Okay, turn in your Bibles again to the first and only chapter of Jude, where in just a minute I'll be reading from verses 17 through 24. Let me remind you first of what we looked at in the preceding verses, beginning in verse 4. As we talked about last week, Jude begins there to warn his readers of these certain persons who had crept into their churches unnoticed. And then Jude unleashes this long list of charges against these individuals. He says at the very beginning that they were those who were long beforehand marked out for condemnation, ungodly persons who had turned the grace of God into licentiousness and denied the lordship and authority of Christ. the filthy dreamers who defiled the flesh. They were those who rejected authority and reviled angelic majesties. They were those hidden reefs in their love fests. They were clouds without water, autumn trees devoid of fruit, doubly dead and uprooted. They were wild waves of the sea churning up and spitting out all the foulness that they could. wandering stars for whom the black darkness had been reserved forever. They were grumblers. They were fault finders. They were driven by their lusts. They were arrogant, flattering others for the sake of personal gain. And here in our text this evening, Jude moves on from this denunciation of these false teachers to point out the contrast that should exist between them and the true believers that they were trying so hard to lead astray. Read with me beginning in verse 17. Jude writes, but you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they were saying to you in the last time there will be mockers following after their own ungodly lusts. These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly minded, devoid of 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, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. And have mercy on some who are doubting. Save others, snatching them out of the fire. And on some, have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh. Here again, we see that little tiny word that Martin Luther said was the word upon which great doctrines swing. It's that little adversative, the word but. Anytime you want to see a rapid change of course in the scriptures, just look for that little word but. Jude says, yes, what I've said is entirely true. concerning those who have made inroads into the church to lead others astray, but these things are not true of you, the beloved." He says, you ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. And what had the apostles actually said by way of warning? in the same way that Jude warns his readers here. Well, time and time again, we find the apostles reminding their readers that in the last days, mockers would come. I mean, it's predominant throughout the scriptures. In Acts 20, for example, you can turn there, Acts chapter 20, verses 28 through 30, Here, the Apostle Paul is bidding a fond farewell to the Ephesian elders. Undoubtedly a very tearful, very sad time. You'll recall he's already told them, you'll not see my face again. Again, a very poignant scene here. But in verses 28 through 30, he urges them as follows. He says, be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. I know." He didn't say, I think. He didn't say, I have reason to believe. He said, I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. And from among your own selves, men will arise, speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them." Paul knew this to be fact because he had seen it happen time and time again. His ministry throughout the churches of Asia Minor was extensive. And in the case of the Ephesian church, it was especially extensive because he stayed there quite a long time, but he knew that after he left the good things that he was leaving behind would soon be transcended by those who would rise up in the church and try to take control and lead others astray after themselves. In 1 Timothy 4, 1 through 3, Paul reminds Timothy of this same thing. Remember what he says there? He says, conscience, as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth." In other words, these men would come in introducing strange teachings, teachings contrary to those teachings that they had received from the Apostles. This is part and parcel of the reason behind Paul's stern warning to the Galatians in Galatians 1.8. Remember what he said there. He said, if we, or even an angel, appear to you and present to you any other gospel than the one we've already preached to you, let him be accursed. Paul even recognized that the purest gospel came from those men who were most closely associated with the Lord himself. The purest gospel came at the earliest point in the church's existence. And this can be proven historically. If you look at the historical record, you can see how the church starts out really pure. And given the erosion of time, you see the church drifting farther and farther and farther from the truth. There's little wonder why the church at large today has wandered so far off the scriptural beaten path, because there's been 2000 years for it to develop to the point that it has today. It's a miracle. that there are so many churches, so many good churches that are still on the path of scriptural stability. But by and large, it's not, these aren't good days for evangelicalism, are they? I mean, we've got all kinds of errors springing up in the church and they will continue to proliferate until such time as the Lord himself comes back. As a matter of fact, These things were prophesied back then so that we wouldn't be surprised when we saw those things happening today. So we can draw great comfort from that, can't we? We'll talk about that more in just a minute. And then there's 2 Timothy 3.1, where Paul warns Timothy saying, understand this, in the last days, terrible times will come. And then he elaborates on this in the next chapter, chapter four, verse three, saying, the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears, they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. And again, there's no denying that we live in such a day. Even today, the apostle Peter also warned of such times in second Peter three, three, he said, no, this first of all, that in the last days, mockers will come with their mocking following after their own lusts. One can't escape the idea that Jude either borrowed extensively from Peter or Peter borrowed from Jude, or here's something for you. Maybe the Holy Spirit just inspired them to write the same things, right? Now, where did the apostles get the idea that there would be false teachers making inroads into the church at some point? Well, they learned it from Jesus himself. Remember what Jesus said in Luke 17 what? He told his disciples, it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come. And do you remember what he said next? This is that passage where Jesus says, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, then that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble. And yet again, prior to that, he says, these stumbling blocks are inevitable. They will come. Now going back to our text, Jude can't help himself. Apparently he gives these individuals one last punch. He says, these are the ones who cause divisions, worldly minded, devoid of the spirit. Now, You've got to put yourself, anytime we look at scripture, it's important that we place ourselves in the timeframe in which Jude's original recipients would have received this letter. And as I said, back then, the church was relatively pure. Doctrine was still relatively unscathed. So while these things might not be as unsettling for us to hear today, these would have been earth shattering revelations to the people that Jude was writing to, who probably had no idea that this utopia or near utopia that they had all experienced for this first generation of the church might be upset by those who would come in and try to dismantle everything with error. It would have been quite unsettling to deal with these false teachers, or even the prospect of dealing with false teachers. And it should be equally as unsettling to us, even though we're used to it. We should be far more upset when this happens than we are, right? I mean, right now we kind of have a tendency to wink at error. to not get involved. And I'm not saying we all need to be crusaders out there debating everybody and anybody about this fine point of doctrine or that particular error. But we should at least grieve when error is found and presented and carried on in the church at large. It should grieve us to the very core of our being. It's not enough to say, well, you know, we're in a good church and so we're not really You know, we're not really prey to that sort of thing. Well, that's well and good. But should not our hearts grieve within us when we consider the plight of others who are out there being taught these erroneous ways and they don't even realize it. They've been hoodwinked. They've been deceived. We'll talk more about them in just a minute, but let's move on here. We shouldn't take this lightly because this sort of thing is incredibly difficult to deal with and it's potentially destructive. And it's especially difficult for those who are not as firmly rooted as others in what they believe. For some, the confusion and the chaos caused by those spreading false doctrine might actually cause them to distance themselves from the church. It might even cause them to leave the church altogether. We have people who are in such weak and frail conditions when it comes to understanding and being able to receive the truth that the moment something comes in to upset what they think is the truth, what they've been led to believe is the truth, it's very easy for them to become dismayed. It's very easy for them to become unsettled, even to the point of saying, forget it all. That should bother us. If we're not grounded in what we believe, and if we forget that we've actually been warned by Christ and his apostles that it would happen, we might be overcome by fear and or spiritual depression. We may be tempted to echo the cry of Isaiah, who said in Isaiah 59, 14, justice is turned back and righteousness stands far away for truth has stumbled in the street and uprightness cannot enter. Watch the news. You'll be crying that same cry with Isaiah. It's as if justice has turned its back. It is as if righteousness stands far away and it seems as though truth has fallen in the street. It's clear that we're living in the days prophesied about long ago. And again, if we're not absolutely sure that all things are working together for our good and for His glory. If we're not absolutely convinced from a thorough examination and understanding of Scripture that exactly what's happening is what the Lord said would happen, then we will fall prey to that terminal case of the woe is me's. We will fall prey to that spiritual Eeyore syndrome where we're all just complaining more than we're actually rejoicing. And you might say, well, what are you saying? All of these things happening in this country are cause for rejoicing. Absolutely. Absolutely. Remember what Jesus said in Luke 21, 28. Prior to this, Jesus is telling them, He's already given them the analogy or the parable of the fig tree. When its blooms begin to appear, you know that spring is near. Also, when you see these things start to take place, what does He tell them in verse 28? He says, but when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads because your redemption is drawing near. There's nothing more encouraging than watching the world around us crumble. Now, why is that encouraging? It's encouraging because Christ himself said that it was going to happen. God spoke through the prophets of old telling us exactly how this whole thing is going to go down. And I'm sorry, I regret to inform my friends who are theonomists and reconstructionists, but it doesn't get better. How do I know? I've read the end of the book. One of the things about theonomy and reconstructionism that I can't wrap my head around is the fact that things are going to get better to the point that Jesus will be so pleased with the progress we've made that he'll be, he'll come back in glory. Okay. At what point does it all melt with a fervent heat? At what point does God say enough and exact judgment on the entire creation? It doesn't get better from this point, folks. And if that's your goal, you'll be one of the most miserable people on earth if you're looking for us to enter into some stage of utopia again. Now, could it happen via revival? Absolutely, absolutely. But at some point, the end days will commence. I think they've already commenced. And at that point, the clock starts ticking for the return of Christ. At which point it's not going to get better for the unbeliever, but it will get infinitely better for us. That's what Jesus is saying. He's saying, when you see these things start to happen, all of these bad things, straighten up, lift up your heads because your redemption is drawing near. Don't let the unfolding of God's redemptive plan be a source of discouragement. If it is, and this is something we need to seriously consider, if the prospect of Christ's return and the culmination of our salvation, the completion of our salvation, if that's something that causes you even the slightest bit of discouragement, chances are you're more in love with this world than you are with Him. There's no other way to explain that. You know, even the apostle Paul says it's better to be absent from the body and be with Christ. Is it not better? Is it not better to leave, as my cousin Shakespeare would say, to shuffle off this mortal coil and be with the Lord forever? Is that not preferred over staying here and watching people kill themselves and ruin everything around us? As we learned last Lord's Day from Romans 13, 12, the night is nearly over. The day has drawn near. So let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. These should be exciting times for the child of God. These should be exciting times for anyone who longs for Christ's appearing. These should not be times of spiritual depression and lethargy. We're not being defeated. A lot of people equate the silencing or the attempted silencing of the Christian voice as a sign that we're suffering defeat. We're not. We're experiencing fulfilled prophecy. We're seeing the beginning of the end of all things, but more importantly, the beginning of all things new in the new heavens and new earth, where those who love God and long for his appearing in Christ will find themselves on that day. As Peter wrote in 2 Peter 1 19, we have the prophetic word made more sure to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Speaking of that passage, one commentator said this, he said, led on by this sure and steady gleam, the humble child of God will not be dazzled by the pretensions nor disheartened by the civil influence of these haughty resistors of the truth who set themselves apart as a select circle who have attained to what the commonality of Christians have not yet reached. The humblest of the saints has reason to look forward to these days, to look up because our salvation draws nearer and nearer with each passing day. So how do we ensure that we're not inclined to fall prey to this sort of thing? How are we to ensure that we're not subject to the false teachers who attempt to lure us away into error and sin Well, Jude gives us several intensely practical ways to do this. First of all, look what he says in verse 20. And once again, don't lose sight of the fact that he's contrasting the false teacher from the true disciple of Christ when he says, but you, beloved, He says, there will be mockers following after their own lusts. They will be divisive. They'll be worldly minded. They'll be devoid of the spirit, but you beloved are not like that. And how can we be sure? How can we be sure? What can we do to ensure that these things don't befall us? This is both true individually, as well as corporately in the local body. There are things that we can do to ensure that we never fall prey to the wiles of the false teacher. First, what does he say? We build ourselves up on our most holy faith. Now you'll probably recognize that phrase, our most holy faith. I hope you can contextualize that and understand what we talked about in verse three, when we talked about the fact that when Jude speaks of this faith, he's not talking about our individual faith. He's not talking about the faith that led us to salvation or the faith that is the byproduct of our regeneration. That's a better way of putting it. What he's talking about when he refers to faith here is a reference to the revealed will of God in his word. This was the faith, the faith. Remember, we made a big deal about the fact that it has the definite article. He's not talking about faith. He's talking about the faith. Well, what's that? Well, it's the scriptures. It's that faith that has been once delivered to all the saints. It's the word of God. Now, how do we build ourselves up on it? Well, we read it. There's a good start, right? We read it, we study it, we meditate on it, we memorize it or hide it in our hearts for safekeeping, we share it with others. That's how you build up your most holy faith, on your most holy faith. You read the word, you study the word, you meditate on it, you memorize it, and you share it. In short, you build your life on the truth. You love the truth. You cling to the truth. You defend the truth. You're rooted in the truth. Remember what the Lord charged Joshua with in Joshua 1a, remember that passage? What did he say to him? He said, this book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate therein day and night. Day and night. Why? So that you might be careful to do according to all that is written in it. And if you do that, then your way will be prosperous and you will find success. He's not talking about worldly prospering or worldly success. He's talking about spiritual success. You'll have no reason to fear if you meditate on the word of God day and night, if you're firmly rooted in it, if you're planted in it, if you cling to it, if you love it, if you read it, if you study it, rightly divide it. Now, most people stop there in their memorization of this passage, but don't miss the means whereby Joshua would be empowered to actually carry out this command. What does the Lord continue to say? He says, have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not tremble or be dismayed for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. I think that might've been said. in some sense, in a way looking forward to all that would befall the people of God. The people of God have been hounded since God was believed in as the one true God. Since Christ has come and since he's gathered his followers to himself, which is represented in local churches, we have been hounded night and day by the enemy. And that's not going to stop anytime soon. But how do you avoid becoming dismayed at that? You follow the command that was given to Joshua. the word of God be your meditation day and night. And if you'll follow that command, as he told Joshua, you won't have cause to tremble or be dismayed because the Lord will be with you wherever you go. I would suggest, as I have countless times before, that the number one issue facing Many churches today, the number one issue in terms of churches vulnerability to attack from false teachers is doctrinal anemia stemming from a willful ignorance of the scriptures. I think any serious minded believer would realize that that's the case. We're living in a world unlike anything the world's ever seen. I don't know if any of you heard about the latest from ESPN? Yeah. There's an Asian guy, a sportscaster named Robert Lee. He was pulled from broadcasting the UVA game, University of Virginia. Because his name was Robert Lee and people might be offended because that's also the name of Robert E. Lee, who is allegedly some demon in Confederate clothing. I don't have words. I used to have a lot of words. I don't have words for things like that. There's no way to describe just how Off the beaten path that is, that sort of thinking, and yet we see it every day, don't we? We see it in the news every day. Why are we not better collectively as the body of Christ on this earth? Why are we not collectively better at deflecting that sort of thing? Why is it that the church at large is not making more of an impact on a lost, dying, and crazy world? It's because of doctrinal anemia stemming from a willful ignorance of the scriptures. That's it. At some point, preachers stopped preaching the word of God and they've resorted to telling stories. They've resorted to giving self-help seminars. How you can do this, that, or the other thing better. How you can be better at this, that, or the other thing. The minute they checked the word of God at the door, they have bereaved their entire congregation of the ability to be equipped sufficiently to face this onslaught. And as a result of this, and coupled with this, And certainly a huge contributing factor is how many have begun to view the church herself with such apathy and nonchalance. Now think about that for just a minute. And you wonder sometimes probably why I harp on this a lot, but I harp on it because it's true. I harp on it because it's a real problem. The church today is viewed by many with nonchalance and apathy. It just is. Instead of seeing themselves as part of the bride of Christ in its local manifestation, instead of taking very seriously the covenant that they've made with one another and before God himself in attaching themselves to a local church. You know, before anyone becomes a member of this church, we ask that you read the constitution, which is available online. Or if not, if you don't have an online connection, we can get you a physical copy of it. But we ask our members to read the constitution. Article four of our constitution contains a covenant. Now we don't make you sign a covenant. We're not gonna go that route. But we're assuming that when you become a member of this church, that you've read that covenant and you've said by virtue of your seeking membership with us and among us, yes, I will contribute my gifts to this body. Yes, I will participate in all the activities of this body. Yes, I will contribute to the financial needs of this body so that we can support the ministry and support missionaries and so on and so forth. Yes, I will, if I decide that I need to move to another location, I will seek to attach myself to another like-minded body as soon as possible. And it says some other things there, I'm not going to go into the whole thing, We've all covenanted together in this local body as most churches do. Most churches do have a covenant relationship. Your relationship with the body of Christ is a covenant relationship, not unlike the covenant of marriage. And yet so many view the church as a mere social gathering, where they come to get a little spiritual snack that satisfies their, their little spiritual appetite before going back out into the world to enjoy everything on offer there. Now, how's that relevant to our discussion this evening? Well, it's relevant because in addition to the word of God, God has graciously given us a body in which we are afforded the opportunity to be built up in our most holy faith. So in addition to reading the scripture, studying the scriptures, being rooted in them, meditating on them, all of that, God's given us this body whose function it is to help build us up in this most holy faith. How do we know that? Well, look at Ephesians 4. Ephesians 4. verses 11 through 13. Speaking of God's gifting to the church, Paul writes this, and he gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of service. To what end? For what purpose? What kind of equipping? to the building up of the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. The church is not just some social gathering every week. The church is not just some place where you come and get fed and go home happy. The church is the place where we all come together to minister all of our gifts to everyone so gathered so that we can all grow and be built up just as we're commanded to be. So you want to know why I always make a big deal about this. I make a big deal about this because this is the place where you best prove to one another that you're interested in building up one another. If we want to obey the Lord's command given through his servant Jude here in our text, to build ourselves up in our most holy faith, If we truly want to do that, if we have a true desire and interest in doing what we're commanded to do, then why would we ever neglect to avail ourselves at every opportunity of being in the place where that happens? And what's the answer to that? I'm not going to answer that. Let me just throw that out there. What is the answer to that? Why would anyone who really desires to build themselves up and build others up around them by edifying them with their gifts and being edified in return by those gifts, why would anyone neglect or fail to avail themselves of the opportunities that exist to do that? Say it louder. Being selfish. That's a good reason. Now I hope I don't have to caveat all this with there are people who can't be here. I'm not speaking about tonight even. I'm not even speaking about this church in general. I'm just saying as the body at large, Christians across the land have shown an apathy and nonchalance toward the church. Why? Part of it's being selfish. They want to spend their time their way. Which points to what? Yeah, Matthew. Worldliness. Worldliness. Okay. There's other things in the world that I can be doing than being here. It's true. Freddie? You're asking the question, I mean, if they're wanting to build themselves up and build other people up, but they're not doing the things that are the requisites to do that. Hold on to that. Yes, Steve. Put those two together. Here's the bottom line, folks, and we have to come to grips with these sorts of things if we're ever going to make a substantial change in the way everyone thinks, right? This is groupthink right now. We're trying to think, why do people act this way? Not just here. That might be the case with some people. I don't even, I'm not even concerned with that at this moment. This is just a general question. Why is it that there's so much nonchalance and apathy shown toward the church today? by those professing Christ, when they're told that they're to be building each other up and building themselves up in this once holy faith, why would they not seek to align themselves with a local church and become so involved that this growth and building up occurs routinely? And I'll tell you why. They're not interested. It truly is apathy. Maybe. At worst, yeah, at worst. I'm not going to cast judgment on them. I mean, but some might be in that situation. Yeah. Yeah. They're ignorant of the demands that scripture itself places on them as members of the local body of Christ. I'm convinced we're seeing an entire generation who would not even know what that statement means. Demands placed on me as a member of the local church? There are no demands on me. I go when I feel like it. I either like the experience or I don't. There's no demands on me. How many people actually come to church today, again, not this church, but any church, with the sole aim of ministering to as opposed to being ministered to? Mike. Well, I was gonna say it goes along with just said there that because the church has become about the people and not about God, and when it becomes about the people, it becomes about what the people want, and not about what God requires or what God wants. And so a lot of folks aren't even being taught what the church is all about. Like we talked last week, Christ gave himself for the church. What does that mean? Well, you don't know what that means, then the church doesn't mean anything. Right, right, yeah. So it might not be an apathy of not caring, it might just be an apathy based on false teaching or bad teaching. Yeah? Carmen, did you have something? Way back there in the back, I see you. Very good, yeah. I don't want to push myself. Don't do it for you, do it for God. Exactly, exactly. Yeah, that's very good. I mean, if I'm not rooted firmly in the Word of God, and that's not my heart's meditation, and my heart is not literally wrapped around the Word, I'm not going to have any compulsion to be here. You know? That's very good. Somebody else had their hand. David. The apathy is a symptom of a sort of dumbed down interest in the scriptures, in personal holiness, in prayer, and all those things that make up the Christian life. Would you agree? I would, absolutely. As a matter of fact, Jude agrees too. Let's continue. No, he does. He really does. Now, this doesn't come across as clearly in our English translations, but connected to our availing ourselves of the scriptures as one of the most important means of grace at our disposal, Jude brings to bear the importance of praying in the Holy Spirit. Now, what does it mean to pray in the Holy Spirit? It means that our prayers are to be offered, acknowledging that without the Holy Spirit to help us, we pray in vain. That's what it means to pray in the Holy Spirit. It means to go to prayer and approach prayer on the basis of needing the Holy Spirit's help in doing so. How many of you can testify right now that a lot of times when you go to prayer, your thoughts are easily taken away. You get distracted so easily when you try to pray. It's then you start thinking of everything else in the world. Why do you think that is? It's because we don't approach prayer in the Holy Spirit. The first words out of your mouth or out of your heart should be, Holy Spirit, help me. Help me. Remember what Paul said about the Holy Spirit's role in our prayers in Romans 8, 26. Remember he says there, the Spirit also helps our weaknesses for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. The Holy Spirit is there to help us. We should avail ourselves of that help. So with these two things, building ourselves up through the study and meditation on the word of God and praying in the Holy Spirit, these two things are absolutely crucial to developing a firm foundation, an unshakable foundation. It's only the unshakable foundation that will stand up against the most relentless attempts at undoing or dismantling it. But Jude has more to say. In addition to these two important components of the word and prayer, he writes in verse 21, keep yourselves in the love of God. Now, this is a really odd way of saying this, and it can be misunderstood if we're not careful, because I hope you know, you should know by now coming here for any number of months or years, we don't have anything to do with keeping our salvation. We didn't have anything to do with getting it. We certainly don't have any way of keeping it. So what does it mean? What does Jude mean when he says, keep yourselves in the love of God? Is he suggesting that we have the ability to do something that will keep us in the love of God? Not really. Jude's not saying here that we're to keep God loving us. After all, I mean, who among us is capable of commanding the eternal love of God. None of us. So what is Jude suggesting here? Well, this is where just a little investigation can go a long way in our understanding of the scriptures. Given the Greek construction of verses 20 and 21, what Jude is actually saying can be much more easily understood if you'll take and insert the little word by between the words beloved and building and take the word you and put it at the beginning of verse 21. That's the way it appears in the group. And why it's translated the way it is, who knows why they translate some of the things the way they do. It's not wrong, it's just not as easy to understand because you have to work through this issue of our not being able to keep ourselves in the love of God. But if you'll put the little word by between the words beloved and building and the word you at the beginning of verse 21, listen to how this verse reads then. But you, beloved, by building yourselves up on your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, you keep yourselves in the love of God. makes all the difference in the world. So it's not really a command to keep yourselves in the love of God. He's saying, by doing these things, you ensure that you are in the love of God. You'll recall Paul's exhortation to the Philippians in Philippians 2.12. Remember what he said there? He said, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. You'll also recall Peter urging his readers to make their calling and election sure. Those aren't passages intended to promote doubt. They're not asking you to doubt whether you're saved or not. What are they doing? They're asking you to verify and validate via the means God has given you, the means of grace, whether or not you are who you claim to be. These are things intended to help us validate our profession of faith. And Jude is doing something very similar in our text here. He's saying that if we are busy about building ourselves up through the study of God's word and prayer, we prove ourselves to be among those who are loved by God. Now, where else do we read that? Remember our studies of first John chapter two, You remember what John wrote with regard to the most reliable test for determining whether or not we are who we claim to be in Christ? 1 John 2, verses three through six. And compare this to what we've just read in Jude's letter. John writes, by this we know that we have come to know him if we keep his commandments. The one who says, I have come to know him and does not keep his commandments as a liar. And the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word in him, the love of God has truly been perfected by this. We know that we are in him. The one who says he abides in him, ought himself to walk in the same manner as he walked. You see what he's saying there. He's saying by being diligent to build yourselves up in the once holy faith, by praying in the Holy Spirit, just by doing those things routinely, you prove yourselves to be in the love of God. Now, going back to our text, what are we to be doing while we continue to be built up by the word and by prayer? What are we also to be doing? We are to be waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. And this in and of itself is not really a command as much as it is what is expected of those who claim to be in a right relationship to God through Christ. In other words, if you've made it your settled habit to build yourself up through the study of God's word and prayer and the Holy Spirit, thus proving that you're in the love of God, you will anxiously await the completion of your salvation. You see how that works? If you're doing those requisite things, if you're taking advantage of those means of grace, which includes reading the word, praying in the Holy Spirit, building yourself up, being built up by others in this place or another church, then you will, by default, anxiously await the completion of your salvation. On the flip side of that, who's the person in the church most likely to not anxiously await the coming of the Lord? the person who's fearful, the person who still has doubt, the person who's still plagued with such immaturity in Christ that they can't move beyond that stage of doubt and worry. But folks, this is a guarantee. If you'll tend to these things, if you'll build yourself up, if you'll build yourself up by the study of the word and through prayer in the Holy Spirit, and you'll avail yourself of all the means of grace God has given to grow you from an infantile Christian to a mature man, as he says in Ephesians 4. If you'll do that, you'll have every reason to anxiously look forward to the coming of Christ. Remember what we studied just recently? You won't be ashamed at his coming. Now, all of this is well and good, but we shouldn't be so naive as to think that everyone is going to be encouraged in the church at all times. This is why Jude is careful to add this exhortation. Listen carefully. He says, and have mercy on some who are doubting, save others, snatching them out of the fire. and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh." Notice very carefully the three categories of those who demonstrate a lack in the spiritual disciplines we've just talked about. First of all, there are those who are doubting. Those who have fallen into the fire are second and third, those who have become overcome by sin and give us cause to fear for their eternal security. We're actually going to be talking about those in our next time together, Lord willing. But between now and then, you need to know that yes, even in this church, we have people in all three of those categories. We have people who are doubting. We have people who have wandered off the beaten path and into the fire. And we have those who I'm afraid have stopped listening to the cries of the saints and have decided that they might not be who they have claimed to be all along. I would encourage you in the days to come to seriously consider how you, each one of you here, might be better connected so that you'll be able to recognize who among us requires mercy, who needs to be snatched from the fire, and who needs your constant prayer lest they ultimately prove that they never were who they claim to be. Does apathy exist among us, for our brothers and sisters in this place? You can answer that very easily. Do you know who the individuals are that I'm talking about? No shaming here. It's not a... judgment fest. I don't want you to answer me. I'm just asking you to answer yourself. Do you know who the individuals are who are in those three categories in this place? Because there are a few. If the answer to that is no, what is that? But apathy. As I've said before, contrary to popular opinion, and saying things like this will never make me the most popular guy on the block. I know that. I realize that. But contrary to popular opinion in the world today, church is not a spectator sport. It truly is an all-for-one and one-for-all divine arrangement. And we will rise or fall by God's grace, depending on the overall fidelity in this place. We might have good numbers. Good numbers don't mean a thing. Good numbers mean that somebody has told somebody else that there's a guy who preaches in a way that we can understand and we like and yada, yada, yada. Good numbers are not symbolic of anything. The real test comes in how we acknowledge teaching like we see in Jude's letter. How we acknowledge and internalize, how we take personally what Jude is commanding his readers to understand and do. And the question is, are we doing our best? Are we doing that? Again, I hope between now and next Wednesday, when we're going to talk about these three groups of individuals, these three categories, and what we're commanded to do about them. See, proof that church is not a spectator sport are these commands for us to go after these people, to be proactive in pulling them out of the fire if we have to, to be encouraging to those who are doubting. But as I've said a lot recently in various conversations, I don't know what I don't know. but I can sure find out. It's easy to be apathetic when we don't know things. It's easy to not know things. But that's something that should never be said about the local body of Christ. We should be so inextricably woven together that the slightest upset gains the notice of all. I certainly pray that, beginning with me, that we would all become better equipped at doing those things that we've been commanded to do.