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Jude 1-3 Contend 10.13.19 · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Well, I'm in the letter to Jude. We'll read the first three verses this morning. That'll be our study this morning. I would ask if you're able to stand in honor of God's word as we read, we'll read together and then get into it. And here are the word of the Lord. Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ, may mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
• 0:34
  Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you, to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. Let's pray together. Creator God, this is the day that you have made, and we will rejoice and be glad in it. This is a day that you have called holy, a Sabbath rest for your people, a time out, out of the world. And God, we pray into your presence.
• 1:09
  Remove from us, God, distractions, heart worries. Take away our to-dos and our should-haves. God, relieve us from the constant stress that we live under and in its place. Oh, God, give us more of you. May our hearts be filled with peace and our mouths with laughter and our tongues with shouts of joy because we are glad. We are glad, Lord, to be together in your house this morning.
• 1:41
  And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you. You can be seated. I've been asked several times in the last week, why Jude? Why Jude? It's small. It's even honestly relatively obscure. Very rarely do you ever walk into a church and the pastor stands up and says, open your Bibles to the book of Jude. Very rarely do we ever study this one-page letter. Why would we devote an entire month of our church lives?
• 2:14
  To it, I've shared this with some of you before, but I was stunned to discover recently that according to a recent Gallup poll, three-quarters of Americans still claim to be Christians. And based on the slow decay of Christian morals and values, based on the disintegration and even rejection of God-ordained sacred matrimony, based upon our culture's flat-out denial of many of God's clear commands in Scripture,
• 2:46
  it's hard for me to believe how this percentage could be true. But if it is indeed the case, if three out of four of every Americans actually are Christ followers, then I marvel at how many of them have sidelined themselves. Only the Lord knows those who are his. But I have trouble believing that three-fourths of the citizens of our nation are truly God-honoring, Christ-exalting.
• 3:16
  Bible-believing, gospel-preaching followers of Jesus. But let's say for sake of argument that 1 in 10 are. Let's say that 10% are. Maybe it's not 75%. But let's say for sake of argument that 10% are. Or maybe even 5%. 1 in 20. If that's true, then where are they all? What are they doing? What are we devoting our lives to?
• 3:44
  Even if it's 1 in 20, you'd think that there would be a pretty severe influence and impact, sanctifying impact that we could have on our nation. Isn't that true? Even if it was just 1 in 20, where are they all? Where are all the worshipers? Now, I am not the judge, and I praise God that I'm not the judge of people's souls. I'm so thankful that I don't decide who gets into heaven and who does not. Amen?
• 4:11
  You're probably also glad that I'm not the judge, right? But maybe you're glad that you're not the judge. That's an awful job. I don't want that job, okay? I'm not the judge of people's souls. But it seems as though we live among a host of spiritual pretenders claiming the gospel, but never having the gospel actually penetrate their hearts and minds. Doesn't it seem that way? If three-fourths, three-fourths of our country says that they are Christians, I think...
• 4:42
  I think that some are pretending. They're saying it, but not actually living it. I've chosen the title contend for our sermon this morning, and it comes directly from verse 3. That word for contend comes from the Greek word epa agonizomai, agonizomai being the root, epa the prefix, which we'll come to in just a moment. It's where we get the word agonize. It refers to combat and struggle.
• 5:14
  Many times in the New Testament, the same word is translated strive. Luke chapter 13, someone comes to Jesus and says, Lord, will those who are saved be few? And Jesus responded to him by saying, strive, agonize, strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. Now here are translators in Jude verse three have chosen to translate the word contend. Now the word contend actually traces its roots to French.
• 5:45
  It means to engage or compete or to stretch out, to stretch oneself physically, mentally, spiritually, to stretch. Too many Christians, I think, including myself, become content with their souls. As we grow in our faiths, we often forget to contend in our faiths. I find in my own life that I have no choice but to slow down physically.
• 6:19
  Now in my 40s, I have definitely lost a step from my 20s. I'm not as strong as I once was. I'm not as fast as I once was. And I see this playing out generationally in my home. I find every year that passes, I become more and more and more like my dad. I also find that every year that passes, my three sons become more and more and more young men.
• 6:47
  taller than me, stronger than me, faster than me, dumber than me. Get an amen from the congregation, right? I'm just kidding. I love them. But it is funny to see this kind of play out. One generation passes to the next and to the next, and we have no choice in it. We do decay physically over the course of time. But I also find that slowing down spiritually
• 7:22
  is very much up to me. I decide whether I slow down spiritually. I have no choice but to slow down physically. That's not really under my control, although I think I wish I could control it. I can't. But spiritually, the choice to slow down is mine. As I slow down physically, I have no interest in slowing down spiritually. Regardless of our life station, we must contend for the faith.
• 7:53
  The epistle of Jude is a brief call to the church to get in the game, to fight and struggle and strive for your faith. And as is true in life, so also is true in our Christian walks. We are expected to engage. We're expected to grow. We're expected to be contenders. Jude asks the question, and the question that we'll answer for the next several weeks is, are you a contender or are you a pretender?
• 8:23
  And allow me, for sake of context, give a short introduction to Jude this morning that will help us to kind of put it in its place, give some history behind the book. The Epistle of Jude, which is one of the smallest books in the Bible, serves as a literary vestibule. Now, a vestibule is like a hallway or a lobby. It's what you walk through to get somewhere else, okay? So it serves as a literary vestibule to the book of Revelation, both its content and its placement.
• 8:53
  Deem it a fitting preface to the apocalypse. Now, here's what that means. I believe in the inspiration of the letter of Jude. I believe that it was divinely inspired. Not only that, I also believe that it is placed in the New Testament perfectly. Jude, the author of our letter, saw trouble.
• 9:12
  which is what you get described in the apocalypse, okay? He saw trouble coming, persecution on the church. He saw a tidal wave of suffering coming on the church for their faith. And so he writes a letter for them to contend. Get in the fight. Don't lose the war. The first century church, as well as the church today, stood on the brink.
• 9:36
  of tremendous tribulation, Jude, I think, foreseeing that event, issues a warning to those faithful within the church who could possibly become casualties of that imminent and spiritual battle. He knew at the time of his writing that the wheat was still mixed in with the tares. He knew that apostasy in his time was rampant. You say, wait a minute, what is apostasy? Apostasy means
• 10:06
  to abandon a religious belief. An apostate is one who believes something spiritually and then later shipwrecks, that's the word that we more frequently use, shipwrecks their faith. At one time they believed, they held to the virtues and doctrines of Christianity, but something happened, time progressed, an event happened, and they decided to forsake their first love and turn to something else, to a different gospel. Galatians 1 says there's really no gospel at all.
• 10:34
  Apostates, as described in Scripture, are those who begin in Christ and later recant and deny any knowledge of Him. The Apostle John, in the writing of his first letter, 1 John, living about the same time and writing about the same time as Jude, saw this tendency within the church. He writes in 1 John 2, verses 18 and 19, Children, it is the last hour. And as you have heard that Antichrist is coming, so many Antichrists have come.
• 11:02
  Therefore, we know that it is the last hour. They, referring to apostate believers, they went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out that it might be complained that they are not all of us. The message of Jude is a warning to the churches that despite appearances, there are spiritual pretenders.
• 11:28
  The same way that is true today, I think, 2,000 years later, here we are, many claiming, but few actually believing. It's a warning that often the deadliest spiritual dangers come not from outside the church, but from within. And it's a warning that the stakes are eternally high. And so let's pull these three verses apart for a few moments, beginning with verse 1. Let's look at the author of the letter, Jude himself. Notice in verse 1, he names himself Jude.
• 12:00
  Jude. Now this Jude is undoubtedly the half-brother of Jesus himself, but he never says that. He never calls himself that, right? You'll notice the other descriptors that he uses. We'll talk about each of them. He just says, Jude, the half-brother of Jesus, but he never actually says the half-brother of Jesus. Now, why would he do that? There would be some serious advantages in being the half-brother of Jesus, right? If you were looking for instant notoriety,
• 12:31
  instant credibility, and you could drop the card, half-brother of Jesus. Is that going to get you a platform? Okay, good. I was like, did I? I'm saying that out loud, right? Yeah, of course it is. If somebody walked in here and could prove that he was the physical half-brother of Jesus, that would turn some heads. We would certainly ask him some questions.
• 12:57
  Right? We would be wonder about his history, about his growing up years with the Savior. He'd have some credibility. Well, why doesn't he do it? He knew that the physical tie that he had with Jesus through their common mother, Mary, paled in comparison to the spiritual relationship he now enjoyed with Christ through their heavenly father. You guys catch that? Who cares? Listen, who cares if I'm the half-brother of Jesus through Mary? I am the full,
• 13:29
  brother of Jesus through the Father. You know what's crazy? That is what the Bible calls all of us. The Bible calls us brothers and sisters of Christ. It actually says co-heirs with Jesus. When God the Father looks down at his heritage, at his lineage, he doesn't just see Jesus. He sees every believer for all of time. Co-heirs with Christ.
• 13:58
  full brothers and sisters with him. And so for Jude to say, well, I'm also the half-brother of Jesus, writing to a group of people who are actually the full brothers and sisters of Jesus, do you see what I'm saying? Like, who cares? Who cares that you happen to be his half-brother? The spiritual bond that we enjoy with Christ is stronger than the physical bond that his earthly brothers even enjoyed with him.
• 14:24
  resurrection and ascension and coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, us crossing over from death to life, us being adopted into God's family and grafted in as a people, changed all of those earthly relationships. They took second place. That's first Jude. Notice he calls himself second, a servant of Jesus Christ. A servant. The Jesus that Jude grew up with was now Jesus Christ the Lord.
• 14:53
  Which is maybe also another reason that he didn't include that he was his half-brother. I was the half-brother of earthly Jesus. Well, earthly Jesus has been glorified. Right? Earthly Jesus is the Lord Jesus. And to call himself the half-brother of the Lord Jesus might even be borderline blasphemy. Jude viewed himself properly instead as a servant or slave. Slave of Jesus Christ. Do you view yourself accurately in relation to Christ?
• 15:26
  A servant of Jesus. You know, how do you know if you're a servant of Jesus? You're like, well, I think I'm a servant. How do I know if I'm a servant? Servants ask for orders, right? Servants work for the master, right? I am not the master. I don't get to dictate. I don't get to give orders. Instead, I receive orders. Servants ask for orders. And then once they receive them, what do they do? They go fulfill them. Do I ask for orders? And do I fulfill those orders when they're given?
• 15:56
  jude says i'm just a servant of the lord jesus notice he continues by using the names the name of the lord himself he invokes the name of jesus a servant of jesus christ anytime these two names are used in conjunction the order in which they appear is important this is a key the former the first is always emphatic by reason of its position the latter is always subsidiary and explanatory what in the world did you just say
• 16:26
  What that means is that the author can place emphasis on one name or the other, depending on which he puts first. Now, we use the name Jesus Christ and Christ Jesus. We use those interchangeably. But in the Greek, you can actually put emphasis depending on which comes first. Well, why would he call him Jesus Christ and not Christ Jesus? Jesus was our Lord's human name. It was given by God when the angel appeared to Joseph and committed him to Mary. I call him Jesus.
• 16:58
  Jesus, that name means God saves or God is salvation. Yahweh is salvation. This is why simply saying the name of Jesus is praise. We sing a song very often that says that simply to speak your name is praise. Well, why is it praise to say the name of Jesus? Because of what his name means. Yahweh is our salvation. Jesus.
• 17:26
  Christ, the Messiah, the anointed one, is his heavenly name. Jesus points to the man. Christ points to the ministry. To arrange him as Jude has done was to teach that Jesus, the man, humbled himself to the point of death, but is now the exalted and glorified Christ. Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ, and now notice how he ends, and brother of James.
• 17:52
  He's very careful not to address himself as the Lord's brother, but very free admitting the fact that he was the brother of James. Now, why does that matter? I think it's probably true knowing our human hearts and our tendency, how prone we are to put people on pedestals, how quick we are to create and then serve idols, and how quick we are to receive people's praise, right? If we're honest.
• 18:22
  I think that we all probably struggle with that to some degree, reminds his readers of who he was in the Gospels. He's never named in the Gospels the way that James, his brother, is. But in John chapter 7, Jesus disclosing his ministry to his family is actually mocked by his brothers.
• 18:47
  told to go up to the feast and declare himself, since you're the Messiah, since you're the one that everybody's waiting for, why don't you go on up there and tell everybody multiple times in the gospel of John, Jesus says, it's not yet my time. My time has not yet fully come. Do you remember him saying that? My time hasn't fully come. And so he responds to his brothers the same way. But in John chapter seven, it actually says, for his own brothers did not believe. Jude says, you know, you can find me in there.
• 19:19
  I'm in John chapter 7. I'm one of those brothers. In case you would tend to think that I'm better than I am or smarter than I am or deserve more than I do, he says, I was one of the believing, unbelieving brothers. I didn't even believe Jesus was right in front of me. And I didn't even believe, in case there were those who would have held Jude up on a pedestal, I think he reminds his readers that he is, after all, the brother of James.
• 19:51
  That's first. That's the author of this short letter. Notice the last half of verse 1, to whom it is written, the recipients. It says in verse 1, to those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ, may mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. Now, even the casual reader of Jude will notice the triplets throughout this brief letter. Three-word little phrases enjoined for the purpose of fullness of doctrine, completion, but also for recollection. And he gives two of them here, called,
• 20:21
  Beloved and kept, mercy, peace, and love. This idea of called carries with it the idea of being personally selected or chosen by God. Man, what a privilege to be called. You know, the gospel invitation, I believe, is inclusive. What I mean by that is this.
• 20:50
  I think it is available for anybody on earth. I think anybody on earth can be saved through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Amen? Nobody left out. Doesn't matter what gender you are. Doesn't matter how badly you've sinned. Your ethnicity makes no difference. None. All are available to come to the altar and be saved. All. But.
• 21:15
  I believe that the effectiveness of the gospel, us actually crossing over from death to life, I believe that is reserved for those who believe. Right? God does not save everybody. Contrary to what I think a vast majority of Coloradans believe. That everybody, if there is a heaven, everybody just ends up there. That is not what the Bible says. Although the invitation is inclusive, the way to heaven is exclusive. Only through Jesus.
• 21:46
  Now we who are called by his name have had the privilege of being called, called out of the darkness and into his marvelous light. We are no longer called sons and daughters of the devil, but sons and daughters of God instead. And that's what that means. We've been called into the light to those who are called. Now notice the word beloved. Beloved is a derivative of the word agape. Now we all know that word.
• 22:13
  Agape is a love of full cognition. It is a love of full understanding. Agape love is a love that is given. It is not a love that is earned. You can do nothing to earn the love of God. Why? Because you already have it. It's already yours. He loves you unconditionally. That's real. That's
• 22:42
  that is earned. I find a very funny thing that happens. I'm sure this is common in our church, but a very funny thing happens when I go into our community and I begin to invite people to church. I invite them, why don't you come and check us out? People are usually surprised to find out that I'm a pastor when I'm talking to them. Pastor, especially of a Baptist church. There's a Baptist church. Those are still around? Yeah, they're still around. Why don't you come?
• 23:09
  Come and check it out. And I usually get this response. Tell me if this is not true of you. Well, I can't go to church. The moment I step in there, the roof will collapse. Lightning will strike, right? You fill in the blank. You guys ever had that conversation? You get that response back. I can't go to church. Well, why not? Because the roof will fall in. I can't go to church. The moment I step in there, I have people, I honestly have had people tell me, the moment I step in there, I will be struck by lightning.
• 23:39
  Like, well, that is not going to happen. Well, how can you promise that won't happen? Because we don't worship Zeus, right? Maybe if that was the God that we worship, I don't know, but we don't, you know? So I'm pretty sure you're safe. You should come. There's this idea, come into man. There's this idea that I have to clean myself up before I can come into the presence of God. And you guys, nothing is further from the truth. That is not true. Does not matter how badly you've sinned.
• 24:11
  It doesn't. You can be forgiven. A real, genuine forgiveness offer. Beloved. Beloved. And notice last, called, beloved, and kept. Kept. The word for kept implies something that is kept under guard. That's what that means. Guarded. Something that is paid careful attention to. Jesus himself promised to keep the believers secure in John chapter 10 when he says, no one will snatch them out of my hand. No one will.
• 24:41
  We've just sung about it in Christ alone. No power of hell, no scheme of man can ever pluck me from his hand. Kept. And so to whom did he write? Well, to those who are called, beloved in God the Father, and kept. So he's obviously writing to the church, but not only to the church of the first century. All three of those words are true of us as well. You have been called. You are beloved by God. You are kept in the hand of Jesus.
• 25:11
  And so it would be just as easy to say, well, this letter was written to us. He says in verse 2, he pronounces a blessing over them by saying, may mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. Mercy is the upward look. We've received mercy from God. Peace is the inward look. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Love is the outward look.
• 25:36
  We now, through Jesus Christ, according to Romans chapter 5, have the ability to love others who were previously unlovable. We have the ability to love the way that God loves us. Finally, third, what prompted him to write? Why did he write? We find this in verse 3. He says, Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith.
• 26:06
  I think you can find there in Jude 3 that Jude's original plan was to write of their common faith, their common salvation, to take the church back to Calvary, to speak again of the goodness and mercy of God in the sacrifice of Christ. Now, I am speculating a little bit here, but I think there's a possibility that Jude's original intention was to write a fifth gospel. I wanted to write to you about our common salvation. I think he could have written a fifth gospel very easily.
• 26:36
  And from a very unique perspective. Can you imagine? Now, the Lord determined that four was enough. Four was complete. In those four, we have the fullness of the gospel story. But can you imagine the perspective of one of his half-brothers? Did Jesus scrape mud together and breathe on it and it became doves? There are some who think so. Jude maybe could have given us insight into that. What about the Lord's teenage years? What was he like as a high school boy? Jude could have said, I'll tell you exactly what he was like.
• 27:09
  I lived with him. I ate with him, right? We slept in the same room. I mean, they shared a bunk together, right? Does that make sense? Now, obviously, I'm reading into that some, okay? But he said, I could give a very unique perspective on that fifth gospel. As he sets out to do that, the Holy Spirit hijacks his plans. He says, I found it necessary instead. Another translation would say, I felt constrained.
• 27:38
  I felt constrained. Like I set out to do one thing, but the Holy Spirit bound me and shoved me another direction. I felt constrained. I felt it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith. And what I love is that Jude was very eager to change his plans as the Spirit led. Are we as willing to let God change our plans? I've noticed in my own life that I fail often at this when...
• 28:12
  The Lord throws me a curveball, definitely takes me off guard. I even get mildly offended. And I don't tell him no. I think he knows in my heart, in my mind, that there is some disappointment, maybe even distrust. Do we hold loosely to our view of our futures? Or do we have the same attitude as Jude? Lord, we're going to set out to do one thing, but you feel free to change our plans. Necessity has laid it upon me. I love that.
• 28:43
  I found it necessary to write appealing to you, he says, to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. As I studied, I very much appreciated David Allen's fall 2015 article published in the Southwestern Theological Journal. I would commend that to you. There are several questions in this one phrase, contend for the faith, several questions that must be asked regarding this simple phrase. And I think the first would be, contend for what faith?
• 29:12
  What is the faith that we are to fight and struggle and agonize for? The faith, I believe, is a reference to the essential, apostolic, foundational, cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith. You may have heard in churches or classes before the term kerygma, the kerygma of Christianity. That is the core of Christianity. The faith, as defined here, is what must be believed.
• 29:41
  in order to be saved. Now, there are primary, what I call gospel issues, black and white issues in the church, what must believe. And then there are secondary, tertiary issues, which we can be passionate about, but that are not non-negotiables. And in case there's any confusion, now I won't give...
• 30:06
  the whole litany of secondary tertiary issues because the list is unbelievably long. But here are some, just a few of the non-negotiables. Here are the things that I think comprise the faith. First, the inerrancy of Scripture. I think you've got to believe that this book is true and is without error. It is shocking to me how many Christians...
• 30:33
  Christians, not non-believers, because you'd expect that from them. But how many Christians deny the inerrancy of this book? It is shocking to me how many Christian universities no longer hold to the inerrancy of Scripture. Honestly, very few left who say that book is complete and without error. The inerrancy of Scripture. Here's another one, a literal Adam and Eve. A literal Adam and Eve, maybe in an effort to kind of blend together.
• 31:02
  Evolution and biblical creation, there's this idea of something like theistic evolution that we evolved and were created. The problem with it, there are so many problems with that. But the problem is you have death before sin. You have death before sin. Original sin of man has been passed on by our fathers to us generation after generation. None of us, besides Jesus, is born perfect, which leads to the version birth of Christ. That's how he was born perfect. He didn't come.
• 31:32
  From Adam, the humanity and deity of Christ. Listen, if you don't believe that Jesus was God, then you're going to have trouble believing the biblical gospel, the sinless life of Christ, substitutionary atonement, us for him, the literal bodily resurrection of Christ. There are some who believe that he died bodily but rose spiritually, that he was just a phantom. That is not what the Bible teaches. It can lead to a whole host of other heresies.
• 32:03
  The little return of Christ, that Christ will one day come back. And you make sure, make sure you notice that there are a lot of doctrines that aren't listed there. One of my favorite things about this church is its ability to major on the majors. In my opinion, I think churches split far too easily. They split over the tertiary things. Relationships are voided for secondary things, non-gospel issues. And here he says, contend for the faith. Don't contend for things that don't matter.
• 32:33
  Major on the majors. And notice he says, the content for the faith that was once for all. Once for all delivered to the saints. Once for all. If you guys like to underline or circle in your Bibles, that's a phrase, that's a good phrase to circle. Once for all. This means that by the time Jude wrote, 1900 years ago, by the time Jude wrote, no new message was needed. Did you catch that? Everybody snap back into focus. You guys ready? Let me say it again.
• 33:04
  By the time Jude wrote, no additional or new message was needed. The gospel, he says, the faith for which you are to contend was once for all delivered. In other words, no new testament of Jesus Christ is needed. Imagine how many cults could have been displaced, dislodged, thrown away simply by employing that statement. Once for all.
• 33:34
  Anything comes after this, be wary and skeptical. It's not needed. The gospel is complete. You guys, this is a Utah killer, right? Once for all. Once for all delivered for the saints. The second, you ask the question, well, that is the faith. Second, who must contend? Who must contend? You start listing vital Christian doctrines, you'll begin to see people's eyes glaze over, just like happened here a few minutes ago. Is it really important that every single Christian contend?
• 34:07
  I mean, do we all have to? Can't we just let the guys who get paid do it? Why do we all have to work, think, believe, figure out? Can't we just talk about the love of God? Why must we preach the whole thing? I was 21 years old, maybe a smidge younger. I took a music appreciation class at the community college near my house, and I had never really been exposed.
• 34:35
  to a large variety of genres of music, especially to classical music. I had no interest in it as a young man, as a teenage boy. I was mostly listening to the kind of jump up and down music that 17-year-old boys listen to. And so I took this music appreciation class because it was required. What's funny is my oldest son is currently taking a music appreciation class at the community college down the street. And I'm happy to report that in the 22 years...
• 35:05
  since I have taken it, that literally nothing has changed. Okay? Zero. Zero has changed about that class. But what's funny is, he's been asking me all of these questions. Like, Dad, do you know what this song is? I do know what that song is. It's Bach's Little Fugue. Okay? Dad, do you know what period in which it was written? Yeah, something like a Baroque period. Right? And my son marveled. Like, Dad, how do you know that? I said, because Pierce and I took the class.
• 35:37
  And guess what? The class worked. It worked. I found that the more I learned about that subject, the more I appreciated it. It really worked. It was literal music appreciation. I'd never been exposed to it before. Since that time, my understanding of and my interest in different genres of music, honestly, has no bounds. I listen to everything because I can see value in it, intrinsic value in it.
• 36:05
  I enjoy it. I appreciate it. The more I appreciate it, the more I want to learn about it. The more I learn about it, the more I appreciate it. You know, the same thing is true spiritually. Why must we all contend? And the answer is because the more you learn, the more you'll appreciate. And the more you appreciate, the more you'll love it. The greater and deeper your understanding of Jesus, the more in love with him you will fall. I've argued with my youngest son.
• 36:34
  Say, I love you, Chase. And he has said, I love you more. He has said that. I said, Chase, that is impossible. That's impossible. He says, no, dad, I love you more than you love me. No, you don't. Right? And we who are parents understand there is no way our kids love us. I know that they love us, but there is no way. There's no way he loves me as much as I love him. Why? Because I can remember the beginning. I remember that day in the hospital. I remember the first time I held him. I remember the diaper changes.
• 37:08
  I remember all of the little rashes. I remember the bronchial things. I remember the little surgery he had to have. I remember all of the antibiotics. I remember all of the insurance premiums. I remember all of those. I remember his first day of school. I remember things about himself that he doesn't even remember. Chase, it's impossible. The more I understand about you, the more I appreciate about you, the more I love you. And the same thing is true of Christ. Why must we all contend?
• 37:38
  because we all are called to love him, and we can't love who we don't know. And the more we know, the more we love. Amen? Who must contend? David Allen has said this. Sometimes Christians claim to believe in Jesus, but they express little interest in the importance of sound doctrine or its protection. This is like saying, I love flowers, but I don't care about botany. He says, if you love flowers, you might not know it, but you care about botany.
• 38:07
  The issue of whether one cares about doctrine is crucial when it comes to the truth of the gospel, and especially the person of Christ. The reality is that all our theologians, though you may not necessarily be trained, professional, every Christian must be a biblically educated theologian who earnestly contends for the faith. And third, how must we contend? And with this we'll end. I mentioned at the start of the sermon, the Greek word from which our English word contend comes, agonizomai.
• 38:37
  But its prefix, epa, is also important. It gives it force. And although the ESV simply translates it contend, which is accurate, an equally viable translation could have been earnestly, earnestly contend. In a time of rampant apostasy, on the verge of tremendous persecution, Jude was the clarion call to the defense of spiritual truth.
• 39:10
  And 2,000 years later, here we are in, I think, a very similar place. Many claim, few believe. We can all see, and none of us has any kind of future telling or ability or whatever, but we can all see the trouble at the end of the road that may be coming to the church. Genuine persecution in our own country, genuine suffering, which our parents and grandparents did not have to endure for their faith.
• 39:39
  And Jude is long gone. That generation of believers is long gone. But the same threat to the church persists. There would be those, even in this generation, who would water down the truth of the gospel. It's up to us to defend it. It's up to us to contend. And so are you a contender or are you a pretender? Like the first century church of Jude's time, we stand on the brink of a tidal wave of trouble. Doctrinally, politically, socially, morally, the church is under attack.
• 40:14
  It's hard to believe, and it's been subtle so far, the undermining of spiritual truths in our schools, in our communities, in our cities, even in our churches. It's hard not to think we are one decade away or one election away, right? Many of us tend to think that way. Man, if that person is elected, what will that mean for the church? But honestly, that is not the sole threat to the church.
• 40:43
  There is a possibility that there is a lack of genuineness within the hearts of some, even inside the church's walls, constantly undermining the gospel, its saving message. These will seek to divert those who walk in newness of life. There may be those who, like the churches in Galatia, would encourage you to follow another gospel, which is really no gospel at all, and that is the group of people we will study next week. You just look at verse 4, which says,
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  unnoticed. And God, I pray that as we study this book, your book, God, to the churches, I pray that you would be honored, glorified in the preaching of it. God, that we would be people who pick up that call to defend the truth, to contend for the truth, to struggle even for the truth, if that's what you would call us to do. God, make us a people who holds our plans loosely, who is willing to be constrained by the Holy Spirit. God, we are so grateful for your Son, Jesus Christ.
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  the gospel that he so freely offers, and it's in his name we pray. Amen? Amen.