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John 10:14-18; 15:12-15 “No Greater Love”

This is indeed a very well-known passage of Scripture. On the day before HIS arrest, trial, and crucifixion; Jesus gathered HIS disciples together on the evening of Passover to transform this ancient religious ritual into a living memorial to our living LORD that we now call The Lord’s Supper!

In the process of this first, “LORD’s Supper” Jesus demonstrates by washing their feet what true humility looks like and tells them the price of really loving one another.

After “portraying” what real love looks like, Jesus “proclaims” to them that really loving one another means that they must be willing to lay down their life.

HE tells them that HE is, HIMSELF, going to lay down HIS life for them (and for all who will HIS chosen people) and that this ultimate selfless act is the greatest love a person can have and the greatest love a person can demonstrate.

These verses are Holy Scripture. Therefore, they are true. Therefore, laying down one’s life truly is the greatest act of love that one human being can demonstrate for another.

In context, this passage is about Jesus – and only about Jesus – Who laid down HIS physical life for the salvation of HIS people. But, the statement is true in any context. The greatest act of love that ANY HUMAN can offer is to lay down one’s life for another.

You and I are here today to publicly worship God. We are perfectly free to do this; and, we are under no threat because we have chosen to do this. This is America; and, in America we are (at least for now) free to worship in any way we choose.

Hundreds of thousands – if not millions – of our brothers and sisters in Christ are not free to worship Jesus today. Thousands have been killed; thousands have been enslaved, and hundreds of thousands are homeless and running for their very life today because they do not share in our good fortune.

What is our good fortune?

Why are we free to worship while millions of others are not?

The answer is as simple as it is profound:

Since early Wednesday morning, April 19^th, 1775, when a handful of American Patriots on the village green of Lexington, Massachusetts and at a small bridge at nearby Concord; “fired the shot heard around the world” * 580,413 Men and women serving in the Armed Forces of the United States have “laid down their life” because of their love for this Country and their fellow Americans!

*US Department of Veterans’ Affairs

Revolutionary War: 4,435

War of 1812: 2,260

Civil War: (Union) 140,414                         

Spanish American War: 385

WW1: 53,402

WW2: 291,557

Korea: 33,739

Viet Nam: 47,434

Desert Storm: 148

Global War on Terror: (Since September 11^th, 2001) 6,639

TOTAL AMERICANS KILLED: 580,413 

We are here today to worship Jesus Christ – and we are perfectly safe while we are doing so – because of the selfless sacrifice of these nearly 600,000 American Servicemen and Women.

May we never forget!

We will not gather together next Sunday to worship America or those Americans who have given up their life for our safety and freedom. We will gather to worship Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who gave up HIS life for our salvation.

There is one thing more important than our freedom. That one thing is our salvation from the guilt (and the penalty) of our sins that we have sinned against a thrice-Holy, perfectly righteous and justifiably angry God!

Here are some key questions to think about over the next three days that I believe I can answer from our text for Sunday…

First, why would Jesus lay down HIS life for HIS people?

Second, how could Jesus lay down HIS life and by doing so bring about the salvation of HIS people?

Third, how can we know for sure that Jesus actually did lay down HIS life for HIS people?

Fourth and finally, how can Jesus, while being dead, will HIMSELF back to life; and, why did that matter?

As I attempt to answer biblically these four questions, I want to you to think about ONE question that ONLY YOU can answer…

Since Jesus was willing to die for you, are you willing to live for HIM?

I hope to see you Sunday with your Bible in your hand, a smile on your face, and your family and friends by your side!

Jude 1:17-23: “In Light of False Teachers and their False Teachings, We have 5 Things to Remember and 5 Things to Do!”

Jude 1:17-23 (ESV)
¹⁷ “But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.
¹⁸ They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.”
¹⁹ It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.
²⁰ But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,
²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.
²² And have mercy on those who doubt;
²³ save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.”

Jude has made it clear that there are – and will always be – false teachers among the people of God. Here we are 2,000 years after Jude wrote and we are “awash” in them! He tells us that they are ungodly and that God has reserved eternal judgment and punishment for them (and for the demons that empower them).

So, since they are here today; and, since we are awash in their false teachings; what are we to do? We are to remember some things and we are to do some things!

In verses 17-19, Jude reminds us of what he has already pointed out to us about these people; both their attitudes and their actions.

In light of these things, in verses 20-23, he gives us five things that we must be doing in order to “earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints.”

Read these verses over and over and see how many of the specific instructions you can find in these verses!

False teachers are a real and present danger to the church; and, their false teaching is dividing believers and damning the souls of lost people!

I hope you will study these verses carefully and prayerfully as you prepare your mind to hear the Word of God on Sunday!

I hope to see you Sunday with your Bible in your hand; a smile on your face; and your family and friends by your side!

Matthew 19:16-19 “What does it mean to “Honor” your Mother?”

Matthew 19:16-19

¹⁶ “And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”
¹⁷ And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.”
¹⁸ He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness,
¹⁹ Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

This coming LORD’s Day will be, (as the LORD allows and by the grace of God) the 10^th time I have had the opportunity to preach a Mother’s Day Sermon to you. 

As you might well imagine, I am in danger of beginning to repeat myself!

Over the years, I have spoken to you about:

“Like Mother, Like Son”

“The Gracious Gift of a Godly Granny”

“Biblical Characteristics of a Godly Mother”

“The Best Gift a Child can give their Mother”

“The Best Advice a Mother Ever Gave”

“Why Marriage Matters” (Part of an 8 Week series)

Last year, I preached “Preparing Children to be Used of God!”

So, for this year, I wanted to go back to the basics and look at the original commandment about how to rightly relate to our Mother!

Our focal passage in Matthew is about the Ten Commandments. And this coming Sunday, I want to focus on the Fifth Commandment:

¹² “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”

(Exodus 20:12 ESV)

These “Commandments” are so vitally important that God gives them three specific times in the Bible!

Looking at these Commandments, it is obvious that one of the best ways to understand what God means by “honoring” our Mothers is to think about the words HE used in these verses:

Hebrew: kabad “ka-baad” It appears in the OT 116 times and 35 times it is translated (as it is here) by the verb “honor.” It means to esteem as honorable and to “give honor to” something or someone.

The Greek word means exactly the same thing.

Greek: timaho “tim-ah-o” It means to honor in the sense of attributing value to something or someone. It is translated in the NT 19 times as “honor” and 2 times as “value.”

Another very helpful way to think about what it means to “honor your Mother” is to contrast this with the idea of “dishonoring” your Mother. This would mean to see her as without value or to behave in such a way as to bring shame upon her!

We will have several “Words for Children” about honoring our Mothers. We will also have several “Words for Mothers” on this same subject as well.

Mother’s Day is a wonderful day. It is vitally important to Mothers! I hope you will be able to show your love and honor to your Mother this weekend. For those of us whose Mother has already passed on, I pray that the happy memories of them will bring joy into our life.

As my dear friend Tom Rains loves to say, “I hope to see you Sunday with your Bible in your hand, a smile on your face, and your family and friends by your side!”

Jude 1:12-16 “What Jude Really Thinks about False Teachers!”

¹² “These are blemishes on your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, looking after themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; ¹³ wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.”

¹⁴ It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones, ¹⁵ to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”

Every part of the country has its own unique way of saying things. These are called, “idioms” – that is not the same thing as “idiots” although every part of the country has those also!

One of the East Kentucky “idioms” I remember is when someone says something very clearly and firmly someone would say, “Why don’t you tell us what you really think?” That was neither a question nor a rebuke; it is an idiom that means, “Now we surely know what you think about that!”

That is exactly what Jude does in these five verses…

He tells us “What He Really Thinks” about the false teachers he has been describing all the way back to verse Four. The harshness of his words – words that are inspired by God, Himself – ought to again make us fully aware of how very much God hates false teaching and the false teachers who teach it. Lots of people don’t care much about Bible Doctrine; but, as we can see in this Epistle, God cares very much about it.

When God tells us to “Study to show yourself approved of God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed” (2^nd Timothy 2:15) God really means it!

BTW – (and do not miss this) by “False Teaching” I am not referring to simple error. Every human being is fallen and fallible and ALL OF US make mistakes in our understanding – and even our teaching – of the Holy Scriptures.

That is not what and who God is condemning in these verses. These people are called “ungodly” over and over again; and, Jude describes them in very graphic and unflattering terms!

As you read over these five God-breathed verses, think about these questions as you prepare your mind and spirit to hear the sermon on Sunday:

How does God, speaking through the words of Jude, describe these false teachers?

How will God respond to these false teachers and their false teachings?

How could Jude know what Enoch said 3,500 years before Jude was born, since it was not written in the Old Testament?

Are there any other biblical examples of this?

What is the “four-fold ungodly?”

After all of this discussion over the past few weeks about false teaching; let’s not forget what is the True Biblical Teaching about the gospel!

I hope to see you Sunday with a smile on your face; your Bible in your hand; and your family and friends by your side!

Jude 5-7 “Will the Real Jesus please stand up?”

⁵ “Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.
⁶ And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—
⁷ just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.”

When I was a kid, there was a popular TV show called “To Tell the Truth.” Three guests would come on the show (usually with a bag over their head) and answer questions which would help the panelists know which of the three people under the hoods the real person was.

It was funnier than it sounds from my memories of it…

When I read these verses about Jesus, I thought about that show. I wonder if Jesus came on a show like this and answered truthfully about Himself, if most of His followers could pick Him out.

Jude, the half-brother of Jesus, tells something about Him in these verses that most so-called followers of His would likely reject immediately – namely, that He destroys His enemies!

Many people want to only think about the “sweet little Jesus boy lying in the manger” and totally reject the reality of His being a righteous Judge Who will pronounce eternal judgment and damnation upon those people who reject Him.

As you read over (and over and over I hope) these verses this coming week, I hope you will think about the following questions:

Why does Jude say that the LORD that led Israel out of Egypt was Jesus?

Why would Jesus bring them out of Egypt just to destroy them in the wilderness?

Why does God do any good thing for people that HE knows will ultimately be judged by Him and damned for all of eternity?

What did they do to deserve this?

What does Jude mean in verse 6 about the angels? When did this happen and what exactly did they do to deserve this judgment?

We hear a lot today about homosexual sin and Jude mentions it in this passage. What is it about this sin that caused God to destroy two entire cities and many villages along with them?

Beloved, Jude tells us much in these verses about Jesus about which many people would prefer not to think. Why do you think people are like that?

Do you think that people who refuse to think about the biblical Jesus have created “another Jesus” that only lives in their minds?

As the LORD allows, I hope to answer these questions – and a few more next Lord’s Day morning.

I hope to see you here with your Bible in your hand, a smile on your face, and your family and friends by your side!

Luke 23:33-49 “What did Jesus Accomplish on the Cross?”

³³ “And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.

³⁴ And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.

³⁵ And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!”

³⁶ The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine

³⁷ and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”

³⁸ There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”

³⁹ One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!”

⁴⁰ But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?

⁴¹ And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”

⁴² And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

⁴³ And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

⁴⁴ It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour,

⁴⁵ while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.   ⁴⁶ Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.                            

 ⁴⁷ Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!”                                                                            

⁴⁸ And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts.                                

⁴⁹ And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.”

These are the Words of the LORD.

The vast majority of people in America (and a lot of other places in the world) are very familiar with the details of the crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The majority of them do not believe these events – especially the resurrection – but, they do at least know the basic story.

Certainly, almost all (if not all) of us here today are familiar with these events. As I pointed out last Sunday in relation to my sermon on The Triumphal Entry, this is the 10^th time I have stood before this church to preach an Easter Message.

After a while, it seems that one has said all there is to say on a subject – but that is not true of this subject! Thousands of sermons could not exhaust all that God wants us to understand from these events.

In these past nine sermons, I have gone over the events; the evidences of the events; the eyewitnesses to the events; the meaning of the events; and, why these events matter to us today.

This morning, as the LORD allows, I want to focus our attention on what exactly did Jesus accomplish on the cross? Sure, one could simply HE died for sinners and let it go at that; but, the obvious truth is that HE accomplished much more than that.

Please do not let me scare you so badly that you will not attend this Easter; but, I have chosen to speak about TWELVE THINGS JESUS ACCOMPLISHED ON THE CROSS!

Twelve! Yes, that is right – twelve!

Don’t panic… my daughter is cooking dinner for all of us so I will keep this sermon as short as possible.

As “possible”… ;>)

To help you think this through and prepare your mind and spirit to hear God’s Word this coming Sunday, let me point you to some key passages of Scripture and give you a few questions to help you see where I am going with this sermon:

1. John 3:16 is not only the best known verse in the Bible it is the best known sentence in the English Language! What do you think this verse tells us about what Jesus accomplished on the cross?
2. Romans 1:18 and Jude 14-15 are also well known if not really appreciated. What do you think these verses tell us about what Jesus accomplished on the cross?
3. Isaiah 53 is one of the best known of the “prophetic” passages about the sufferings of Jesus. What do you think verses 4-6 teach us about what Jesus accomplished on the cross?
4. Jesus fulfilled dozens of prophecies while HE was on the cross. What does this fact tell you about what HE accomplished while HE was on the cross?
5. What do you think we learn about what Jesus accomplished on the cross by thinking about the seven Old Testament Feasts of Jehovah and the Five Tabernacle/Temple Offerings which HE fulfilled?
6. What does Ezekiel 18:4 and James 2:10 teach us about why Jesus had to go to the cross and what HE accomplished there?
7. What does 1^st John 2:1-2 and Isaiah 53:10-11 teach us about Jesus being the “propitiation” for our sins? What does that mean? Is that what HE did on the cross?
8. What does 2^nd Corinthians 5:21 teach us about what Jesus accomplished on the cross? BTW: 2^nd Corinthians 5:21 may be the most important verse in Scripture regarding the doctrine of salvation!
9. Romans 3:23-26 is a very controversial verse to a lot of religious people; and especially to unsaved religious people. What does this verse teach us about what Jesus accomplished on the cross?
10. In Luke 19:10 we are told that Jesus came “to seek and to save the lost.” What does Luke 23:39-43 teach us about that purpose for Jesus coming to the cross?
11. In John 19:26-27 we see that Jesus took time to provide for the care of HIS mother. Are you surprised that HE would be thinking about that while HE was on the cross?
12. Skeptics love to deny the physical and bodily resurrection of Jesus from the grave! What do you think HE accomplished on the cross that proves beyond any doubt that HE was literally and physically raised from the dead?

WOW! That IS a lot! I hope that you will not be overwhelmed by all of this information; but, you must know that this is the most important topic of all and it must be worth a serious investment of time and effort to fully understand WHAT JESUS ACCOMPLISHED ON THE CROSS

I hope to see you Sunday with a smile on your face, your Bible in your hand, and your family and friends by your side

REMEMBER: Worship is at 10:00am and the Breakfast is FREE at 8:30am Easter Sunday Morning!

Matthew 21:1-11 (ESV)

“Who is this?”

¹  Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,
²  saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me.
³  If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.”
⁴  This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,
⁵  “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”
⁶  The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them.
⁷  They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them.
⁸  Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
⁹  And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
¹⁰  And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?”
¹¹  And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

In including my ministry here as Interim Pastor, this is the 10^th time that I have preached to you on a Palm Sunday. These verses, these events, and my thinking about them; are very familiar to you.

However, this coming Sunday is Palm Sunday. Somewhere on earth – wherever they keep such things – there must be a Baptist Pastor’s Rule Book that says, “on every Palm Sunday (forever and ever) all Baptist Pastors must preach on what happened on Palm Sunday.”

These events, like all other events, were decreed by God and HE shared many of these events with Old Testament Prophets hundreds of years before they took place.

Zechariah was a prophet in Israel following the Babylonian Captivity and the return to Jerusalem. He wrote in the middle of the 6^th Century BC (550-525 BC). He speaks of the promised Messiah and the certainty of HIS coming Kingdom. In Zechariah 9:9, he wrote,

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

There is a sad irony in our focal passage for today. This event took place to demonstrate again that, “God keeps HIS promises” even as the people of Israel were about to break theirs.

I have preached more than once from this passage that it is clear that these “happy and rejoicing religious people” did not really mean a thing they were saying. They wanted to be delivered from Roman Occupation; they did not care at all about having their God come to them to set up “HIS” Kingdom; they wanted someone to overthrow the Romans and set up “their” Kingdom.

The very next day, after all of this praise and pomp; Jesus will go into the Temple and throw everyone in the Temple out of the Temple.

Four days later, the people of Jerusalem will return the favor by crying out “Crucify HIM; crucify HIM; give us Barabbas; crucify HIM!”

Most religious people did not mean it then, and most religious people do not mean it now.

A couple of years ago I preached a Palm Sunday here that I titled, “The Pointless Praise of Pretending People.” It is clear in these eleven verses that their praise was indeed pointless; and, they were indeed “pretending people.”

This year – I want to focus on the last three words of verse 10, “Who is this?”

Here are some key questions I will attempt to answer in the message…

First, how does this event identify Jesus as the Promised and Prophesied Messiah of Israel?

Second, how was Jesus able to predict to his followers exactly what would take place after HE entered Jerusalem?

Third, how did God work things out so that the very thing that the OLD TESTAMENT prophets said would happen actually happened?

Fourth, Why was it OK for the people of Jerusalem to worship Jesus even though they later proved that they did not really mean it?

Fifth, why was Jesus so controversial then? Do you think HE is still that controversial today?

Finally, who do you think this passage teaches that Jesus is?

I hope you will read over and pray over and think through these eleven verses before next Sunday. Take some time to ponder the questions. Prepare your mind to hear the Word of God on Sunday!

As my friend Tom Rains loves to say, “I hope to see you Sunday with a smile on your face, your Bible in your hand, and your family and friends by your side!”

Matthew 26:36-46 (ESV)
³⁶  Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.”
³⁷  And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled.
³⁸  Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.”
³⁹  And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
⁴⁰  And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour?
⁴¹  Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
⁴²  Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”
⁴³  And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.
⁴⁴  So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again.
⁴⁵  Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
⁴⁶  Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”

As we come nearer to the celebration of Easter, I want to begin a three-part series covering the events of that first Easter.

I recently completed a verse-by-verse exposition of Matthew 24 and 25, so this series will pick up where that one left off. Our passage picks up where John Chapters 13 through 17 give us the events of that first Lord’s Supper, the promise of the Holy Spirit, and the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus for HIS people.

In our focal passage for this Lord’s Day, Matthew shows us how Jesus begins to prepare HIMSELF and HIS disciples for the coming events that will culminate in HIS death and resurrection on that first Easter morning!

I want us to think through five specific things found in this passage:

Jesus prepares HIMSELF for the cross by prayer…

Jesus prayed just like any human would do…

Jesus prayed like any completely committed, fully sold-out, and godly man would do…

Jesus prepared HIS followers for the Cross…

Jesus prepared for the Cross by giving HIMSELF into the hands of those who would betray, arrest, beat, and crucify HIM…

Of course, the work of Jesus on the cross is the single most important thing God has ever decreed!

The death of Jesus was voluntary… no man took HIS life from HIM; HE gave it up willingly…

The death of Jesus was substitutionary… that is, HE took our place!

The death of Jesus was satisfactory… that is, God was completely satisfied with (and by) the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross…

So what? What does all of this mean to me and to you?

It means this: God has decreed a way to forgive the sins of sinners! That way is through repentance from our sins and believing in Jesus Christ as Savior and LORD!

I hope you will take the time to read over, think over, and pray over these eleven verses as you prepare your mind to hear the Word of God on Sunday.

I hope to see you with your Bible in your hand, a smile on your face, and your family and friends by your side!

Jude 3 – 4

³ 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. ⁴ For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

I am heart-broken to bear this bad news, but, the reality is that false teachers and their false teaching has infiltrated Churches; even really good churches! When we look at contemporary “Christianity” today, we see that false teachers and their false teaching appear to dominate the Churches.

This is not true, of course; but, it does appear that way because the Devil and his World have done a very good job at getting his false teachers as much exposure as possible through every modern means.

Yes, I am thankful for every good and godly teacher whom God has allowed to have national and international exposure; but, it is a shame that they represent the minority of what is available through contemporary electronic media!

These false teachers and their false teaching have “crept” into the Church!

The good news is that God is still sovereign, even over them. HE allows them to emerge and spread their false teaching in order to ultimately accomplish HIS will for both HIS people and the unsaved. HE will punish them for their wicked words and ways!

It is our work to expose them! It is our work to refute and rebuke them! It is our work to earnestly contend against them by exposing their errors and by knowing and proclaiming the truth!

I hope that you will read through Jude before Sunday (especially thinking through verse 4) as you prepare your mind and spirit to worship God this week!

As Tom Rains loves to say… “I hope to see you Sunday with your Bible in your hand; a smile on your face; and your family and friends by your side!”

Jude 3 – 4

³ “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. ⁴ For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

In these two verses, Jude answers both the “What?” and the “Why?” questions!

“What?” Christians must always be ready to earnestly defend the Body of Doctrine taught in the Old and New Testaments of the Holy Christian Bible!

“Why?” We must do this because people have already “crept” in to the fellowship of believers who are working on their long-range goal of destroying the faith of God’s people!

There is, inhering in the Word of God, a “Body of Doctrine” that Jude calls, “THE Faith, once for all delivered to the saints.”

Don’t get glassy-eyed here; all this means is that THE WORD OF GOD IS GIVEN TO US TO TEACH US, AND THE THINGS IT IS DESIGNED TO TEACH US ARE CALLED “T.H.E. FAITH” that were once for all delivered to the saints. It means, “What the Bible teaches by what It says!”

God has spoken to HIS people and HE has spoken to us through HIS Word. HIS message (teachings) is in the Bible and the worst thing that can happen is for that message to become distorted.

Jude tells us that it is our work to keep that from happening. We are to earnestly contend for this Body of Doctrine – T.H.E. FAITH, which always has been – and still is – under attack!

The word translated “contend” is a compound Greek word that means, “an epic struggle.” This is not some small dust up; this is World War III. The assault on God’s Word, (and the teaching it presents) is real and our defense of it must be real.

OK, bear with me here:

People are members of whatever Denomination of which they are part for one or more of several reasons…

* They were born and raised in that Denomination!

* Their family joined that Denomination!

* It is the only Church they like in the area!

* They married a member of that Denomination!

* Or, they care about biblical teaching and the Denomination teaches biblical doctrine!

That is my situation. Many of you know that I was not raised in any church at all and when I began to attend churches I knew nothing about what they taught. After getting involved in an Independent Baptist Church and graduating from their schools, I came to believe that they were in error in many areas!

So, I swallowed really hard and just walked into a Southern Baptist church near our home in Little Rock on a Sunday morning.

At the time, Southern Baptists were locked in “an epic struggle” for the doctrinal soul of the Denomination. Rather than leave, I came to believe that the Bible believers would win the struggle, so I stayed. We did win and I am glad I stayed!

In 2000, Southern Baptists updated our Doctrinal Statement and by doing so came to have a “Statement of Faith” (The Baptist Faith and Message 2000) that is among the closest to pure Bible teaching of any contemporary Denomination. The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 is also the “Official” Confession of Faith of our Church:

http://www.sbc.net/bfm2000/bfm2000.asp

In all honesty, I do have to tell you that our 17^th Century Reformed Baptist Forefathers wrote a doctrinal statement called, “The 2^nd London Baptist Confession of 1689” which is superior to any other statement ever written by any other Denomination at any other time. I encourage you to keep this link and read through it as you have time!

http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/creeds/bcof.htm

But, there is no major area in the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 with which I disagree; I just wish some of the Statements in it went a bit farther in their explanation.

Jude, writing under the inspiration of the HOLY SPIRIT is clear – God’s Word, and Its teachings, will always be under attack! It is the great work and great challenge of every generation of Christians to “earnestly” contend to TRUE BIBLE DOCTRINE!

I hope to see you Sunday with your Bible in your hand, a smile on your face, and your family and friends by your side!