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David Platt Messages - Contending In Love · GodLife On Demand

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: You are listening to David Platt Messages, a weekly podcast with sermons and messages from pastor, author, and teacher David Platt.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: So we've titled this series Hold the Line because Judas a call to draw a line between what's true and false, what's good and evil, and to contend for what is true and good.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: So if you had to summarize the message of this little Bible book in one word, it would be found in verse 3.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_01: 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.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: So Jude, who's writing this, says, I wanted to write a letter to you just celebrating our salvation together in Jesus, but now I find it necessary, I need to write a letter appealing to you, urging you to contend.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: You might circle that word contend, because that's the word that summarizes the message of Jude.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: It's the only time in the entire New Testament we see this word.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: In the Greek, it's epagonizomai.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_01: You want to say that together?
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_01: On the count of three, Greek scholars, one, two, three.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: That was amazing.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: So the only reason I put this on the screen is because it helps you actually get a sense of the word.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: The second part of the word, agonizomai.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_01: It literally means to agonize over something.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: You can feel it, right?
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: Like to struggle, to fight for something.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: And the prefix that adds the EP on the front is like an intensifier.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_01: So it takes the agony and the struggle to a high level.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: Now we're going to talk more about this word and this verse next week, Lord willing.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: But the reason I'm mentioning it today is because if we're going to understand what God means when He gives us this word in verse 3, we have to understand the words God gives us in verses 1 and 2 before this.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: Because if we don't, then we'll fill in this word with our definition of fighting in this world.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: Particularly in a place like Metro, Washington, D.C.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: And if we're not careful, we'll do what unfortunately is so common across so much of our country.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: In the name of Christ, we'll wage a culture war like the world does.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: When God has not called his people to contend that way.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: So today I want to show you how God does call us to contend, to fight for the faith.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: And then that's gonna lead to some practical encouragement as you go into this week.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: So go with me to the first two verses of Jude, where he writes, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, 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.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: Those verses are loaded.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're taking notes, I want to show you two ways to contend according to God and Jude.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: And they are so simple yet so significant.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: And really the first one is all we're gonna have time to soak in now, then we'll see the second one a few weeks from now.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: But I want you to see them both today.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: So first, contend with God's love in us.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: This is how we contend with the supernatural love of God inside us.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: So there's a word in verse one that's repeated four times in this short one-chapter Bible book, and it's the word beloved.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: So you might circle it here in verse one.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: Those who are called beloved in God the Father, and then in verse three, which we read earlier, beloved, although I was eager to write to you, then you jump down to verse 17 when Jude starts getting practical on the outworking of what contending looks like in action, he says, but you must remember, beloved.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: And then you get to verse 20.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: So this is how Jude is addressing his audience as those beloved, and he's addressing them this way, because this is how he sees himself.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: So look back up to verse 1.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: Jude, which side note in the original language is actually Judas, but it's translated Jude in English in part to differentiate him from the Judas who betrayed Jesus.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_01: So here in verse 1, Jude says, I am the brother of James.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: This is so good.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: Because when you dig a little further, you realize this James is the brother, or more appropriately put, half-brother, because of the virgin birth, of anybody know Jesus.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_01: We see both of them mentioned in Mark chapter 6, verse 3.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: People are asking about Jesus, saying, Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon?
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: That's Jude.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_01: And these brothers are likely listed in birth order with James being the oldest, which makes you wonder, well, why didn't Jude tell us that?
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: Like, why'd you say you're brother of James when you could have put Jesus in there?
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's worth mentioning.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: But this is what I love about the way Jude is introducing himself.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_01: Because Jude realizes that physical relationship to Jesus is not what defines him.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: In fact, you look back in the Bible, you realize while Jesus was alive, Jude didn't believe in him.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_01: Look with me at John chapter 7, verse 5.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: Not even his brothers believed in him.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: Not only did they not believe in him, but Mark chapter 3, verse 21 tells us when the crowds were gathering around Jesus, his family heard it, they went out to seize him, and they were saying, He's out of his mind.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: But when Jesus dies and he rises from the dead, look who he specifically goes to show himself to.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: 1 Corinthians 15, verse 6.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: He appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: Then he appeared to who?
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: To James.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: And likely his other brothers.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: And we know they came to believe in him because when we get to Acts chapter 1, verse 14, you have 120 followers of Jesus gathered together in Jerusalem after his ascension, and we read all these with one accord, we're devoting themselves to prayer together with the women and the marriage and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_01: So don't miss this.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_01: Jude is living proof that absolutely no one is born biologically into the family of Jesus.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_01: The only way to become part of the family of Jesus is to be born again.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: Through faith in Jesus.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: So some of you are visiting today, you may have heard a common misconception that some people are born Christian.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_01: Others are born Muslim or Hindu or Jewish or atheist or any number of other faiths.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't presume to speak on behalf of every other religion, but the Bible makes clear no one is born a Christian.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: A Christian is someone who chooses to believe in Jesus.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_01: Who believes that God created the world and each of us, that he formed each of us, fashioned us in our mother's wombs to experience life in relationship with him.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_01: And our fundamental problem, and the fundamental problem in all the world, is that we have all sinned against God.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: We've turned from God in His ways to ourselves and our own ways.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: We're born sinners.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_01: With sin that separates us from God and deserves eternal judgment from God.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_01: And Jesus lived a perfect life of no sin, and then he chose to die on a cross for sinners, in their place, to pay the price of death for them.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: And then three days later, he rose from the grave, so that anyone, anywhere, no matter who you are, what you've done, or where or what family you were born into, you can be born again.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_01: You can start over with all new life, forgiven of all your sin, restored to relationship with God for all of eternity.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_01: That's the message of the Bible.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: So if you've never trusted in Jesus, I do not believe it's an accident that you're here today.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_01: God loves you.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: And he is inviting you into his family.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: He's inviting you to put your trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins to be restored to relationship with him for all of eternity.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_01: He wants you to have eternal life with him.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_01: Starting right now.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: And this is what it means to be beloved.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_01: It means to be loved by God.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: So let's soak in.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: Let's just meditate on what Jude is saying here.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe write some of these things down.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_01: To be beloved is to realize, one, I am captured by the love of God the Son.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_01: I love the language here.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: So more important than being a half-brother of Jesus, Jude says, I'm a servant of Jesus.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_01: And the word he uses there is the Greek word for slave.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_01: So let's just soak in what Jude's saying here.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: Because what he's saying is true for every follower of Jesus.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: Jude is saying, I am a slave.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: Like I belong to Jesus.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not my own.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_01: I belong to him.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: He's Lord, master of my life.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_01: This is Galatians 2, 20.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: I've been crucified with Christ.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: The life I now live in the flesh.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_01: I have an entirely new identity.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_01: It's not me anymore, it's Christ in me.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: He's my life.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_01: I belong to him.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: Which means I submit to him.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: Whatever he says to, I do.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_01: My life is his to plan, to lead, to guide.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_01: I don't call the shots anymore.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: This is so good.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_01: We live in a world where submission to authority we think is bad.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_01: We think it's weak.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: We think it's demeaning.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's something to get out from under.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: So we can be free, like kids, teenagers just want to be free, out from under a parent's authority.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: College students, young adults want to be free to make your own choices, spread your wings.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: And it just keeps going in every dimension, age, stage of life.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_01: I want to choose my own path.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_01: I want to make my own life.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: I want to live out my own truth.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: Now realizing that what we actually think is freedom is slavery.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: It's slavery to sin.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: Slavery to ourselves.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's slavery to a pattern of this world that seems right to us.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: Tim Keller often used the illustration of an Anglo-Saxon warrior in the Middle Ages, where something like physical dominance and warrior aggression would be sought after, and something like sexual freedom might be suppressed.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: Then you fast forward to the 21st century, Manhattan, where he pastored, and sexual freedom is what's sought after, and warrior aggression is suppressed.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: And he says, in both cultures, we're claiming we're free to be ourselves.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: But the reality is we're just slaves to what our society or culture at any given point praises or condemns.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_01: We're deceived.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: But what if there's a creator above all cultures and all times who's saying, I made you, I know you better than you.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_01: And I know what's good for you.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_01: I know how to free you from slavery to sin and yourself and the pattern of this world at any given time, so you can become your fullest self in me.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_01: That's what Judah's saying.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: Saying, I gladly submit to Jesus.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_01: Why?
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: Because I trust Jesus.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_01: I live by faith in him.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_01: I trust him more than I trust myself.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_01: Why?
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_01: Because I'm captured by his love for me.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_01: Happily, this is not glum belonging.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: I guess I'm a Christian.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: Begrudging submission because I feel like I should.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_01: Half-hearted trust, even though I think I know better.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_01: No, this is happy belonging, willing submission, wholehearted trust.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_01: Why?
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_01: Because he loved me and gave himself for me.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_01: Count me a slave of Jesus.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_01: The people who know Jesus best are the happiest to be his servants.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: The people who are closest to Jesus know this is where life is found.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_01: Freedom is found, joy is found, peace is found.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: It's what it means to be beloved.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_01: Captured by the love of God the Son.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_01: Then, Jude's saying, I am called by the love of God the Spirit.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: This is so good.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_01: Whole Trinity involved in this thing.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_01: So Jude writes to those who are called.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_01: So it's passive voice, which means you don't ultimately do the action here, you are acted upon.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_01: No one ultimately becomes a Christian because of your actions.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: The only way you can become a Christian is because of the action of God.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_01: And the good news of the Bible is that God has acted.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_01: God has not only come to us in the person of Jesus, but he has sent his spirit to open our eyes, to see him and believe in him and receive new life in him.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_01: Just like you did not decide one day to be born.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: This is the picture Jesus gives us in his conversation in John 3.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_01: He says in verse 6, that which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the spirit is spirit.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_01: Everyone alive knows what it's like to be born of the flesh.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_01: But here's another kind of birth, spiritual birth, new life that comes from God, the Spirit.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: In his love for you.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_01: This is Romans chapter 5, verse 5.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: God's love has been poured into our hearts through the who?
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_01: Holy Spirit who's been given to us.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, the thought, Christian, that God, the Holy Spirit, loves you and calls you by name to Himself.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: I wish I could just go around and just list everybody's name.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_01: You would just hear it, hear it, hear your name.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_01: And the voice of God said, I love you.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_01: Don't like it.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_01: And this is one of the biggest changes since my sabbatical this summer.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_01: Just discovering in a much deeper way the depth of God's love for me, such that every morning now in my time with God, I do not start with talking.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_01: I start with listening.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_01: Just meditating on words from God as He speaks his love over me.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_01: So this morning, with all kinds of things heavy on my heart, just listening.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_01: Be still, David.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_01: No, I'm God.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: I'm in control.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: My steadfast love never ceases.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: My mercies never come to an end.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: They're new every morning.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_01: They're new right now.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_01: Great is my faithfulness towards you.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_01: I am in your midst, David.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a mighty one who saves you.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_01: I rejoice over you with gladness.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: I quiet you with my love.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_01: I am exulting over you right now with loud singing.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_01: Come to me.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: Weary, heavy laden, I'll give you rest.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: As the Father has loved me, I loved you.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: Just remain in my love.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_01: Remain.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: Live it.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm just listening.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: Just soaking.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's a good way to start the day.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_01: To realize you're in relationship with God, not because of your effort, but because of his initiative.
• 17:52
  unknown: Amen.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: To just rest for the beginning of your day in this restless world.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_01: Rest in the God who's not just called your name however many years ago, you answered by faith then.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_01: He's calling your name right now, and you're answered by faith.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: You love me.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_01: You have new mercy for me right now.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: And some of you, he's calling your name, and you're hearing it for the first time right now, like today, it mentions not an accident.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: You are hearing the Spirit of God speaking to your heart right now.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_01: Do not turn a deaf ear to the voice of God saying how much he loves you.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_01: Freeing you from all your efforts to try to get to him.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_01: He's saying, No, I've come to you.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: I love you, I've made the way to you.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_01: Just trust, believe in me.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_01: To be beloved is to be called by the love of God the Spirit.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: And then, so keep going, I am engulfed in the love of God the Father.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_01: So check out this language.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_01: Beloved not by God the Father, which would be true, but Jude says, I'm beloved in God the Father.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_01: So the picture is at being inside something.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: Like you're surrounded, you're submerged, you're enveloped, you're engulfed in something.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_01: And what's that something?
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's God as your Father.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: His love is surrounding you, engulfing you, enveloping you.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: Like we read this in our Bible reading last week, Psalm 91.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_01: He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_01: I will say to the Lord, my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_01: Are you seeing this, Christian?
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_01: Your dwelling.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: Where's your dwelling place?
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_01: Where do you live?
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_01: Don't think you're addressed.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_01: Here's where you live.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_01: You live in the shelter of the most high God.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_01: That's where you're dwelling all the time.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_01: Doesn't matter where you go.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: You're in, dwelling in the shelter of the most high God.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_01: You are abiding, living, what a phrase.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_01: In the shadow of the Almighty.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_01: His shadow is covering you at all times.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_01: You're in his shadow.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_01: God is your refuge.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_01: God is your fortress.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_01: His love is like a castle around you.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_01: God is your God.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_01: This is your Father.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: Of course you have reason for trust.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_01: What can touch you ultimately when you are engulfed in this God?
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_01: Listen to 1 John 4.15.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_01: Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, Christian, chooses to believe Jesus is the Son of God.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_01: God abides in him.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_01: He abides in God.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_01: Whoa.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_01: Not just your home is in God, God's home is in you.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_01: This is mind-blowing.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_01: So we've come to know and believe the love God has for us because God is love.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_01: Like He defines love.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_01: And whoever abides in love abides in God.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_01: God abides in Him.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_01: This is amazing.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_01: We're living in God, God living in us, we're living in love, love living in us, engulfed in the love of God the Father.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_01: And then you get a couple verses later, 1 John 4.18, there is no fear in love, because perfect love casts out fear.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_01: Christian, you have no reason for fear of anything in this world.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_01: Nothing.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_01: Nothing.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_01: He's conquered death for you.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_01: What else is coming at you that he does not have authority over?
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_01: He's conquered sin, the devil, and death.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_01: You are very secure and completely free from fear.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_01: Cast out fear.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_01: You're free from worry.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_01: You're free from being anxious about this or that.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_01: Mark it down.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: Whenever you are worried.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Afraid, anxious.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_01: It is not because your eyes are fixed on God.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_01: It's because your eyes are fixed on circumstances, fixed on whatever in this world, or maybe fixed on yourself.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_01: You fix your eyes on yourself.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: You got reason for worry.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_01: You got reason for fear.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_01: You fix your eyes on God, His love, perfect love for you.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_01: Bring it on.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_01: Whatever is coming.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: Which leads to leads to the next thing.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm engulfed in the love of God the Father.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_01: This is amazing.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: We're only in verse one.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_01: You gotta finish it at some point.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_01: Alright, we'll do this last phrase.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_01: I am kept for Jesus Christ.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_01: Kept.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_01: So to be beloved is to be kept for everlasting love.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_01: So this word keep, it's another key word in the book of Jude.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_01: It's mentioned four times also.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_01: I'll just show you the last one.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um that's in the last verses because it's like a bookend of the whole letter.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_01: So it's here in verse one.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_01: Then you jump to verse 24.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_01: Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy to the only God our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_01: Be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forever.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: I can't wait for us to study that one.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_01: A few weeks from now, but see it today.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_01: So this word means to guard, to protect you.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_01: And again, look at the language back here in verse 1.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_01: You are kept, guarded, protected, not by Jesus, which is also true, but Jude says, You're kept for Jesus.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_01: What does that mean?
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_01: Well, look back at John 10 in our Bible reading this week.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_01: Jesus is talking about how he's a shepherd, good shepherd to his followers, how he lays down his life for his sheep, and he says, My sheep hear my voice, I know them, they follow me, I give them eternal life.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_01: They will never perish.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_01: No one will snatch them out of my hand.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_01: My father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand because I and the Father are one.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_01: You want to talk about security.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_01: It is not found in your 401k.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_01: It is not found in your job status and your achievements this week and what you can accomplish this week.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_01: It's not found in this relationship and that person.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_01: I want to show you everlasting, never-ending security, Christian, all who believe in Christ, you will never perish.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_01: You have eternal life, and no one and nothing can take that away from you.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_01: No one.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_01: Like your 401k could be gone like that.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_01: Your job could be gone like that.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_01: This relationship could be gone like that.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_01: This whole country could be gone like that.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_01: Don't base your security in these things.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_01: Base your security in that which is unshakable.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_01: And that which will always be.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_01: Like here's the I I obviously have no idea what this week holds for your life.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_01: What this year holds for your life.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know what it holds from my life.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_01: None of us do.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_01: You don't know what the next minute holds.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_01: But for all who are in Christ, you can know this.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_01: No matter what comes at you this week, no matter what comes at you, this world, your future is eternally secure.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_01: Your breath may be gone five minutes from now.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_01: Could be true for any one of us.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_01: And if that happens, the very next instant, you will be with the Son and the Father in glory.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: Guaranteed.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: That's the reason for confidence in this world.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_01: You are kept for everlasting love.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_01: Free from fear, free from worry.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_01: Live is Christ, die is gain.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_01: Win, win.
• 25:58
  unknown: Amen.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_01: That's verse one.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_01: So now, verse two, now on top of all this, Jude prays to those who are called, so a servant, called, beloved, kept for Jesus Christ, he prays, May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_01: So to be beloved is to realize I am filled with ever-increasing love.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_01: That's the picture here.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_01: To people who are called, beloved, kept, may mercy, the compassion of God, may peace, rest, and confidence in God.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_01: May all this unconditional love be multiplied.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_01: The word literally means to increase exponentially more and more and more and more, which makes sense.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_01: What does Lamentations 3 say?
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_01: I quoted it earlier.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_01: The steadfast love of the Lord, it never ceases.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_01: His mercies never come to an end.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_01: Inexhaustible.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_01: They are new every single morning.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_01: Great is his faithfulness.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_01: You see that?
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_01: Christian, you have received mercy.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_01: So much mercy.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_01: Guess what?
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_01: Tomorrow morning, there's new mercy waiting for you.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: It's new mercy that woke you up this morning.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_01: New mercy right now.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_01: He is lovingly speaking to you right now.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_01: New mercy all the time.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_01: And not just mercy, there's more peace.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_01: There's more love for you to experience.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_01: Multiply.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_01: Not added.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_01: Let's do a little math class.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_01: Just kind of soaking in this word, multiply.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_01: So we're not talking addition every day.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_01: Two plus two is four.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_01: Four plus four is eight.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_01: Eight plus eight is sixteen.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_01: Sixteen plus sixteen is thirty-two.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_01: Thirty-two plus thirty-two is sixty four.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_01: And so on.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_01: That's not the kind of love you're filled with.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_01: This is this is we're talking multiplication.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_01: Two times two is four.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_01: Four times four is sixteen.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_01: Sixteen times sixteen, two hundred and fifty-six.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_01: 256 times 256 is 65,536.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_01: 65,536 times 65,536 is four.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_01: What's that?
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_01: Billion, 294, 1,967,296.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_01: I'll take that.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_01: Every day.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_01: This is what it means to be beloved, to be filled every day with ever-multiplying mercy and peace and love.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_01: There's no end to it.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_01: This is this is why.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_01: This is why Christian heaven will it not be boring.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's not just endless choir practice on clouds.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_01: It's enjoying the per mercy, peace, and love of God more and more, and it's infinite in Him, which means 10 trillion years from now, we're gonna still be like, new mercy, new peace, new love.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't end.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_01: We're looking at each other like it keeps going.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_01: Just keep drinking it down.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_01: This is amazing.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_01: This is the life you're made for now.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_01: So, Christian, don't settle for anything less than this.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_01: Do not settle for monotonous, routine, cultural Christian faith on a low level, just getting through this life.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_01: You are made to experience faith and life on a high, holy plane of ever-increasing intimacy with the triune God.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_01: Father, Son, Holy Spirit, you're experiencing more and more and more in Him tomorrow than you did yesterday, next week, than you did today, and it doesn't stop.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_01: That's what you're made for.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_01: Do not settle for a nice, comfortable Christian spin on the American dream.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_01: No, you're made for a bigger dream than that.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_01: Ever increasing love, mercy.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_01: That's verse two.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_01: So, so it's right after that the Jude then says, Beloved.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_01: Now you know what that means.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_01: So I need to write to you, to appeal to you, to contend for the faith.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_01: Which leads to the question, right?
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_01: Well, what's the what's the faith?
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_01: And I hope by now it's obvious what the faith is.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's trust, it's submission, it's a belonging, it's living in the indescribable, unimaginable love of God who has captured you with his heart for you, who has called you by name, who is keeping you for eternity and filling you with more and more every day.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_01: That's worth contending for.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_01: And it's not just for us, it's for others.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_01: And that leads to the other way we contend.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_01: So we contend with God's love in us.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_01: I hope those words, which seem so simple, feel a lot more significant now than they did a few minutes ago.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_01: But that's not all.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_01: We contend with God's love for others.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_01: And this is just a preview of where this book's headed, because at the end, when Jude's talking about how you need to contend, what does he say in verse 22?
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_01: Have mercy on those who doubt.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_01: Save others by snatching them out of the fire.
• 31:17
  unknown: Yes.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_01: To others show mercy with fear, hating even the garments stained by the flesh.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_01: Are you seeing this?
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_01: You contend by showing mercy to those who are struggling.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_01: More important to you than your reputation is saving others by snatching them out of eternal fire.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_01: You show mercy with fear of God and fear of nothing else.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we'll see all this verse means in a few weeks.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_01: Suffice to say today, as people captured and called and engulfed and kept and filled with ever-increasing divine mercy and peace and love, we do not contend like this world contends.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_01: We contend with supernatural otherworldly love driving us when we look at others.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_01: Which leads to two encouragements I want to give you.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_01: Flowing from God's word today.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_01: We don't want to just hear this.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_01: What does it look like to do this?
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_01: So, how might this word come to life in you this week?
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_01: Here's two encouragements.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_01: Number one, I want to encourage you to every day this week spend at least five of your first moments and five of your last moments simply meditating on God's love for you.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_01: Meditating is just thinking about, fixing your eyes on, soaking it in, and just quiet your soul in the busyness of this world and all the noise.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_01: And just think about it.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_01: Rest in God's love for you.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_01: And there's so many different ways this could play out.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe one day I'll walk you through the breathing exercises I do every morning and night with God's word.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_01: That'll be on that'd be a Sunday you wouldn't forget, but I'm not gonna do that now.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_01: I I just want to challenge you, set aside five minutes at the beginning of your day and five minutes at the end of your day, just to hear God speak his love over you.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_01: So maybe get on your favorite AI platform, just ask it for ten passages from the Bible that describe God's love for you.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_01: And you just read them slowly, over and over again, every morning, every night before you go to bed.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_01: Just sit in them for five minutes.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_01: And the reason I want to challenge you to do this is because so much of our worry, our fear, our anxiety in life, so much of our overworking, our restlessness, our running from one thing to the next, I would argue, all of our sin, it's grounded in a lack of rest and trust in God's love for us.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_01: And remember the first sin in the world came about when man and woman were tempted with the idea that God didn't love them and didn't know what was best for them.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_01: They knew better.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_01: So, how do we counter that temptation in the million ways it's playing out in all our lives?
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_01: We counter it with consciously spending time every day, morning and evening, just listening to, resting in, God's love for us.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_01: How else are we gonna live by faith in the one who loves us, who gave himself for us?
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_01: If all we're listening to is the messages of this world, the drivel of this world, why not put it aside and just listen to divine love speaking into your heart?
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_01: We read this in our Bible reading too, Psalm 92, verse 1.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_01: It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High, to declare your steadfast love in the morning and your faithfulness by night.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_01: That's a good way to live.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_01: Every morning and every night.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_01: So that's just one encouragement.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_01: And just do it this week.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_01: Just think, okay, this week, I can try this for five, seven days.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think you'll want to stop, but just commit to one week.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_01: And then second, second, sometime this week, share the gospel, the good news of God's love in Jesus, with one other person who doesn't know Jesus.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_01: So just think about somebody you know.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_01: Could be a friend, could be a family member, neighbor, co-worker, could be a stranger.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_01: You not so randomly have a conversation with this week.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_01: Just find somebody around you who doesn't know Jesus.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_01: You should be able to find one.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_01: There are millions of them in the city.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_01: And don't just mention Jesus in a conversation, tell them they're loved by God, that God wants them to experience eternal life in love relationship with Him.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_01: That their sin, like all our sins, separates them from God.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_01: And that God has made a way for them to be forgiven of their sin through Jesus, restore to him forever.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_01: Invite them to trust in God's love for them.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_01: And I know that for most, that sounds like a massive challenge.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_01: And it is.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_01: And there's an adversary who does not want the people around you to know God's love for them, and he doesn't want you to experience the joy of sharing God's love with them.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_01: And honestly, this is a lot harder than voting.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_01: That's why many Christians resort to contending for politics with the ways of this world, because it's a lot harder to contend for the gospel and the power of God's Spirit.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_01: And nowhere in this book are we called directly by God to contend for this political party or that political candidate.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_01: But we are clearly called, commissioned to contend for this good news and the hearts and lives of people around us.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_01: So let's do this.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_01: I want to give you just a couple minutes between you and the God who loves you.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe, maybe for the first time, for you to trust his love for you in Jesus.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_01: Just say, God, forgive me of my sin.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_01: I believe Jesus died on the cross for me.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_01: I want to have a relationship with you.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_01: Just express your heart to God in that way.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_01: And then for all who are beloved, called by God, engulfed in God, and just spend the next couple minutes planning out okay, how might you practically spend five minutes at the beginning of your day, five minutes at the end of the end of the day, just soaking in the love of God for you?
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_01: Think what would that look like practically?
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_01: And then pray for who God might be leading you to share his love with, and pray for boldness and his love in you to lead you to share with them.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_00: We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode of David Platt Messages.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_00: For more resources from David Platt, we invite you to visit radical.net.