose textbooks are ever-changing, trying to keep up with the downhill race back to Santa Magomorra, when the church trusts God's word, yes. Yes, we can help them, to be used to save them. Beloved, please listen to it one more time. The world in which we live now is no longer saying that sexual immorality and debauchery and vileness is acceptable. They're not saying it's acceptable. They're saying it's required that you accept it and that I accept it and affirm it. And when the church begins to agree with that, we are denying the Lord of glory. Covenant family, however, we can rejoice. We can rejoice that God is using us to love, using us to love and rescue sinners. In that, we notice He is causing us to be more and more sure about what His Word says about the sexual immorality of our day. As we love Him, as we learn His ways and His Word, We will more and more have good news to tell them, pull them out of the fire. Amen. Father, we praise you that the church is stable as she is in Christ and on the rock of your Word, no matter the shifting sands of the society and culture in which we live. It's true for us. We believe that. And yet, Lord, not stable in terms of living in an ivory castle, but rather stable so that we can go forth and speak and pray and plead and reason from Scripture with love and compassion, but earnestness. So Heavenly Father, help us. Grant us, Lord, to have an answer to you when you ask us what we did with what you gave us, a blessed response to glorify you. Help us, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.