A Call to Battle - Part B

Despite the truth we fight with the truth.

We combat error with truth. We don't have.

Do you know the slander would often maligned. We don't have to send really nasty tweets ad hominem attacks on people we have to do is the truth of the Christian life is about.

But God equips us with what we need not only to persevere, but to overcome connect with scriptwriter today as he shares about a powerful tool you have to fight for the faith.

Right now we want to tell you about a resource that will help you grow stronger in your faith.

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This is the book I've been waiting for. I enthusiastically recommend tactics Skip right thing to comment on how Jesus spoke out for truth we might think that Jesus never raised his voice that he would never call anybody out.

However, there was a side of Jesus that was contentious.

The Jesus that took tables in the temple, and overturned them and took out a whip and throw people out of the temple. Now that Jesus went to defend the gospel and guard against false teachings. With thanks for the house six message series to the continued with skip.

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Today the book by Gregory Coble called tactics your game plan for communicating the truth about Christianity with confidence and grace to get this to connectwithskip.com or call 892 book of Jude. As we get into the message with Skip Heitzig. Nobody likes to talk about. I'd much rather do series on the acts of the apostles than on the acts of the apostates buddies that I found it necessary.

Notice that I found it necessary to write to you exhorting the word necessary literally means pressured it means to compressor to squeeze the idea is to to have pressure.

Come upon you. So the idea that I get.

As he sat down to write something really sweet, but the Holy Spirit kept applying the pressure until he wrote this what is this what is he calling us to exactly what he tells us in verse three to contend earnestly or vigorously for the faith was at me. You know it contend means it means to fight the same put up a good fight for the faith.

The new living translation puts it this way defend the truth. The JB Phillips translation translates it put up a real fight for the faith. The new English Bible says join the struggle in the defense of the faith. The message translation by Eugene Peterson puts it, fight with everything you have in you. So you get the picture you get the idea is calling us to fight. I give you one more translation. The NSV ever heard of the NSV. The new Skip version. I'll put it this way. Put on your boxing gloves get in the ring. Don't be afraid of your opponent. Let's take a task.

Let's do this. Let's get involved in the fight. Now the word contend happens to be an athletic term and athletic term. Not to say the Greek word, and you're going to try to listen really carefully and see what that sounds like so the Greek term is at the bag and that's all my McGettigan at agon did so my agony agonize. We get the English term agonize from that so picture an athlete.

Since the athletic term running the Olympic whatever he's running or she's running in and just raining with the muscle to the point agony when that's the idea of contend vigorously or earnestly.

You'll never fight God's battles for myself, you'll never contend for what really matters to the point of victory by just cruising in your lazy boy all day.

You have to decide to get up as part of the house and join the fight is it what it wait wait wait, what are we fighting for what's is all about what he tells you that put up a good fight for her contend earnestly for the faith. What is that the faith is a term a construction term in the New Testament that refers to the body of Christian truth is given in the New Testament the body of Christian truth is not some nebulous believe whatever you want to believe thing they have faith. It's the faith and thus faith as a synonym the apostles doctrine. They gave themselves acts 242 to the apostles doctrine that is the truth. The apostles passed on. They gave themselves to the apostles doctrine breaking the bread fellowship in prayer. The term the faith is often used throughout the New Testament. Here's a sampling. Second Corinthians 12 examine yourselves whether you are in the faith, the faith, Paul said to Timothy, the Spirit expressly said this is first Timothy chapter 4 the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times some will depart from the faith.

That's what were seeing into apostasy. Some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines taught by demons at the end of Paul's life. He wrote to Timothy again. Second Timothy and he said I've run the race.

I fought the fight.

I've capped the faith. So that's the faith of faith is a complete New Testament teaching concerning Jesus Christ who God is who Jesus is our person gets a fight for that fight for the faith. Some else to go back to verse three because he says contend earnestly for the faith which was once for what help the preacher otter was a all once for all. Or better once for all time. The truth of the faith they were talking about was once for all time deposited or delivered to the saints.

That's a very important truth because what that means to me is, I can't tell you exactly when the book of Jude was written, but it it tells me this that let's say 8100 is that sort of like the book of Revelation. By A.D., 100, all that God ever wanted to say in terms of Scripture was done, there is no more revelation. He said once for all time, delivered to the saints so so I got later on said you know I left out a few things. Here's the Koran.

Oh, I forgot some other stuff. Here's the book of Mormon. No know it's once for all times delivered to the saints. Revelation from God is over another caviar limit limit kind of give a little nuance of this, it says we are to contend it does not give us permission to be a contentious person so you can fight with a smile that you you can contend and put up a good fight for what you can be nice enough to be mean you not to get really raunchy you can just fight the good fight of faith.

In fact, in first Peter chapter 3 verse 15 he said, be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear or gentleness and respect. The NIV puts it, gentleness and respect.

They fight the fight but do it with gentleness, endured with respect to you and I are called to build the truth. We are called to fight for the truth. The faith, here's a an illustration that might help in the book of Nehemiah member they came back to Jerusalem to rebuild the city. The city been broken down the walls and the gates burned with fire. Nehemiah comes back he assembles a group they start building the walls. The enemies on the outside try to sneak on the inside. They try to subvert the whole building process. They lob accusations at them. You know the story probably in chapter 4. Here's the illustration they were on the wall building in one hand. They had a trowel in the other hand, they had a sword to their building putting cement in the cracks of the stones got a sword in the other hand, because you never know when that enemies going to try to jump over this wall and sneaking so it was the sword and the trial. So on one front we build up the church. On the other front, we defend the faith against those who are trying to destroy.

And that is a calling for every believer. Every volunteer every staff member every worship leader. Every pastor fight the fight.

Martin Luther said this, a preacher must be both a soldier and a shepherd. He must nourish and teach, and defend that he must have teeth in his mouth and be able to help fight Jude is not afraid to bite. Jesus was not afraid to bite.

In fact, I think that's what made him such a good Shepherd memo. David said Psalm 23 you notice your rod and your staff they comfort me. Why would a rod and staff comfort a sheet well of a staff is to guide cheaper genome in order. Rod is it's a club. Think of it as a bat so a shepherd would carry a rod to direct his sheep on pasture lands, but a club or a rod beat off the enemy, the walls, Domino just smacking down and if I'm sheep I'm going I'm comforted by that I don't have a shepherd just wants to guide me he's in a fight for me he's in a battle. That's the hostility to have the Army of the hostility. Let's look at 1/3 component of this battle, the artillery mission to touch on this, the artillery soaked back to verse three exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all.

No get this delivered or deposited or handed over or put under our care to steward.

That's the idea delivered to the saints.

Do you know that God has given us the most powerful weapon in the world is called truth.

Truth is called the word of God we have truth we have his words so not only do we fight for the faith we fight with the faith. We don't just fight for the truth. We fight with the truth. We combat error with truth. We don't have to yell we do want to slander would often malign.

We don't have to send really nasty tweets read off the lob ad hominem attacks on people we have to do is hold up truth confront them with the truth preach the truth declare the truth.

It's exactly what Jesus did when Satan came against him in the wilderness to tempt him. I love how Jesus handled Satan comes Jesus didn't say you idiot demo notice as he says it is written, it is written, it was the word of God was the Scripture.

He confronted error with truth and he did that to the religious leaders also contended with him. He didn't hustle with them. He does said here in error, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. That's why we spend most of every service we have here in the word.

That's why when we have a worship service. We spent 45 minutes in the Bible on Wednesday night. A full hour times an hour in five or 10 in in the word. It simply me giving you ammunition, it's you reloading and the expectation is you will go out into enemy territory and inflict damage by declaring truth. That's the artillery taking the fourth and final component here. That's the enemy.

What are we fighting against. Who are we fighting it. Who are these people weathered is a description in verse four that asserted the introduction to the bulk of the epistle going forward.

Let's look at verse four and noticed some of the characteristics of these apostates. He says for certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation on godly men who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. So we notice a few things about number one their deceitful says they crept in unnoticed that is the slip in secretly, they don't announce themselves there sort of undercover there nothing more than Satan's undercover agents. They pretend to be Christians.

They sit next to Christians all believe and sing some of the songs up on the screen, but there they're not the slip in unnoticed now.

Jesus warned they were coming.

Paul warned that they were coming, Peter warned that they were coming.

Jude says they've arrived there here there in our midst.

They have crept in unnoticed.

So their deceitful is a second characteristic their ungodly that's in verse four.

Certain of crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation on godly men living to say that for some reason, Jude really like this word because he used it a lot you like this description – you'll see what I mean go down to verse 14 buddy Nick the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, behold, the Lord comes with 10,000s of his saints to execute judgment on all to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against, while I get there ungodly right verse 18. How they told you that there would be markers in the last days for the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts.

Now I counted six times in 25 verses, Jude uses the word ungodly. What is ungodly. It means ungodly like on God like it's a person who claims to belong to God, but they are not like God in their thinking they're not like God in their living that's ungodly. They are to use Paul's description second Timothy chapter 3 having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof from such turn away. They are Christians in name only nominal category outs up always been a Christian. My parents, grandparents, the church now as it was. So what I mean you know why are they so dangerous. Why do they merit a whole letter. Well, there's a principle that Paul said in the New Testament. He said you know a little leaven will leaven the whole lump. You get enough people slipping in who are on godly people and do not hold to godly beliefs and are not only can attain for they're going to influence a lot of other people. There's another part to this description. Not only are they deceitful. Not only are they ungodly. They are manipulators of grace. Verse four who turn the grace of our God into lewdness. You know you know it lewdness if you know the lewd person is you know what a lewd person is. It's an immoral person lewd means immoral.

It's somebody who lives four and really only thinks about satisfying his or her own passions and desires. Lusts is a lewd person. Their mantra is here saved by grace to live any way you want to hear you computer you want, but because God is so good and so loving and so tolerant and just let you do anything you want to say you're a Christian, they turn the grace of God into lewdness though even use the Scripture to promote that belief system. They want everybody to agree with their immorality. They want everybody to agree with their definition of morality. They want the church to say it's okay to practice homosexuality, they want the church to say it's okay to abort babies. They want the church to say it's okay to identify as a female even though you're a biological male.

They want the church to say you can select any pronoun you want in the world to identify yourself and if you don't, we want to shut that church down if you don't agree with us. We will bring the full force of even government if need be to say that you are hatemongering and it's hate speech because you don't agree with our definition of morality.

I could give you thousands of examples of atoms and give you one but we could give you so many, I'm giving you this one because it's so recent it does happen really a month ago six weeks ago.

There is an organization that goes under the name Bethany Christian services you may have read articles about this in the news Bethany Christian services has been one of the nation's largest, most successful evangelical Christian adoption and foster placement agencies. I think it is headquartered in Michigan, but Bethany Christian services once held a very high biblical standard of that marriage was between one man and one woman was a biblical definition of marriage, and they sought to place children in homes that were Christian homes, but all of that changed. March 1, it changed because Bethany Christian services finally caved in to the LGBT Q community so that now they too can adopt children into their homes because that community can appropriate. So now Bethany Christian services provides children to be placed in those homes now listen to the change in 2007 Bethany Christian services said this is from their own words, God's design for the family is a covenant and a lifelong marriage of one man and one woman.

That's as biblical as you can get. That was 2007. Now the applied should the plot shouldn't die because March 1. They and in that and they are now redefining what a woman is redefining what a man is redefining what marriages redefining what the family is what you have is this. They have turned the grace of God into lewdness. No, Jude is saying this 2000 years ago. And here we are today this far down the road so it shouldn't surprise us because we find it in the Scripture. Every generation faces it. Charles Spurgeon had his issues during his day over 100 years ago but on for up what he said he once said this, the new views are not the old truth in better dress but deadly errors with which we can have no fellowship and what you know what some point you draw a line and you say, love means telling truth to people. That's what love means I love you not to tell you the truth in all except the consequences but here's the final description. Not only are they deceitful or ungodly. Not only did they manipulate grace, but they deny Christ, for he says in verse four between the grace of God in the lewdness and deny the only Lord God and the Lord Jesus Christ I know in reading that it sounds like Jude is referring to two different persons, God the father and then Jesus Christ. The Greek construction makes it refer to one person the same person a better translation is this, they denied our only God and Lord Jesus Christ. That's the point. They want to name the name of Christ.

I'm a Christian. I go to church on the believer. They just don't want to live under the authority of Christ that maps of Skip Heitzig six. Powerful message for you from the series fight for the house right now want to share about an exciting opportunity you have. To take your knowledge of God's word even deeper. If you're ready to study God's word beyond going to church or personal Bible study ready for Calvin College. Take your and your life's purpose to the next level with of education is biblical studies registration for the 2022. Spring term is open right now.

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Calvary church college.com Calvary church college.com. Thank you for tuning in today. We are passionate about helping you strengthen your walk with God can be a part of connecting others to Jesus in the same way when you give a gift to help keep these teachings do not discount 892.892 or visit cannot escape.com/Downing cannot escape.com/Downing come back again tomorrow. Skip Heitzig gets to the battle for truth hoping for the faith. Successful Skip Heitzig presentation of connection communication to God's unchanging truth