Compelled to Contend

So what starts out perhaps is a friendly, encouraging, comforting letter ends up as a call to arms a war cry to believers to join the truth more taking their side. Blaming the life-changing truth of God's word those years of study have led to his current series here on grace to you titled the New Testament beginning to end.

It's a collection of some of his most compelling sermons in today's landmark message from the book of Jude is going to show you a foundational commitment.

Every Christian must have something you need to be willing to fight for whether you follow Christ as a pastor or businessperson, a college student, a stay-at-home mom or whatever your role, what commitment am I talking about. Find out now. As John begins today's lesson. As we look at the epistle of Jude. I want to take you into verses three and four we read beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain persons have crept in unnoticed. Those who were long before hand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ. This is one of the most interesting introductions to an epistle because Jude, the half-brother of our Lord tells us that he had one intention when he sat down to write and he actually wound up writing something other than he had intended. He wanted to write about our common salvation, but he felt the necessity to write about contending earnestly for the faith and he realized that the very salvation which he wanted to celebrate the very salvation which he wanted to write about was in danger of being severely compromised unless the church rose to the occasion fighting for its survival.

So what starts out, perhaps as a friendly, encouraging, comforting letter ends up as a call to arms a war cry to believers to join the truth war taking their side with the Lord and behind the letter is a little bit of insight in verse four.

Certain persons have crept in. There has been an infiltration in the church of people who turn the grace of God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ. We don't know the specifics of this we don't know where or when, how the information came to Jude but he became very allergic to it and what were talking about in this epistle is the grave danger of apostasy the grave danger of apostasy which is knowing the truth to some degree and abandoning it. Knowing the truth and rejecting it. This is not new to Jude. Although Jude is the only letter in the Scripture completely devoted to apostasy.

Apostasy is familiar to many student of Scripture. In fact, there is a parable that Jesus gave he gave it in Matthew 13, but you can look at the Luke eight parallel to the parable, and you'll find it familiar. It's a parable of the soils. Remember that the sowing the seed in the various soils in verse 12 a locates as those beside the road are those who have heard and the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts so that they may not believe and be saved and those on the rocky soil are those who, when they heard heard received the word with joy and these have no firm root, they believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. And the word fell among thorns, and these are the ones who have heard and as they go on their way there choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity many goes on to talk about the good soil where the seed goes in and bears fruit. Here are three different cases in which people hear the word and turn away.

This is essentially what apostasy is, is hearing the truth. Knowing what it is and rejecting it. This is exactly what Jude is writing about. These people are the greatest danger to the church because they know something about the gospel and they bring to bear against the church. Certain subtleties by their defection and apostate is one who has received the truth of the gospel, maybe even one who believes it apparently or superficially, for a time, but then turns away falls away goes away without ever bearing fruit.

Apostasy is to hear and understand at least and maybe to apparently believe but then to turn and defect. If you go back for a minute to two Luke there's a just a little bit of it thought there that may expand your understanding of this helpfully, it talks about verse 713 those on rocky soil are those who, when they here receive the word with joy. They received the word with joy but they have no firm root, they believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. That is the verb form of the word apostasy. That is the verb form of the word apostasy they receive and they fall away and we talk about apostasy were not talking about confusing that with mere indifference to the word or ignorance of the word or error.

There are people who never heard the truth. There are people who are ignorant of the truth indifferent to the truth of not even expose themselves to it and there are people who have heard erroneous presentations that purport to be the truth that are not talking about that when you talk specifically about an apostate you're talking about someone has received the light but not the life the seed but not the fruit.

The perhaps the written word but not the living word is a willful and deliberate rejection of the truth after the truth is been heard in second Thessalonians 210.

I think it's well said when the judgment falls. It falls on those who reject the gospel of whom it is said they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved.

They received the truth, they did receive the love of the truth in the Olivet discourse for the end of our Lord's ministry. Matthew 24 records in verse nine, Jesus said then they will deliver you to tribulation. They will kill you. You will be hated by all nations on account of my name and at that time many will fall away, many will become apostate second Peter to just giving you a smattering of these verse 20 says, for if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome. The last state has become worse for them than the first. If you know the truth. If you have come to the knowledge of the Lord and Savior in your mind and you go back and are entangled again in the defilements of the world. The last state is worse than the first. It would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment delivered to them. They are like dog returning to its own vomit or a sallow after washing returning to wallow in the mire. The Bible does not have very commending language to bestow upon apostates and they are going to be everywhere. First Timothy chapter 4 tells us the Spirit explicitly says that in the latter times some will fall away from the faith. There's the same term they will defect to in the in the words of Paul to Timothy, they will make ship wreck of the faith back in chapter 1 verse 19 or in the modern terminology there. Their faith will come to an end like a plane crash in second Timothy we find the same kind of thing the day is going to come, writes Paul to Timothy it when they will not endure sound doctrine verse four. They will turn away their ears from the truth and turn aside to myths.

Now what's really serious back to Jude is that these people get inside Christianity and embed themselves unnoticed. They creep in on noticed and so we have to go to war in a civil war since it's hard to pull off nowadays and it because the big deal now is. Let's let everybody let's get along, let's not fight. Let's be tolerant.

We got a war to fight in the will of the Lord. We have to fight this right here inside inside the church. We have demon control preachers and demon doctrines and hypocritical liars and people who don't want the truth and they'll go to churches but don't preach it, not the ones that do we have apostasy in the church that's that's where it's dangerous.

They've always infiltrated they've always come in that is the strategy. What does Paul say in acts 2028.

Be on guard for yourselves and all the flock, you gotta be on guard. Why, because after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. And here's the danger from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them and therefore be on the alert remembering the night and day for a period of three years. I didn't cease to admonish each one with peers. You can deal with voices. I commend you to God and the word of his grace, which is able to build you up. The only way you're going to be able to defend yourself against this is to know the word so well you can recognize the apostasy apostates go away from the truth.

They don't assert to go with the church right they have a certain many of them a certain familiarity with the church and they can base their operation there be very successful for the enemy, and also make some money at the expense of people's ignorance. There always have been apostates and always will be.

Apostates always those who defect from the truth. It's it's been everywhere, you know that the people in generation of Noah heard the truth and rejected it, walked away from it and drown it was apostasy from the truth that led to the Tower of Babel, because the truth about the true and living God had been proclaimed. It was apostasy that made Israel failed to conquer the land under Joshua and ignore the warnings of Moses. It was apostasy to produce the immorality. The time of the judges.

It was apostasy that led Israel into Babylonian captivity was apostasy. The whole religion of Israel was apostate, and that's why they didn't recognize the Messiah when he came. Apostasy is plagued the church not only in individual situations but in massive ways in every cultism and Shiism it's come along in the name of Christianity. Deviates from the true gospel is an apostate form, every preacher doesn't preach the truth is an apostate preacher.

Mysticism is an apostate attack on the church any denial of the singularity in the authority that belongs only to the Scripture leads the church into a drift toward apostasy as well as false religions always have other authorities there's always the Scripture and some other authority, but they hang around and stay within the framework they creep in and they embed themselves in the attack on the truth comes from the inside. And so here we are facing this having to deal with it from the inside, and it does make us very popular. I'll tell you, doesn't and the way it's going today. It's really hard to take a stand against the outright apostasy that's easy to see in the drift toward apostasy that is coming so fast because of a lack of discernment and an unwilling this to be discerning so many times. If you take a stand on something if you draw the line where the Bible draws the line and if you do not compromise and you stand for the truth live for the truth, proclaimed the truth.

Don't waver people call you on loving is that not true that is so typical, so typical this is the common designation for the preacher is true to the faith is not loving is the common designation for somebody who's exposing the apostasy and exposing the apostates but do you understand that what Judy is doing here is not because he doesn't love it's because he does, it's because he cares so much he started to write a letter about common salvation, but he loved his people too much to leave them exposed to what he saw as a great threat.

Beloved nieces and then in verse 17, but beloved and then in verse 20 but you, beloved, this is not some kind of sentimentalism. This is not kind of some kind of a shallow emotion. This is not some kind of tolerance.

This is the real, purposeful, powerful, loving concern of a man of God for the people of God to be protected from what could destroy them in their effectiveness and their ministry. It's not love born of sentiment the gods after its love born of conviction regarding the truth. You have to keep making that distinction. All the time you love someone when you tell the truth and Jude was prepared to go all the way to the truth even if it was painful. So Jude says I was just pressed as a faithful watchman protecting God's church to write and to write to you appealing.

That's really exhorting counseling, calling alongside to help come alongside you that you contend earnestly for the faith that is a powerful expression. At least I can get through that that you contend earnestly for the faith contend earnestly epic bog go nude so far, go nude so the route is I can itself which you get agonize Again anytime soon see a preposition at the front of the Greek verb is intended to intensify at this is to fight for to fight strenuously for to defend vigorously. I am calling on you to an extreme form of agony. It's a present infinitive, which means it's continuous action.

I am calling on you. I am appealing to you to an on going battle continuous conflict.

It's in it's an all time continuous problem. Apostasy that the word again. I go in the midst of my grown very interesting word. The word actually means. Ongoing means a bowl, a stadium, they were built, likable, and it was in a bowl, a stadium that you came for a battle struggle gladiators fights since it's it's a term that Paul uses.

We talked about fight the good fight of faith agonize, it's it's like playing in the ultimate Super Bowl and it's an all time struggle. It is a mighty battle.

The fight to the death with the forces of apostasy, hope all is calling us to the same thing over and over again we hear these calls from the apostle Paul to Timothy fight the good fight to the Corinthians, you know, he says I don't shadowbox. I hit my opponent to the Ephesians he writes about putting on your armor and going into battle and the defense of the faith has to occur within the church within the framework of Christianity. In fact, that is where the battle is I think most agonizing sometimes because you have to deal with not only the error that's there but the resistance on the part of the people who were swept up by the error or unconcerned about it or not discerning enough to know that it is her.

But what is it were actually fighting for hair look at it. We're fighting for the faith, the faith, not for faith in some nebulous way the faith objective the faith, the Christian faith, the gospel, faith, the content you do not over 17 you get a little bit of a better understanding you want to remember the words that were spoken before hand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. The faith is constituted in the apostles doctrine. The object of faith is asked to 42 says they continued in the apostles doctrine. This is where the battle must be fought for the protection of the faith. Oh Timothy first Timothy 620 guard what has been entrusted to you, and what had been entrusted to him back one verse.

The treasurer the treasure what treasure the treasure the truth over in second Timothy 113 retain the standard of sound teaching sound words verse 14 guard to the Holy Spirit dwells in us. The treasure which is been entrusted to you. If you are a pastor, even a Christian you have a guardianship.

We are not only proclaimers of the truth.

We are protectors of the true and Christian love must be confined to those in the truth and so we fight for the faith. The true faith. If anybody preaches another gospel.

Paul tells the Galatians, let him be accursed Johnsons of anybody comes to your door and wants to come in your house and have you show them hospitality and they have a wrong doctrine concerning Christ and extending that in the gospel. Don't let them in your house don't even bid him God speed or you become a partaker in his evil deed. This is that dangerous. We have to battle agonizingly all our lives for the preservation of the faith, and then he defines that faith in very succinct and very important terms, the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints, the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. You know what that says. It says the faith intact was once given to the saints once for all, hot pockets delivered paradigm did a Meyer entrusted in this word hotbox once for all refers to something done for all time with lasting results.

Never needing repetition, the faith, dear friends, the Christian faith. The gospel truth in its entirety in its completeness was in the past.

One time entrusted to the saints.

There's no new faith. And this is why there is no new revelation.

The Christian faith was deposited through the apostles and those who work with them in the first century. The Canon was closed with John's writings. At the end of that century, and the faith was then given once for all time and all people to the saints. That's why Revelation 22 says if you had anything to this should be added you the plagues that are written in it. Revelation does not continue. God is not adding to the faith.

Listen to this. People didn't discover the faith. It was delivered to them. Nobody mystically discovered the meaning of Jesus. Nobody mystically discovered the meaning of salvation. Nobody mystically discovered how to get the God Paul and the others who wrote the New Testament didn't have some transcendental religious insight by which they ascended intuitively into the upper echelons of religious thinking and somehow touch the garment of God and drew down some deep understanding. Nobody went anywhere to get this it was delivered it was delivered it was entrusted by God intact. The faith to add to the Old Testament faith. The New Testament Matthew through Revelation body of teaching complete. The only acceptable Revelation. There are no new doctrines. There is no new revelation. This rules out all Sears and all those who claim new revelation.

This rules out hanging around waiting to hear the voice of God. This rules out every cult, every-ism, every file system. The claims any other revelation than the Bible. This is so wonderful all that God wanted to say and all that he did say he put in one book keeps it simple doesn't this book is all we need scriptures. All we need.

You don't need to be run around checking out every new revelation you don't need to be listening as if God is going to tell you some secret that he hadn't revealed to anybody else were talking here about the once for all.

Literally the Greek, the once for all delivered to the saints. Faith.

Faith comes last in the recorder what faith the once for all delivered to the saints. Faith to get the message. This is in the trickle were not still getting it was once for all delivered, and Jude realizes this is under assault by people who come in and we have to fight him inside the church and I was say this to the we can never do that effectively and come across to the world as a nice kind of compassionate, easy-going group of folks or just have a lot of fun as a warrior and when a nonbeliever comes in. I trust that they'll see the love of Christ and the transformation that's occurred in our lives, but they also are going to realize that we are in a battle for the this is grace to you with John MacArthur.

Thanks for being with us. John is the pastor of Grace Community Church ease Chancellor of the Masters University in seminary and today's reminder that if you're a Christian you're called to stand up for biblical truth part of John study called the New Testament. Beginning to end and you know John when you talk about contending for the gospel.

Warning churches about those who distort the Bible. I know that your love for the truth drives you to do that, but I'm wondering how can you, how can anyone be confident that he's not distorting the Bible that what we teach, and defend really is the truth. You know, one of the arguments you always hear from the critics of Christianity and even some people in Christianity is that though the Bible is not clear. You know they're all kinds of use of it. Everybody's got his own interpretation and how do we ever know what's true there are some people who say we we really can't know what's true you know what's true for you and what's true for me may be different things.

What was true for the people of thousand years ago and today are very different. Let me answer that by simply saying this. The Bible was written to be understood. Even the book of Revelation, which some people think is so confounding begins by saying blessed is the one who reads and understands this book even the book of Revelation can be understood and let me also add, there's only one correct interpretation of every Scripture. Not many only one God only meant one thing and it's not hidden, and it's not secret and it's not mystical and is not reserved for some kind of elevated elite sort of Gnostic people who were sort of super saints. It's available to every believer. I want to give you a tool that will help you to get the meaning of Scripture in its context.

It's the MacArthur New Testament commentary series over 40 years. Plus I've been writing these commentaries and finish now 33 volumes on all 27 books of the New Testament.

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We want to know how this verse by verse teaching is helping you grow spiritually. So John a note and send it our way. You can email us at letters@jidety.org or if you prefer regular mail. You can write to Grace to you. Box 4000 panorama city, CA 91412, and here's our email one more time. letters@tty.org now for John MacArthur and the entire grace to you staff, I'm Phil Johnson. Thanks for making this broadcast part of your day and be here tomorrow when John looks at the future blessings that await all believers who continue his series on the New Testament beginning to end with another 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time on grace to