"Fight For The Faith" Message | LoveKey Church | Heinz Winckler

We have been given a task to fight for the faith, to defend the truth that changed our lives. All right.

So, we have officially finished with 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John. We, uh, for those who are visiting or are new, we have been busy with this series over the last 11 weeks. Today is week 12. [sighs] Um, a series called Last Letters: John, Jude, and Jesus. And we are focusing on, literally, as you page through your Bible, the last letters that you will find in the New Testament. We've gone through 1 John, 2 John, 3 John. Today, we're going to look at the very short letter of Jude. And then after our break for the holidays, we will be back on the 11th and jump into Revelation. We're not going to do the whole Revelation. We're going to do the seven letters that Jesus sent to the seven churches through John. Amen.

All right. Yeah, you can follow along on the Uver Bible app events. I actually did load it there today. [snorts] Uh, so it should be there. Thank you. Thank you. I have quite, I have quite a to-do list for on every Sunday. Did you guys learn something from last week's message that when we walk in truth, we will love the church? Are you challenged by that? I've had some people comment on our sermon and on the, the shorts we did. They, they don't believe in that. They don't believe that we have to be in a church. And I know what they mean. They mean a building reserved for an organization run with administration where you feel like a number. I understand that that's not always the best experience. Firstly, it's not about your experience. It's about whether it's for God. Amen. Secondly, yes, church should be a life-giving place where the Spirit of God moves, where the presence of God is felt, where the truth of the word is ministered, and where all of us experience change because of the word of God. Amen.

That is what church should be. And I understand that to some extent, that's not everywhere. But that does not change the fact that the church, the assembly of the called-out ones, is God's plan for the salvation of the world. And that we all need to be a part of that. And the more that you understand the truth of the word, the more you will get that and engage as a member of Jesus's church and, and be a part of a local church, a life-giving local church that forms another part of the greater global church. Amen. So I want to encourage all of you, if you haven't already, commit to a local church. You will be amazed at what you see God does through your life when you humble yourself and submit unto Him under the leadership that He put in place. It's amazing what happens. Amen.

And I, I, I start with that because it's amazing how John's letters and Jude's letter have many similarities, and it is focused around the local church. It's, it's letters written to churches. It's letters written to brothers and sisters in Christ to say to them, "Watch out. Look out for this. Do not do that. Watch out for this. Stand on this. Be strong when it comes to these things." Amen.

So if you are a Christian, and in this church, when we say Christian, we imply born again, raised from the dead to new life, filled with the Holy Spirit, in relationship with Jesus. Because that's what a Christian actually is supposed to be. Amen. If you really are a Christian, then the word of God should be the main instruction in your life. So when you read the Apostle John, empowered with the Holy Spirit, and you choose to not listen and do your own thing, what are you?

It starts with a disc.

Obedient. [laughter] Starts with a disc, ends with an obedience. If the Bible says A and you do B, what are you?

Disobedient. It's really that simple, guys. [clears throat] It's not hard.

Amen. And again, today we will be confronted with the truth of the word. And if you think John was straight, get ready for Jude.

Jude. Hey, Jude. Don't make it straight. Okay. So, Jude is actually Judas, but his nickname is Jude because of the other Judas. [laughter] They didn't want to be confused with one another. He's also the younger brother of Jesus and James, half-brother of Jesus, brother of James. And he wrote this letter. You'll see neither he nor James in their letters referred to themselves as brothers of Jesus. They actually referred to themselves as brothers of each other and a slave to Jesus.

Powerful.

So today, I love this front row going, "Wow, that's, that's awesome." Today, we're going to talk about the letter of Jude. And the title for today is "Fight for the Faith." Fight for the faith. And I want you to know, if you don't know this already, that if you are alive, you are in a fight.

A spiritual battle rages all the time. And it's just a question of whether you are aware and awake to it or not. Amen. So I want to ask you this morning, what will you fight for? As you sit there right now, just think, what are the things that I will actually fight for? And I've got a track record. I did fight for the following things. I can say I fought for these things. What do you actually are? What are you actually willing to fight for? What will you defend? What are you willing to defend? Because you will either be a man or a woman of action or a man or a woman of passivity. Do you know what you believe? Do you have certainty about what you believe? If so, does that certainty of what you believe actually move you to action when it's called for, when it's necessary? Because if you say you believe something, but you do not take action in line with what you say you believe, you don't really believe it.

Can a born-again Christian be passive and or apathetic in the times that we live in? Can you be like, "I'm just going to coast and check this out from the side [snorts] until Jesus comes. Jesus, please come."

How many Christians are doing that? Head in the sand, waiting just for Jesus to come or for me to die. I've even had Christians say to me, "I think I should just end my life so that I can be with Jesus." I'm like, "Whoa, you don't understand the truth and you don't understand the gift that you've been given of life." And you have no clue what purpose you have.

You are God's workmanship. You are a part of a royal priesthood, a holy nation. You are called. You are chosen. You are a child of God. How can you go, "I'm just going to end it all so I can be in heaven?" No. You know why people have a misunderstanding of what life should be? The average person thinks that they're supposed to be happy. [laughter] No. Even as you sit here, you're like, challenged by that thought. I thought I was. Some of you have watched so many rom-coms and series where they say this that you think you deserve happiness. You think that. I thought that. And then I realized all that I deserve is death because of sin. That's what I deserve. Some of you are like, "What is going on at this church?" There is a doctrine called the doctrine of depravity that speaks to the sinful nature of man, which if you get it, you understand how much I need Jesus, how much I need to repent, and how much Jesus has done for me. Because I cannot be reconciled with the Father through my own good deeds. I cannot be reconciled with the Father by being a nice guy. I can't. It doesn't work. Only through Jesus Christ. And if you think you breathe because you deserve happiness, you need to get, you need to actually read the Bible.

[laughter] The Bible will tell you that if you are in Christ, you have died. What you want, what you desire, what you dream of, what you want, it died. But you came alive in Christ. And you know what comes that, what that comes with? Joy, which is much better than happiness. A peace that surpasses all understanding, which is much better than having a hobby that makes you feel better for five minutes.

Right?

Do you agree? God is God. Jesus came to give us life and life, halfway mediocrity. No, life in abundance. It's when you choose not to do things His way that you are not in abundance. You're in mediocrity. We don't want to be there, right? But it starts off by realizing how lost you actually are without Him.

If you don't know how bad the bad news is, you won't understand how good the good news is. And then if you think you understand the good news, but you don't really, you won't fight for it. You won't fight for it in your own life. You won't fight for it for other people. And you will just coast along until you hope Jesus comes one day. And you might be surprised that you are not allowed into heaven because you didn't fight. You didn't endure. You thought salvation was about you.

Okay, before I go ahead of myself, there's two famous quotes. The one says, "If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything." Don't we have a world where we see that all the time? Because people have no foundation. They hear a crazy idea and they go, "That sounds like something to do." They don't think about it. They just go because something about that statement pleases their flesh. And then they go, "This sounds great." Cuz it feels good. How many people are living their lives based on what feels good? It is hectic. Another quote says, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything. And if you are passive, evil will reign on your watch. Young and old men play video games where they get some virtual counterfeit of what it should feel like to fight for something and defend something. Have you looked at these video games? Typically, the guys are in some, some form of combat with a gun that they're not even holding. [snorts] They're holding this, but on the screen, there's this buff guy with a big gun shooting nothing, but it looks like something. And they spend unhealthy amounts of time, money, and energy on something that's not real, that has no eternal value whatsoever. Probably mainly because they have a lack of purpose in their real lives. Now, before you crucify me, there's nothing wrong with video games as such. Okay, some video games, definitely something wrong with the game itself, but nothing wrong with playing a game and having some fun. I, I'm not against that specifically. But when it becomes an obsession and an addiction and an escape from your real calling, we have an issue. The best cure for virtual vice is proper purpose.

A God goal, a Jesus job, a Holy Spirit help.

Come on. The best cure for a virtual vice is proper purpose. That is something that we can all, that we all need to realize is that I'm not here to just have a happy life according to worldly standards. I'm here for something so much more. As born-again believers and as new creations in Christ, as overcomers and people who are more than conquerors according to the Bible, we have been given a task to fight for the faith. To defend the truth that changed our lives, to stand up for the power of the gospel, to protect the integrity of dividing the word of God in a truthful and correct way.

We have a task to do that. This means we are not ashamed of the gospel. We do not cower at signs of intimidation or fear. We do not stay silent when lies are peddled and lives are being destroyed because of it. We confront counterfeit belief and anyone tries to abuse grace or diminish Jesus. We lovingly and truthfully say, "Not on my watch."

Amen. I'm going to say a few statements now as we come to the close of a very interesting year in our world and in our nation. I'm going to make statements that have always been true and have always been accepted as true by the majority of people, but over the last five years have become controversial.

Put on your seatbelt. Because our world has been infected by a demonically moved small minority that is loud and have funds available. There are activists around the world who have infiltrated the media, culture, universities, and even churches to the extent that the statements that I'm about to make are now seen as even hate speech. That if you make these statements, some people say it's terrorist language. You are attacking me with your words. I'm not even kidding. And I'm not even exaggerating. That's literally what some court cases in first-world nations are currently about. But if the prince of the power of the air, if the enemy, the, the one who is the father of lies is running the world, we as born-again Christians should look at that and not be surprised. We should be, that's kind of on track. But we also need to go, "Where is the church? Why are we not having a greater impact on this world? Why have our universities been captured? Why are campus ministries not running campuses? Why are student councils mainly atheistic?" There's a reason why. It's a cautionary tale that we need to take heed of and say, "How will we make a difference?"

All right. So, truth according to the Bible, which if I'm a born-again Christian, I say I believe, says God created two genders, male and female. And then He stopped. Amen. This cannot be changed. It literally cannot be changed. What is the lie? Gender is a social construct and fluid. When we follow the truth, people thrive. And when I say we follow the truth, I know some people will say, "Yeah, but you know, I am a man and she is a woman and, but our lives are broken." Yeah, if you follow the truth, I mean the truth. Are you obedient to God's ways?

So when we follow the truth, people thrive. When we follow the lie, young people get mutilated. I praise God that the government of the United States of America in this week has made an executive order that no minors may be surgically changed in terms of gender anymore. You can think of Trump and RFK what you want. I believe God is working through them to bring change. I don't have to like him. You don't have to like him. But is it good that children will no longer be mutilated? I think we can agree. If you think that is healthcare, you need Jesus.

Second truth: Marriage according to God is between one man and one woman for life. Amen. And sex is reserved by God for married people for intimacy and procreation. That's how it works. Truth: Fornication, which is sex outside of marriage, is sin. Adultery is sin. Doesn't change, hasn't changed. Lies: Sex before marriage is not just acceptable. It is also encouraged. Even in some churches, marriage is not a big deal. It's just a piece of paper.

I have personally heard this lie when young people come to me and say, "I'd like you to preach at our mar, at our wedding." And then I say, "Are you living together?" "Yes." "Are you sleeping together?" "Yes." "As a born-again Christian, how do you feel about that?" [laughter] Go. Then I take time to lovingly guide them to a place where the fear of God falls upon them because of the truth of the word. And they realize, "Oh my, oh my word, I've sinned against God. I've used my body for something that it's not meant for. I've, I've abused my girlfriend and taken something from her that's not mine." And then I see people humble themselves, repent before God, repent to one another, and make right. And then we form a practical plan for how will you stay pure until you actually are married. Why? Because that's God's will.

Why is it so hard to get people there? Because we are surrounded with the lie. Amen. The one couple, I asked them, "How many of your friends that you spend most of your time with also live together before they got married?" "Oh, all of them." Who do you surround yourself with? Who speaks into your life? Whose pattern are you copying in your life? Another lie: Love is love, no matter how it looks. Another lie: People are born gay. It's not a choice. It's not a mental illness. And it's discrimination to not affirm their lifestyle. Once again, if we follow the truth, marriages thrive. And again, I say, when we follow the whole truth of God's word of what marriage is supposed to look like, marriages thrive. When we follow the lie, lives are shattered.

Truth: Family is the unit formed by marriage in which the couple are fruitful and multiply, having their own children. This is God's original design and His ideal will. Now, when I say that statement, I base it on the word. I am not now specifically talking about people who have adopted children or blended families. All right? Those are extenuating circumstances. But also, if people did it God's way, we wouldn't have orphans. Or if we had orphans, it would be for natural cause reasons, not because of divorce or abandonment. And then there's structure for that within the word as well. I'm talking in general, the truth of God's word. Do you understand my heart? This is not, yeah. You understand? The lie is that family is whatever you want it to be. Two dads, two moms, two dads and a mom, we have nowadays. They call it throplets. I understand that there are more complicated situations. I'm not talking specifically about that. But we know when something is God's will and according to His word, and when it is not. When we follow the truth, children thrive. They have a safe space where they can be discipled by parents who love God and have a father who speaks identity and a mother who nurtures them, and they will do well in life. Even worldly statistics show this. When we follow the lie, children are hurt, broken, and the cycle will keep on going.

Another truth: Life starts at conception. God is the author of life. Therefore, abortion and euthanasia are murder. It's that simple. The lie is that a fetus is just a clump of cells. The lie is that a woman's right to her body trumps the life inside of her. The lie is that taking the morning-after pill, injecting a fetus with poison, and scraping it out of the womb is female healthcare. When we follow the truth, innocent unborn babies get to live. Life is seen as sacred and worth protecting from the womb all the way to natural death. When we follow the lie, unborn babies are murdered, sacrificed to the modern-day god of baby sacrifice. It was called Molech in the Old Testament. And mere mortals take the power of life and death in their own hands, deciding to end their own lives with the help of others because suffering cannot possibly be part of this life. That's the lie.

Truth: God made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and later on with David. He is the God of Israel. And according to, he, according to His word, Israel is a nation that has a God-given right to exist. And according to the word of God, it was prophesied that they will become a nation in a day, which happened in 1946. It is done. We cannot deny that the church did not replace Israel. The church must pray for the salvation of the Jews worldwide and for the peace of Jerusalem. This is what we are called to do.

Last truth: Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the Son of God. He came in the flesh in full incarnation, God as man, and He dwelt among humans. He lived a sinless life, and He died a sinless death. He is the promised Messiah from scripture, and He died on the cross and rose from the grave, defeating death and sin. And through Him and Him alone, all people can be saved from sin and the wages of sin by putting their faith in Him and His name. Jesus is the only way to the Father God. He is the truth. He is the life. There is no other way. No other faith or faith leader that died or system or organization or government can save anyone's soul. Only Jesus can. Therefore, all other religions and faiths are false, and they teach error, and they are leading people astray. There are not many ways to God, only one way. [applause]

Why did I make these very controversial statements today? Because it's important. Because I want to show you an example of what it looks like to know the truth, to discern lies, and to be willing to stand up for the truth. Amen.

As we get into the book of Jude today, we need to realize that the church has many enemies from without. Obviously, there's the devil. There's his minions. There are people who hate Jesus, the church, and God. And they attack those who are believers. There are many attacks from the outside. We have seen in the last while, unfortunately, that thousands upon thousands of our brothers and sisters in Christ in African nations, specifically, have been brutally killed, their churches and homes burned down. The world is not saying anything about that. But some are raising the alarm, and we pray for them. But those are attacks from without.

Today, as we study the book of Jude, we are going to look at attacks from within. That is much harder to notice, much harder to be aware of. And these are things that are very important for us to talk about. Today, we will see in Jude how he, the brother of Jesus, felt an urgency to talk about fighting for faith instead of talking about their shared salvation. And it is a warning to root out false teachers from within the church. This lines up well with our teachings from the books, books of John, especially how we also warned against false teachers and spoke about the importance of truth and love, and how when we walk in truth, we will love the church, and when we love the church, we don't want to see that error is preached in the church. You see, many of the things that I mentioned today, there are unfortunately churches who call themselves Christian churches who are literally preaching these things, the lies about these matters in their churches. There are churches where, where pastors, ministers, and bishops wear, not put it up, wear the pride flag. They've completely gone against God's will. We cannot allow this to happen. There are more subtle ways that the lies have come into church, and we need to be aware of that.

So, I'm saying these things out loud so that we all hear it because I know what it's like. You stand around a social gathering, and someone says something, and you go, "I'm going to be quiet because if I say what I really believe, there'll be a whole debate." Anyone have gatherings like that where, let's just not say the truth because someone will be offended, right? There is a loving way to share the truth. Ask the Holy Spirit, "How do I deal with this situation?" Yes, we don't bash people over the head with a Bible. If unbelievers are there, they will be against you. That's understandable. We need a certain kind of wisdom to deal with unbelievers. But if someone declares to be a believer, and they are directly going against the word of God, there's another way to handle that also with love, but firmly referring to the word of God and saying, "You just said this. The word of God says this. How do you line that up?" We need to have those healthy confrontations. Don't do it in front of people. Take them aside. Talk to them. We need to have those conversations because it's urgent. Amen.

All right. What we're going to see today is an interesting distinction between salvation and faith. Salvation establishes our relationship with God, but faith sustains it. If salvation is the starting line of the Christian walk, faith is the strength to endure to the finish line of glory. Understood? All right. Let's read Jude verse one. "This letter is from Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and a brother of James." He's not even saying he's a half-brother of Jesus. Do you notice that? He says, "I'm writing to all who have been called by God the Father, who loves you and keeps you safe in the care of Jesus Christ." So he's specifically talking to who? Believers, people who are in the church. Amen. It's very important for us to understand context when we read any book of the Bible. Who is writing to whom? That gives you a lot of guidance in terms of how you're going to read it. And then he says, "May God give you more and more mercy, peace, and love." This is also something we saw that John spoke over his congregants. He's praying that over them. Now comes the meaty part of his letter. He says, "Dear friends, I've been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share." So Jude had a plan. Not just any plan. He was eager about that plan. So he was excited, he was focused, he had an idea. But now something changed. "I found that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith." Other translations say to fight for the faith. Another says contend for the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to His holy people. So, I was going to write to you about being saved, but I realize it's necessary to actually talk to you about fighting, contending, and defending the faith that was told to you once, and that is for God's holy people. What does the word "once" imply? It was given. It hasn't changed.

Verse four. "I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God's marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives." Sounds like you guys have never read the book of Jude. I'm glad we're doing it. I think it's the third shortest book in the New Testament in the Bible. So he's, he's giving them a, an observation. He has heard this and he has observed this. He was going to talk to them about, "Hey, how great is it that we're all saved." Now he's going, "Whoa, some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches." You can take that verse off for a second. What does the word "wormed their way in" imply?

Does it imply unintentional or intentional?

Intentional.

Intentional. It means that people planned to infiltrate and deceive. Yeah. It's not just someone who comes in here or into a church and has some weird ideas and starts talking to people about it. It's someone who deliberately has a plan to take the believers off the right course. Jude wrote this around the same time that John wrote his letter, maybe a little bit earlier. This was in the first century, guys. This was already happening. The church was young, and it was already happening. How do you think it's going today?

John also warned about this. "They were among us, but they were never part of us, but they've left. They are antichrist." You remember that? The rest of verse four. "The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have denied our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ." Okay, take it off for a sec. So, do you see the two things that he says they must contend for? There are two things he says. They wormed their way into your churches saying that God's marvelous grace allows you to live immoral lives. Sorry, that's one thing. One thing: Grace is a ticket to live the way you want. That's the lie. Have you ever heard people speak like that?

Have you ever heard people say this? "No, man, God is a loving God. He will never..." No, God loves people. He will not send anyone to hell. That's not what the Bible says. Firstly, God doesn't send people to hell. He gives you a choice. You already are on your way to hell. Before Christ, you are heading for hell. That's what the Bible teaches. John 1, John chapter 1, 2, and 3. Go and read it. It's laid out perfectly to explain that if you, everybody quotes John 3:16. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that none might perish, but all have..." Come on, people, "all have eternal life." Right? It goes on to say, "Jesus did not come to condemn, but those who do not receive Him are already condemned." Do you understand that? So if you do not understand that you were condemned, and because of Jesus, you are no longer condemned, and you understand that there was a price that was paid, that God is a just God, that Jesus's blood made you righteous with God, then you will value the grace that you've been given and not make it cheap. And you will also realize that grace is not a ticket to do what you want. Grace is the empowerment to live a holy life.

Amen. That's why Jude is going, "Whoa, we got to stop this." Amen.

What is, what did Jude not say? Just pray for them.

Verse five. "So, I want to remind you, though you already know these things." And now he's going back in time. He's saying to them, "Guys, do I really need to remind you of what happened in the past? We need to look at history, learn the lessons, not learn them again." Amen.

He says, um, "though you already know these things, that Jesus first rescued the nation of Israel from Egypt." Do you notice what he says there? Who's, who rescued them? Was Jesus in Egypt? Do, how many of you that's been in our church for a while remember the sermon where I made the connection from the scriptures between God's mighty right arm, mighty right hand, and Jesus Christ? Do you remember that service? This confirms that idea that Jesus was there. Obviously, because God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, they are one. So, they are always together.

But it's amazing to me that Jude specifically says here, "Jesus first rescued the nation of Israel from Egypt," which is talking about salvation. But later, "He destroyed those who did not remain faithful." Do you see that? He said, "I want to write to you about salvation." The thing that Jesus did for the Israelites out of Egypt. You remember how He saved them. I want to write about that. But actually, what I see is I need to write about defending the, fighting for the faith, defending the faith because that is what's going on right now. I can talk to you about salvation, but your problem is you are not enduring in the faith. You are letting people worm their way into your church with lies. You're forgetting the first thing that was preached to you once. Don't let it happen. And now he compares it to what? What happened to the Israelites in Egypt? And he says, when Jesus saved them, they were out of, and what happened immediately when they were in the desert? Two main things. They grumbled and complained. And when 12 spies were sent out to go and check out the promised land, the place of eternity where they were supposed to go in symbolism. 12 went, 10 said, "What? We can't do this. We can't do this. We are like grasshoppers in their eyes. We have decided that we look like grasshoppers in their eyes." What did Caleb and, um, Joshua say? "No, we can take the land because God said He promises it to us. We can do this because God said it is ours." What did the other people say? "You guys are off your rocker. We reject you. We will just, you know, go with the 10." That's the first time that it showed that a democracy is a really bad idea. I'm just going to let that simmer for a moment because some of you still think democracy is great. My, my one African teacher in high school said, "Democracy is just all fools on the same side." God knows best. So when God says we should go, a journey that was only supposed to take 11 days took 40 years. Why 40 years? Because those who rejected, grumbled, and complained, God did not allow them to enter the promised land. They died off in the desert like animals. That's Jude's first example in the New Testament. You get it? After Jesus, Jude is saying, "Look at this example, church of Jesus Christ. Do you, are you with me? You were saved." But look at these people. They were saved, but they did not enter because they did not believe.

Verse six. "And I remind you of the angels who did not stay within the limits of authority God gave them, but left the place, place where they belonged. God has kept them securely chained in prisons of darkness, waiting for the great day of judgment." What the heck is he talking about? Let me enlighten you as much as I know about this. You can take it off for now. So, on first reading, I, like many, think this is the time when Satan or Lucifer went against God and a third of the angels fell with him from heaven. This is not that. This is a reference to what's written in the book of Enoch, an apoc, apocryphal word, book. I, I can't pronounce it. It's external books that were not included in the canon of the Bible for many, many reasons that we're not going to go into now. But Jude actually references the book of Enoch, I think, twice. And he talks about this incident, and what it is actually referring to. And I, I cannot go into detail right now because it will take very long. But you, some of you have heard of the story of the Nephilim and you're very intrigued by it, and you've probably gone down some YouTube rabbit holes with it. There are many theories about what happened there. But in short, according to most theologians, what happened is from the book of Enoch and other sources, we know that some heavenly beings, according to a book by Michael Heiser on the unseen realm, he says it's actually not angels. Angels, angel means messenger, and they have a specific role. But there are other heavenly beings that the Bible referred to as sons of God that form part of the heavenly council. And if you go back to the Tower of Babel, and you go back to, um, before the flood, that time, what happened there is that these heavenly beings, they were actually put by God over areas to rule and reign in the spiritual realm. But they went against God's will. And one of the main things they did is they looked at people and they wanted to have intercourse with earthly women. And they did. And then the Nephilim were born. And then we had all this chaos on earth for a while. And then part of the flood was to get rid of all of that nonsense that took place. That's a very short summary. But these angels were locked up by God because why? They were not faithful to God's plans. So it's another example. Look at their conduct. It is not in line with what God wants. Amen.

Verse seven. "And don't forget Sodom and Gomorrah, for their neighboring and their neighboring towns, which were filled with immorality and every kind, every kind of sexual perversion. Those cities were destroyed by fire and serve as a warning of the eternal fire of God's judgment." Yes, I'll remind you, this is a New Testament book. [clears throat] Jude is helping the church to realize how holy and consecrated the faith that they have is, and that it should be contended for. And he's reminding them, "Look at what has happened in the past. God is a just God. God is a righteous God. He will not let these things slide." Do not allow it in your midst. Can you see that Jude is quite serious?

Amen.

What happened in Sodom and Gomorrah? They had perversions of every kind. What do we see in our world today? Can you imagine how heartbroken God must be? When He looks at His creation, people that He formed in their mother's womb, knitted them together, He has a scroll over each person's life, plans, and then something happens in their lives, and they go on such a broken path that they are completely removed from God's original design for them, abusing themselves and others in a horrific way. This is why Jesus destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because it's an abomination before Him. Amen. I know this is not a lighthearted read. Maybe you came to church and expected some, I don't know. This is where we are at in the book of life. Amen.

Verse eight. "In the same way, these people who claim authority from their dreams." Now he's shifting back to those who have wormed their way into the church. Okay. So he gave, um, examples of where God stood on the truth. And now it says, "In the same way, these people who claim authority from their dreams. They live immoral lives." Number one, they defy authority and they scoff at supernatural beings. So there are three things that you pick up from someone who has the wrong intentions for being in a church. They will live immoral lives in some way. They will not like authority. They will push back against the church's authority. They will hear behind the scenes and have all kinds of issues with authority. And they will scoff at supernatural beings. They will kind of be like blasé about the supernatural. Look at what he, the warning that he gives.

Verse nine. "But even Michael, this is now related to the scoffing at supernatural beings. He says, 'But even Michael the angel, the mightiest of the angels, did not dare accuse the devil of blasphemy, but simply said, 'The Lord rebuke you.'" This took place when Michael was arguing with the devil about Moses's body. Now, you might go, "What on earth is happening there?" Again, a reference to the book of Enoch. And if you go back in, in the story of Moses and his body, there's no, um, official record of his body being taken and buried and that anyone knows where it is. So the assumption is that God sent Michael. Now, remember the Bible says, "Some of you may have entertained angels unaware." I want to shame some of you are going to be very disappointed. Now, angels don't have wings. They don't. Gabriel doesn't have wings. Michael doesn't have wings. And angels are not fat babies with harps. They are not. Sorry. The Roman Catholics led you astray. Go read your Bible. They don't have wings. Seraphim [snorts] and Cherubim have, but they've got like nine. And there are eyes on them. Messenger angels do not have wings. They look like you and me when they appear, and they do things for God and they go. Sometimes they appear in lights and in white garments. Yes. And their appearance is overwhelming, 'cause what's the first thing they say when they appear to something, to someone? "Do not be afraid." Why? Because people were afraid. But sometimes they appear and you won't even know it's an angel. So someone like David Porson, who studied the Bible his whole life and wrote amazing books, he reckons that God sent Michael, and he was just there in human form picking up the bones, ready to, to put it somewhere safe where God will know where it is. And the day the devil confronted him, and he wanted to have Moses's bones. What a weird story. But then Michael said to the devil, "The Lord rebuke you." He didn't go against the devil. And what is Jude saying here? Be careful of not recognizing the power the enemy does have.

As Christians, we need to be careful to just go on and rebuke everything around us. If you don't understand spiritual authority, be careful. Don't just take on Satan. Follow maybe Jude's example through Michael that says, "The Lord rebuke you." The Lord sought you out. Sort you out. But these people scoff at things they do not understand. "Like unthinking animals, they do whatever their instincts tell them. And so they bring about their own destruction." With what sorrow awaits them. For they follow in the footsteps of Cain, who killed his brother. Like Balaam, they deceive, they deceive people for money. And like Korah, they perish in their rebellion. Now, what did Cain do? Cain was jealous of his brother, so he killed him. Jealousy drove him to do that. Balaam was bribed by someone to curse Israel, and God made a donkey speak to stop him. And like Korah, what did Korah do? He led a revolt against Moses. You know what Moses said? "If I be a man of God, let the earth open up and swallow them." Korah and everyone who follows him. The earth opened up, and thousands of people fell into the earth, and the earth closed up, and everyone's like, "Whoa, I think God is with Moses." Once again, Jude is helping us to understand how serious this is.

Verse 12. "When these people eat with you in your fellowship, fellowship meals commemorating the Lord's love, they are like dangerous reefs that can shipwreck you. They are like shameless shepherds who care only for themselves. They are like clouds blowing over the land without giving any rain. They are like trees in autumn that are doubly dead, for they bear no fruit and have been pulled up by the roots. They are like wild waves of the sea churning up the foam in their shameful deeds. They are like wandering stars doomed forever to blackest darkness."

I think Jude doesn't like them. [laughter] He is trying to help churches realize, "Do not let these people do what they are doing." Do you know when this happens? It's [snorts] when Christians confuse kindness with niceness. "Oh, you know, shame. They mean well." We need to get our discernment sharp. The Spirit of God will tell you, "Whoa." I've had to deal with that in planting a church multiple times over the last five years. There's many things you guys don't even know about. Things that come up, and that I had to face. Initially, I was the nice guy. I'm just, I'm just glad people are showing up for church, man. And then when they would say things, my spirit went, "This is not right." But then I go, "Let's entertain it for a while and see what happens." And then I saw what happened. Chaos. So then I learned. I wish I'd read Jude around that time. I learned that this is serious. We cannot allow anything that comes against the basic truths of God's word and what faith should be. We cannot entertain it. If someone is truly speaking out of, they just don't have the knowledge, we help them. But if they are actively preaching what they believe against the leadership and the church, that's a whole other level.

Verse 14. "Enoch, who he's quoted twice, who lived in the seventh generation after Adam, prophesied about these people. He said, 'Listen, the Lord is coming with countless thousands of His holy ones to execute judgment on the people of the world.'" [laughter] "He will convict every person of all the ungodly things they have done and for all the insults that ungodly sinners have spoken against them, against Him. These people are grumblers and complainers, living only to satisfy their desires. They brag loudly about themselves and they flatter others only to get what they want." Now, some of us are thinking of people. Be careful that you don't do it from a place of self-righteousness, but a place of discernment. But there are some clues. When someone keeps telling you over and over again what a great prophet they are, it's normally a red flag. A prophet shouldn't need to tell you they are a prophet. When they keep telling you how many, how many of the spiritual gifts they have in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians, like, "I have many of these, you must see me operate." It's like, be careful. There's a difference between someone whose identity is sure in God, they've journeyed in their relationship with God, and they have an understanding of their purpose and the gifts that they operate in. And someone who has to tell everybody all the time the gifts that they think they have, and you, you can pick it up. And I want to encourage you to come up to a place of maturity and to look out for these things, but to also be weary that you don't fall in the same trap of that. Humility is key when it comes to the Christian walk. Amen. Jesus did not tell anyone to call Him rabbi, like, "Hey, they called it out of their own because they saw Him as their teacher." He didn't, He didn't sign His letters, "Rabbi Jesus." These things are not titles, they are functions. I am not Pastor Hines, I'm just Hines who's pastoring a church by the grace of God. And, and I'm not even ordained. God just said, "Go." What? You're not ordained? Not by people, but by God. [snorts] [laughter] If you want to get up and go, you're welcome. I know who I am and why I'm here. Amen.

The other sign is that they

moan and complain and grumble, and it's all about what they can get and why they should get it and that they should get it. Do you see? Oh man, I need to be careful cuz I don't want to. Gossiping is not from God. But we have to be weary.

There's movements in our nation and around the world where there's this sort of culture that's been created in some churches where I want to go to church to get an experience to get a word from God for me. And it's all about that. I hope today that I will have an experience with God. That God will give me the word that I want. You hear me? I me I me I. That's the problem.

If we come to church for us, we're missing the point. We come to church together to praise God, together to hear from his word so that we can be challenged and changed and to become more like him. If we do not do that, we are missing the point. Amen. We are not experienced chasers. We are God seekers.

Because the word of God says, "Seek me and you will find me. Draw near to me and I will draw near to you. In him is everything we need." Verse 17. But you, my dear friends, must remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ predicted. They told you that in the last times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to satisfy their go ungodly desires. This is their purpose. And the apostles warned these people are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They follow their natural instincts because they do not have God's spirit in them.

If someone does not have God's spirit in them and you do, what do you experience when you talk with them? A clash, right? Have you felt that? There's like a sometimes if you look closely, you will even see there's like a little bit of anger and hatred in their face because something inside of them is like I don't like what's happening here. Have you ever walked into a place and it was like almost a I don't know that could be like one of those Wild West movies where everybody's partying in the saloon and then this one cowboy walks and every the music stops, everybody's quiet and they look at you. Maybe not that drastic, but you've had something of that, right? Or the people are telling dirty jokes around the water fountain and you arrive and they go, "Chips, chips, chips." Jesus freak as he saw. Well done. [laughter] You're doing something right. [snorts]

But if if people are in church and you can see their only desire is for themselves, that's a sign. It's a red flag. Amen. And once again, we are not just pointing fingers. We are looking at ourselves. Am I perhaps doing any of this knowingly or unknowingly? The big word here in verse 19, just put 19 up again. These people are the ones who are creating divisions among you. Divisions are so so destructive. It is absolutely against God's will. If you don't believe me, read John 13 and John 17. Jesus's prayer. Jesus tells his disciples, "Love one another." This is a new commandment I give you. The This is how the world will know that you are my disciples by how you love one another. That's love. Unity. John 17, he prays to the father. He says, "Father, let them my disciples and those after them be one as you and I are one so that the world will know that you sent me." The sign of unity is the sign that they are disciples. The sign of unity is the sign that Jesus was actually sent. Our greatest evangelical tool is unity.

So what will the enemy do? What will he go out of his way to do? Cause division. How will he do it? In different ways. He will he will cause gossip among members over leadership. He will cause gossip amongst each other over other people. He will make you he will he will be excited when people are saying negative ugly awful things about other members of church. Why? Because it causes division. We have to be so careful. This is why we are not supposed to talk in certain ways to or about one another. The Bible instructs us very clearly how we are to be with one another.

Verse 20. But you, dear friends, this is what we must do. Now is shifting gears from what is wrong to what should be happening. Build each other up in the most holy faith. Pray in the power of the Holy Spirit and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God's love, and you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy still to others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives.

All right, let's go back to verse 20 and 21. He gives us instructions as a church on what to do. Build each other up in the most holy faith. He referred to it as the the message that was given to us once for all time. the message of the gospel, the truth of the gospel and the the faith that God has given us that is supposed to be built up in all of us. Second, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit. We have been given the Holy Spirit. We should pray in his power. Why? Who of you know your words from your flesh doesn't mean much? But when you pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, things shift. [snorts] Also, I believe when you pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, you pray the words of Jesus. As you become more like Christ, you pray more his will. He says in John 15, "Abide in me as I abide in you, as my words abide in you." And then when you pray, you will pray the will of God and he will grant you whatever you ask. So when we pray in the spirit, we pray according to his will. This can also mean praying in the language of the spirit that you have. Some of us have received a spiritual tongue when we were baptized in the Holy Spirit and we can pray with that. I believe this is part of that. [snorts]

And then he says we must wait on the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ who will bring you eternal life. In this way you will keep yourself safe in God's love. So while we are building each other up, while we are praying in the Holy Spirit, we wait faithfully for what God is going to do by coming back, his return or when we go to him. Amen. So it's that waiting for the glory, knowing that God is coming.

And then he says there are three things that we must do for one another. Show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. So it will happen that people around us, they will be going well, going good. I'm saved. I know Jesus. I'm walking by faith. And then you can see, oh, this one, they're wavering. Maybe something happened. Maybe some someone said something or they lost a loved one or something really tough is happening or they're having a financial crisis. Many different things can happen to people. We all know it. And suddenly I'm confronted with who do I believe? What do we do? We show them mercy. What is mercy? not getting what you do deserve. So, we help them. We come alongside them and we encourage them and tell them, remind them of their faith that they once had and get them back on track.

Verse 23, rescue. Rescue. Yes, rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. That I believe can refer to leading people to salvation. But also, if someone says they're a Christian, but their life is completely off the rails, heading in the wrong direction, you loving them back onto track. That is what that's talking about. And show mercy still to others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives. We can show mercy to someone who comes from a background of no clue of right and wrong, no clue of God, no clue of following Jesus. They come in here, their lives might be a complete mess. They have sin attached to them, but they have had an encounter with God. Now, there's a process where the power of God and the word of God will start ministering to them, and they will start realizing, whoa, these things are not supposed to be part of who I am. In that process, we give them mercy, love, and support, but take great caution in not falling into the same traps of the same sin that they might be in. Amen. This is the best verse that I have for what I've seen happen many times. young ladies who want to get married, who fall in love with a young guy who doesn't know Jesus, and she decides, I will save him, and he will be my godly husband. like o verse 24.

Now all glory to God who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault. All glory to him alone who is God our savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time and in the present and beyond all time. And everyone says, "Amen." Thank you. Thank you, Jesus. [music]