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So we sing #228.
Umm.
Do you do you have a while at the beginning whenever I went to.
I wonder if, uh, it's a inexhaustible chapter.
I wonder if we've got what the Spirit of God has for us from that chapter for this weekend.
If we shouldn't look at something.
Health and and perhaps he does want us to continue on that shift.
I had been thinking earlier, brethren, and.
It's top to mind that the Spirit could go on with this and in view of the day in which we are living, whether we could either part of the meeting or most of the meeting just take up the Epistle of Jude.
00:05:02
But if anyone had some additional remarks to make on our 17th chapter of John's Gospel, that's fine too.
Look up Jude.
Jude.
A third end of Jesus Christ, and brother of James to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called mercy unto you, and peace and love be multiplied. Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you and exalt you.
That you should earnestly contend for the thing which was once delivered unto the Saints. But there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God.
And our Lord Jesus Christ.
I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this. How does the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroys them that believe not. And the angels which kept nod their first estate, but left their own habitation, he had reserved in everlasting change under.
Darkness.
Unto the judgment of the great day, even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flush, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire likewise also.
These healthy dreamers defile the flesh.
Despise dominion and speak evil of dignitaries. Yes, Michael the Archangel, when contending with the devil, he disputed about the body of Moses, does not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, the Lord rebuked thee. But these speak evil of those things which they know not, but what they know naturally.
At brute beast in those things they corrupt themselves. Woe unto them, for they have gone in the way of Cain and ran greedily after the era of Balaam for reward, and perish in the gainsaying of Corey. These are spots in your feast of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear. Clouds they are without water.
Carried about of wind.
Trees whose fruit wherewith without fruit try dead, plumped up by the roots, Raging waves of the sea forming out their own shame, wandering stars to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.
And Enoch also the 7th from Adam, prophesized of these things, say saying, Behold the Lord cometh.
With 10 thousands of His things to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that our ungodly among them, of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their heart speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against them, These are murmurs complainers walking.
About after their own last.
And their mouths speak at great swelling words, having man's persons in admiration because of advantage. But beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, how that they told you there should be markers in the last time who should walk after the own ungodly lessons? These be they who separate themselves.
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Sensual, having not the Spirit.
But ye beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ until eternal life. And of some have compassion making a difference, and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garments spotted by the flesh.
Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you falsely before the presence of His glory and exceeding joy. To the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, for now and ever. Amen.
I believe that this short book is made-up of about 5 divisions. Of course we have the introduction in the first few verses and then the occasion for the epistle, and that is apostasy which has set in and then we have.
Another subdivision that deals with historical instances of apostrophe and then we have a description of the apostate teachers and then finally.
Uh, we have the last division beginning at verse 20.
I was thinking primarily to concentrate.
Uh, if it's the mind of the brethren on the 1St 4 verses and then from versus 20 to 25.
Hope you gained by introduction of food rider is due in other uh uh, the service of Jesus Christ, the brother of James. We may go.
Some attention to that because June really is a brother of our Lord Jesus Christ or a half brother. What we find here that he didn't take that presentation to say he himself too is the brother of Jesus, the mother. He said he's the brother of James. So that could be some value in application for us too, isn't there? But we took a humble place that he is simply a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Stop.
What's also interesting is we find that the the brethren of our Lord Jesus.
Before the cross, we find that they didn't really know him.
They didn't really testify when it worked state, and we find that afterwards that they became great servants. So we find James, he was one of the prominent figures after the world won home, uh, in glory. So perhaps, umm, I want to draw an application to it. Perhaps sometimes we may not be for testimony for our Lord Jesus, but sometimes certain events in life happens and then the Lord draw us. The Lord bring our hearts to it. So we see perhaps one that we despise or one ocean they despise, we look down at and then we find afterwards.
They could become a great servant to our Lord.
Isn't it nice that it's starting out such a?
An epistle where there's so much said about the attacks against the truth and as we have in this one that it begins in first one to say to them that are sanctified by God. I think the translation has the cold ones, the love and God the Father and preserve in Jesus Christ.
That.
Although there may be this awful state of things that we find ourselves confronted with as presented in this epistle, and we're not kept by our own means.
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And it's really lovely to see how he presents that at the very beginning. First of all, God the Father loves us.
No, He hasn't just left us here without any resource, and this is preserved in Jesus Christ. What a lovely thing to think of that you and I is things of God. We are kept by Him in His power. Whatever may be the trouble around, there's responsibility and that's brought out here, but He's the one who keeps us.
The word in that we don't use often and Antonio verse one there he's addressing to those that are sanctified.
Do we recognize the fact that we have been set apart, we have been sanctified. The three words in the preserved preserved in what in Jesus Christ and we are called. So I think someone ready Roman today there to remind us how we were called and there he could tell us grace and mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you. We had a very special position sanctified not just for given.
It doesn't mention the fact here there are other words like justify. That's one of the apostle Paul's special ministry to us is all believers has been justified in all things, but he is sanctified, set apart and preserved. So sometimes we're saying that him preserved thy flock most graciously within thy shelter foes. So reserve here reminds us reserve in Jesus Christ and you have been called by him.
And there it go on into the, you know, why, why is he writing to us? And he used the word here, uh, that he, he was needful for me to fighting here. So if someone would say to me, they're writing me a letter and say it's needful that they were to write to me, I, I would get very nervous about that. But here it's telling us that we're going to take special teams because of all these wickedness abound. We in the world that have problems and difficulties, not just because it just happened.
Some of them have been around that. That fight we have is not just what we see in our flash, but also, as mentioned throughout, even with the angels who left the habitation, and so on, and from men of old. Umm, but here he's calling us that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the Christ. Now the question would be, how do you contend for something, and how?
And 1St, So what? What does that say? That was once delivered onto the Saints. So we need to know what that is first before we can contend for it.
Faith is used a couple of different ways, at least in the scriptures.
The way we most commonly think of it is having a belief in someone, particularly belief in the Lord Jesus Christ that, uh, for example, we are saved by believing in him. We have faith in the Lord Jesus. But here I believe where it's expressed like this, the faith, the thought really is a set of facts that we know and understand and believe that have been given to us from God. So it's important to see that, uh, in connection with what Dave was saying, we need to understand what that is if we're going to contend for it.
So as our brother Tim was saying this afternoon, for example, if you're gonna think about what the liberty of the Spirit means to lead in a meeting like this.
Do we understand the scriptural basis for it? Because you can make that claim, but until you understand the verses behind it, you can't really contend for it.
This also indicates that the phase is known.
There are those who would speak that to the word of God. Colossians 1. Paul says it was given to him to fill it up and to try in any way to add to that faith which was delivered to the Saints is a terrible thing to do. It's actually stronger than that, isn't it? Thinking the other translations, the face which was once for all delivered unto the Saints. And so we don't take up with new things, new ideas.
Everything that we do is to come back.
To this book to find out what's here and then we contend for that.
I can think of the 11Th chapter of Hebrews. We turn to that often. There's a long list of many faithful men.
00:20:12
OK, at least mentioned three, if that's OK. Uh, I don't think I'm digressing too far from the chat. Let's turn to Hebrews Chapter 11. We we won't read too many of those verses because many of us know these quite well. I want to look at the saves of all, just perhaps the first 2-3 people mentioned in this long list of faith. So we find in Hebrews Chapter 11, the 1St man mentioned the first thing that if it were in verse 4 by faith Abel.
Abel offers unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. So the first man was was able we know the story.
The second person that mentioned here is in verse 5 by faith Enoch, which incidentally Enoch is mentioned in the book of humans and we'll come back to that in a minute. And then verse seven is the third person mentioned by faith Noah. Not just like to use these three as an example. Here's some fundamental truth from the word of God that we should learn perhaps from these three people of faith. How will enable faithful.
Abel offered us a sacrifice that was acceptable to God. This is the principle from the word of God that not every sacrifice is accepted by God. So we see in the case of his brother Cain, God didn't accept that sacrifice. So there's a picture that a perfect acceptable sacrifice that God is looking for. In fact, in the process of able offering the sacrifice.
Who was killed?
A picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's the principle in the Word of God, that our Lord Jesus is the only sacrifice acceptable to God. There's no other way if we don't contend his faith believing that there is no other sacrifice. That's why in the book of Hebrews Chapter 9 and 10, it's not about sacrifices. In fact, for a long time I couldn't lick. Why 11 As if they talked about something new. No, it's not.
Because Abel so it connects able with a sacrifice. So in the 10th chapter you can say sacrifice and offerings in burnt offerings and offering for things I would not. Ah, the body that was prepared. So Abel by faith speaks of our Lord Jesus Christ, and I'm gonna be grieved. And then we find the next person, Enoch. That's another fundamental truth that we as Christians have to learn. Enoch is a picture of the church.
Because Enoch was translated because of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, the church may not seem go to the article of death. Isn't it wonderful to see that the second person was a picture of the church us that we could be taken to glory without going to the article of death? But then in our chapter we read the Enoch not only was the righteous, but he was a preacher of righteousness.
He warned the world how the Lord's gonna come in judgment. He's gonna bring 10 thousands of his things to warn the world against the ungodly deeds and the and the ungodly speeches and so on. And the Lord took him. He will translate it. And then the next person, Noah. Noah, I believe the picture of the Jewish remnant there. No one brought you that water judgment. Go to the remnant of the Jewish nation. Go to.
The tribulation and some for the same. So those are the fundamental we have in the word of God and we have pro dearly on if you don't hold on to some basic principles then any wind of doctrine will come. So some would say well the church in Israel and the church are the same. No, we just finished very distinct characters between the church and Israel is always the people of God and that the church is not part of the scene. We will be taken out. We are having the citizens by birth so.
Perhaps not all the faith, but some example of the faith of the same as a whole.
Well, to get back to the context of our of our book here, the very sobering, uh, view we have here.
Of what we, as mostly Gentiles, have been responsible for with what we've been given.
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Romans 910 and 11. The apostle Paul, in a parenthetical fashion, explains for the conscience.
Of the of the Jew, the believing Jew, or or just a Jew that was aware of the gospel, and any Gentile who might have been aware of God's special ways with the Jew.
And why God would Is He? Is he abandoning his promises?
That he has made over the centuries through profits that he raised up. And so the apostle, that's an important question. And the apostle takes that question up and answers it. No, God is not abandoning his earthly people. And he explains how in God's ways he has, because of the unbelief of the Jew, they have been temporarily set aside from that privileged place of being the people of God on earth.
In one place references the olive tree.
And the Gentiles have been grafted in, and that's you and me. But when he takes up the Gentiles, it's not purely or just exclusively the church, the believers, it's the whole Christian profession that we're part of. And there's now a mixture, a great mixture of believers and unbelievers in what the apostle Paul calls a great house. And so we were warned by the Lord Jesus before he went to the cross in his teaching.
In the parables of the Kingdom, this very unusual fact that this good seed and this good divine effort with men on the earth would result at best in mixed fruit bearing and at worst tears sown and the rest and, and, and so on. And then from the very beginning, the apostles that were, uh, eyewitnesses and, and lived to see and to walk with the Lord Jesus warned us, as did the apostle Paul from the very start.
Of how there would be failure and outward testimony.
And so it's, it's as we, we're speaking, uh, a week or so ago, it behooves all of us as believers.
To walk softly.
In in light of what we're part of, I remember as a very young believer sitting in a conference in arms to the late Brother Armstead Barry.
Uh, sitting there and he just made a comment in passing and he said the Lord has been wounded all over again in the House of his friends, referring to the passage of Zechariah.
Where the profit prophecies of how the Messiah would be presented to his people and he would be rejected.
When he's restored and when he when he restores them and presents himself to them again, you say, well, what are those wounds in your hands?
And so it's very sobering how much we've been given and much is required of us. And so Paul implies in Romans Chapter 11 That that God has provoked the Jew to jealousy by this mercy shown to the Gentile. But he says there, if you turn back just to read a verse or two in Romans 11.
Uh, well.
Verse 19 Thou will say then speaking to the Gentile, the branches were broken off that I might be grafted in. Oh, this is good for you and me. Most all of us in here are Gentiles. Well because of unbelief they were broken off. And now stand us by faith. Be not high minded, but fear we're if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
Behold, therefore the goodness and severity of God, and them which fell severity but toward the goodness, if thou continue in his goodness, otherwise thou also shall be cut off, and so on.
What Paul implies really in Romans 11 That this is indeed is what's going to happen. When we read in the Book of Revelation the end of the Christian, so-called Christian testimony, we see that God is going to judge severely.
Those that had so much given to them and didn't properly respond to it #1 by believing. And so a horrible judgment is going to come. It's prefigured on on professing Christendom.
And so I asked myself, who, where do I fit? I, I, I examine myself in a certain state and said, well, I, I really do trust in the Lord Jesus. I know I'm saved. I know I'm, uh, I belong to him. Well, I, I, I, I'm part of this whole thing. So how do I conduct myself? Be not high minded, but fear continue on in his goodness. And so in this, in this, uh, if you go to Niagara Falls and you see this river and it looks sort of peaceful and powerful.
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But, you know, downstream it's going over the falls and.
That's what's going to happen with this great profession. It's going over the falls, and you and I are not going to be going over those falls if we put our trust in Christ. Because before that time comes, the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout. He's going to take us out of this place and deliver us before that judgment falls. But again, I I just want to impress upon us that we ought to share in the mutual responsibility for this aspect.
Of failure, but not just wring our hands constantly. And this is where Jude takes it up and I enjoy it. To them that are sanctified by God the Father called by God the Father that you and me preserved in Jesus Christ. We trust that we are preserved and will be preserved. Mercy. It's of mercy extended to the Gentiles and mercy that we've enjoyed. Peace and love be multiplied. And so it's I, I, I believe I, I, I submit that it's good for us to be mindful of where things are going.
That we might walk humbly and softly, but at the same time the fundamentals of what we enjoy in Christ like we had in the last meeting, peace and the ABC's of the Christian life. To display that life in our everyday Monday life. That it is for many of us day by day love to one another, practical godliness, practical holiness, and all of these just putting 1 foot in front of another day by day that we might seek to please Him.
We don't have to wring our hands. Matter of fact, the Spirit of God would tell us, let's stop the hands which hang down and the feeble knees and make straight paths for your feet. Why? Because there are others that are weaker than you. There are others that are, that are spooked, you might say, and, and, and, and thrown off balance by this, this, that's all around, uh, and, and, and the failure in the Church of God can, can, can strike at the heart of a young believer more than anything that he or she might see in the world.
So we have, we are encouraged, uh, at, at at all times to rejoice in the Lord. We'll say, well, you don't know what we're going through here. Rejoice in the and again I say, rejoice in the Lord.
And so this is a wonderful way to start. I'm sorry for the long comment, but it's wonderful. It's a mercy, peace, love, be multiplied. That's the introduction. And then he goes on with this positive exhortation to us that's just as appropriate for you and me today as it was for these Saints that Jude was writing to so long ago.
And we're to the church at Philadelphia.
Was hold fast that which thou hast, and I believe the enemy of our souls is seeking to rob us that the enjoyment of the truth that God has revealed to us by his Holy Spirit and through his precious word. And it seems to me it has to do here with defending and it brings to mind.
Situation in the Old Testament.
In David's time, Second Samuel, chapter 23. And this is with regard to one of David's mighty men.
It says in verse 11, Second Samuel 23 and verse 11.
And after him was Yama, the son of Aegis. The terrorists and the Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where it was a piece of ground full of lentils, and the people fled from Philistine. But he stood in the midst of the ground and defended it, and flew the Philistines, and the Lord brought a great.
Victory.
Well, here was this.
Piece of ground, and it tells us it was full of lentils.
It was that which was good for food, that which would build one up, that which would make one healthy. The Philistines were seeking to take that field. But here's one of these mighty men willing to stand.
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This ground and it felt it stood in the midst of the ground, didn't stand on the edge. You stand in the midst because he didn't want somebody taken from that side.
Well, he was depending on this side, so I think he wanted.
To defend the whole piece of ground. And it tells us that it was the Lord that brought a great victory. So she am I really asking for the Lord and see how the Lord came in on his behalf. And sometimes we think of the enemy as being overwhelming and we think of what we are up against.
Well, it's true. In our human strength, we are no mess for Satan.
No match for the enemy.
But let's realize that we belong to one who is greater than Satan, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ, and he can give us victory over the enemy. He has won the victory at the cross. That tells us that through death He destroyed him. Who has the power of death? That is the devil. Or he has made his power weak. He's in all this power.
And he has delivered them through fear of death for all their lifetime. Subject to find herself. Satan is a defeated fool.
But if we're going to try to meet Satan in our own strength, we might well fear.
But let's be strong in the Lord and the power of his mind. And that's what Judah is asking us to do here, to earnestly contend for the faith.
And we can't be wishy washy about this.
You know, a fish that's dead.
It just goes with the flow down the river.
But a fish that's alive and well has spins and scales. He can go against the flow.
And may the Lord help us.
Like Barnabas, the exhorted the Saints that he might cleave to the Lord with purpose of heart. Purpose of heart and here is earnestly continued for the faith. I don't think it's the idea of launching a crusade to try to eradicate evil from the world and set the world right, but just to go on in the truth of God's word, holding fast that which we have.
Keeping his word and not denying his name.
Here we find those that denied themselves in verse four, the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ, and I think we have those that are doing this very thing under the guise of Christianity Today.
Very sober? Think about.
We live in a dark day and Satan is the master of deception.
The first chapter of the book of Judges we read of a King Adonai Bizac and mentions 3 score and 10 people that sat at this table.
And all of them were missing a thumb and they were missing their great toe.
Without the thumb they can't grasp, and we think of the excitations that we have in the Word of God, the whole fast without a great toe.
They lose their balance, don't they? So they can't stand fast. You mentioned Shama standing fast in the midst of that field. And I like to make a connection here too with Jude, with the book of Nehemiah. I think there's a correspondence there in the 4th chapter of Nehemiah we read of those that.
Were gathered together, uh.
Says in verse 16 of the 4th chapter. And they came to. And it came to pass from that time forth, that half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held both the Spears and Shields and bows, and so forth. They which build it on the wall, and they which bear burdens with those abated. Everyone with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon.
Uh, and the builders, everyone is sword girded by a side and so.
Build. And so the hands are mentioned here too, again, aren't they? One hand with a trowel, so to speak, the other hand with a sword. And I believe that we have both of those aspects here in Jude earnestly contending and then at the end of the chapter, building up yourselves on your most holy faith.
00:40:22
There are three things in the fourth verse that would identify if I can use the picture while I brought this for us.
Scenes in this, uh, particular verse, Wally mentioned two of them denying are the only Lord God and the second one the Lord Jesus Christ. I wanted to just talk briefly about the first one, and that is turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness. And I believe we see that a lot where people will say, well, let's just have some grace. Let's reinterpret this verse to allow this particular sin. It's becoming socially acceptable. So let's just make it something that we allow in the Christian community.
And those are indications that there are men that come in like the Philistines that are trying to take away the food from the people of God, take the land of the people of God, and those are things that we need to contend for.
When you're fighting a battle, you need to know where your enemy comes from.
Here tells us these main crafted and unaware and often that's the problem with our power of darkness that we don't understand and the word of God really never told us to fight about it. We are to stand onward and we are the armor is for defenses. It's not for offenses. We're not out there trying to win a battle because it's a battle. So we are given in the focus efficiency.
Truly armors but also if you turn to other PA couple places and talk about the armor of righteousness.
There's an interesting armor, isn't it? Not something that might be a powerful, but an armor that you can show other people and your protection is righteousness. And then I believe it also mentioned there's another armor, the armor of life. So we have a very different battle that we fight. So the following verses, it began by talking about the danger. What do we know about these angels that didn't have the first stage? We don't know a whole lot about it.
We know that the word of God mentioned them. So we do know that God will judge at this time. So there's a series of judgments that he discussed with his difficulties. I know our brother specifically said, uh, perhaps not throughout so much in the middle verses, but it's very interesting to see the errors the way people have gone into it. I'd like to jump down to verse 11 and even though.
Not in our top there because that's I think it's more prevalent today. There are three particular errors that we see today. Verse 11 Said the way of Cain, the era of Balaam and the gay saying of course, that is a problem in cryptoism. What is what what what is the way obtained pain wanted to have a bloodless sacred life.
He wanted to find a way that from his own work to bring his exemption. No, that's not the way to define God. Wasn't happy with his exercise. That man's way for his life. Used religion of money.
OK. And we see that today too, that they are in position for the reward of the money. They are. And then the third is the rebellion.
So we find that rebellion against none of these are according to this word.
It's very striking that, uh, when he comes in the 20th verse and on their brother's, uh, directed us to.
He doesn't give us instructions on how to fight these people. God took care of Cain, He took care of Balaam, and he took care of Cora. They watched while Cora the earth opened to swallow them up. Balaam was resisted by God. When he went to meet Cain was dealt with by God. So the instruction here is not how to meet these men. The instruction is build up yourselves in that holy faith.
00:45:04
It's a positive thing. It's evident that Jude had rethought his actions in John two and John seven. You know, in John two is the only time that the Lord Jesus took his family and his mother to see his works down to Capernaum. Jude was there and Jude was there in Chapter 7. So was James, his brother and said to him, what are you doing?
And they didn't believe, they thought it over. You know, the Lord Jesus appeared to James, his brother in uh, first Corinthians 15 gives us the account. Then he appeared to James. James was to occupy a major place upon Jesus leaving the earth. He was like the head of the church. Everyone looked up to him. They came from James. Well, it's evident they rethought everything they heard from the Lord Jesus, among which are.
Resist not evil.
And in Matthew 16.
He says he's going to build an assembly upon which the gates of Hades will not prevail.
Oh, Jesus said that? Oh well then this is not all going to come to an end to these wicked men. We don't have to resist them in the way we think. God is going to take care of them.
It's striking that everyone who has written the 2nd epistle.
Warns of apostasy coming in, but what is their instruction? Universally, we're to build ourselves up.
John doesn't say in his third epistle. Get rid of that diatrophies. Oh, why not?
There wasn't power among the Saints to do that, so he says when I come, I will face him down. It's a shame that the Saints didn't have the power to deal with the diotropy.
What if we, uh, responded to the letter of Stranton and somebody here in the assembly said, Oh no, he can't come, she can't come. That's what Diotrephes was doing. Well, how do we deal with the diatrophies? Scripture lays it out clearly. How do we deal with this kind of evil and apostasy coming in? We build ourselves up positively in the Lord Jesus Christ. Build up on the holy faith, not on what do we do? You know, that's exactly what happened in the days after the apostles.
Uh, you get it pictured in the seven churches. Uh, what they did was, oh, all this evil is coming in. What do we do? We'll strengthen the leadership. Obey your bishops. You read the Church fathers, that's what you read constantly obey your bishops and so on. They built up a hierarchy. No, that's not God's way of dealing with it.
Interesting back in verse 17.
The reminder is go back to the work which were spoken of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Not back in the Church Fathers.
And so to be taught by the Spirit of God what the Scriptures actually mean, what we have recorded here, that's potential to building yourselves up your most holy faith. Coming to a meeting like this and hearing people expound on what is in the Word of God, that's helping to build yourself up the most holy faith. And it's important that every person in this room take time to read the Word of God, ask the Spirit of God, open your eyes to see what's in it, because that's how you build yourself up.
It's not sufficient to let other people do it for you. You better do it.
For yourself and we gotta help each other.
These two verses, verses 20 and 21 actually contain four thoughts. Let's just read this first verse 20. But E beloved, building up yourselves on your most understanding. That's the first thing is building up a seat already been exhausted praying in the Holy Ghost. We can't forget to pray not just to pray, but to pray in the Holy Ghost and then keeping.
Keep yourselves in the love of God.
The 4th is looking. Looking for what? Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
All things go together.
When we seek to build ourselves up.
We have, uh, you might say, uh, like a sailor. We have the wind in our sails.
If we seek or become preoccupied with all that we see around us in the world or even in the Christian profession, we'll be trying to sail into the wind.
00:50:05
But the the Lord Jesus Christ on high is still the head. He's still giving gifts and has given gifts to the church. Why? To build up. If you turn to Ephesians chapter 4, briefly, you see this.
Verse 10 heated descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens. They might fail all things. And he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, for the benefit of the young. To edify you can almost say literally means to build up. We the English, we have the word edifice. It's a building.
And so we're told to build ourselves up.
When we seek to do that, we will find that this is the will of the Lord for us and He's made provision for us.
Joseph said to his brethren, when he released them to go back to Canaan, it says that he gave them provision for the way and.
And then he said, see that you fall not out by the way. So there's both sides of it, but the Spirit of God and the individual St. As Paul was kind of a pattern believer in the book of Philippians. That was his desire, the Spirit of God working in him. I said, I want to win Christ. I want to be like Christ. The the the the prize of the high calling of God in Christ. That's the Spirit of God in him and the Spirit of God working through these various gifts that the ascended Christ has given the same direction.
And so we have the wind in our sales. We have, we have been given all things that pertain unto life and godliness. And let's not, let's not walk around with our, I don't want to embarrass my children, but one of my boys had this tendency to walk One Direction and look the other. And he was always walking, walking, uh, walking this way and looking that way. He was a little very aware, sensitive person. And you'd see a dog or he'd see something or he was wondering about something.
You can tell which one it is. It's not the one here, but it's it's but he's got scars on his face. But you know, and so much of this.
Stuff we hear all around.
You know, is this.
It, it's, it's noise, brethren. It's noise. I, I love this exhortation these other brothers have given. I think it's right on build up ourselves in a positive way with the truth and whatever error and deflection or distraction the enemy throws at us, it will be spiritually healthy. We're building up ourselves in our most holy faith and praying in the Holy Ghost, looking for the mercy. It will be a mercy.
We get through this world and get home to be with Christ.
When we're building up ourselves, we're building up each other, aren't we? I just wanted to make a brief comment, uh, in the beginning of verse 4IN connection with that, it says for certain men crept and unaware. Well, Mr. Darby says unnoticed now if if we were truly wanting to build each other up in our most holy faith when someone new comes into the assembly.
We should reach out to them and get to know them and, and and find out who they are, what their beliefs are so that, umm, you know, if they are holding some bad doctrine, we can encourage them on what they should and what they should.
To encourage them.
Brother, who is now in fellowship. He said he was associated with a religious group.
Who indicated to him that when it says here in verse 21, keep yourselves in the love of God?
This refers to our love for God.
Well, that's pretty somebody under law.
That's what the law says. I shall love the Lord thy God with all their heart, and mind their souls so on.
But that's not great. Grace is God loves you.
And I think we need to focus on that because that's really, I think the meaning here in this 1St 21. It's the love of God for you and for me. We need to keep in the enjoyment of this.
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And what Satan is trying to do is from the beginning of man's history.
So suspicion in the heart and mind of Eve as to the goodness of God.
The idea that, well, Eve, God is withholding something from you that's going to make you happy.
And Eve, she took the bacon.
And of course, that and thin too.
And as a result, sin has come into the world. And how?
The tactic of the enemy of Satan, it hasn't changed. We need to keep ourselves in the enjoyment of the love of God. God has manifested his love to us and this was manifested the love of God because.
He sent his own Son into this world that we might live through him here in his flock. Not that we love God, but that He loved us and gave His Son to be a propitiation for our sins. John 316.
Sometimes we think about this and we find that it's difficult for us to walk in it.
That is even more difficult for their children to teach our children justice. Now I want to say this for the encouragement of many young parents here.
The Lord want us to teach our children, but what does he want us to teach? Uh, I want to go back to the 14th verse just a bit. It's interesting how if you read the words there, it says in Enoch also the 7th from Adam. Why? Why did he didn't just say an Enoch did this? It's very specific here. Is that the 7th from Adam? Now, I'll be honest, I really don't have that much thought on it. You can say 7, this number perfection, whatever it is, but one of the thoughts that came to me.
And I'm thinking of parents, young parents. Is a word of encouragement enough? We know that because he was a preacher of righteousness, his son Methuselah.
His name is when he died. It shall be. He lived until the flood comes. When he died, the flood came. His grandson Noah, pretrial white shipments. What a blessing. But in contrast, I was thinking another man, 7th from Adam, but not from, but from Cain. Let's turn to Genesis chapter 4.
And perhaps it's a negative, but I want to turn it into a positive for parents, especially young parents here. This is a man I believe is 7th. And it's depend on how you count it. Sometimes it may be 8. His name is Lima. Genesis 4 verse 19. Then playback did something very different. First thing he did was he took two wives. If you look at the name that they say the name is completely weak. So that's the first thing he did. But so the the and then we find the kids.
A very good kid 1St 21 That opposite his brother's name. Brother's name was Jubal. He was the father of all such as Hendo, the harp and organ. Would you like your children to be known as the one who can really play music beautifully?
In this world we want those recognitions, don't we? And Avila, she also bare 2 bowl shady. Oh that's terrible. Already reminding that I must be ancestor was changed. But to go on, he was the instructor of artificer in brass, in iron and so on. And the sister was Neymar. So they have a daughter that was pleasant children that are well renowned. Perhaps in today's term you can say well, the doctor, lawyers and engineers, whatever title you want it to be.
So my thought is this. The thought is actually very bad.
All these.
+7 from Adams. They all died as well known as well famous. It may be because they didn't have the word of God.
Whereas Enoch 7 from Adam the family become the fathers of all nations. So we have to learn to walk rightly before God and walk under His path. So once you see that not just here tell us to be ourselves, but we need to keep our children, don't we?
Building them up.
Praying, keeping and looking.
Any practical advice on how to pray better? On how to pray in the Holy Ghost?
One thing's for sure, it doesn't say pray to the Holy Ghost, and that's a lesson we could learn from this passage.
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Uh, praying in the Holy Ghost would be to give him his place to recognize, but also to recognize that we often don't know even what we should pray for. I, I really enjoy connecting with Romans 8 and how so often, especially in matters like what we have here in Jude, we don't even know how to begin our prayers, but he does.
So we can wait on him for that as well.
Is an older sister that we sometimes visit over in Long Island. Perhaps known to some. He arose Valentino.
She's 96 or 97 years old.
Saved in their later years but has a real simplicity and love for the Lord.
And when we occasionally go over and visit her.
She'll say.
I don't know whether I'm using the right words to pray to the Lord. Sometimes I even get angry with them and tell them you should Take Me Home.
And I said, I think the word will forgive me for that. So she wasn't using fancy words, but she was certainly sincere from her heart. She didn't mean any irreverence to the Lord. And in a certain sense, it was refreshing to hear her say that.
She was talking to her father.
And uh, perhaps she wouldn't pray in the same way that we would, but it was from our heart.
But I don't have an answer, but I have an example of how one trade turn with me to, uh, Colossians Chapter 4. The Lord actually told us who his man is and how he prays. Perhaps this is one of the many things we can do.
Philosophy, Chapter 4, verse 12. Octopus.
Notice it's A2 edged one of you.
It's not just anyone else, it's one of us who is one of you, a servant of Christ salute you always laboring fervently for you in prayers. So I believe this man will have to pray and I'm sure he pray often, but not just the fact he pray. What I enjoy is what does he pray? He said fervently for you in prayer that he may stand perfect.
And complete in all the will of God. So often we pray because we want something. And I believe we find that we find too many eyes in the prayers. That's already the wrong start. Do we pray first of all?
For this year, the perfect and complete will.
Conclusion That, uh, we could, uh, really have an analogy here.
In June and nowadays, because in Malachi is the end of the history of the nation of Israel.
It was indifferent, it was corruption.
There was all sorts of disorders.
This is what we have portrayed in June.
But it's not in this graph, it is increasing ground.
It's not a heathen dog, it's in Christendom.
And although we do not have.
The apostles disease per SE, these are these are characteristics of the democracy.
And they're beginning interested them now. Therefore Malachi of three certainly can be applied then they have feared the Lord.
They often one to the other.
And a book of remembrance was written.
It's the same condition as you have seen.
The same resource.
Those, uh, that little remnant had, it's a remnant and we're part of that, doesn't it? And, uh, may the Lord help us to encourage ourselves with these four wonderful anchors for the soul anchors. That's not. Let's cast the anchors out and, uh, encourage ourselves. Not in the condition of Christendom today.
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Uh, to remember that there's no remedy for a hospital.
And these people that are spoken up in June, they're a foster. At one time they had the truth, but they gave it up. That's what the hospitality is. They had the truth and gave it up. And that's what we see in Christians done today. No believer can ever possibly die. No possible. We can backslide and we do, but backsliding and apostrophe are two different things.
Being Jews, the government, the apostles, the Apostles.
Malachi one and two.
John just made reference to, uh, the picture of the shipwreck that Paul went through in which they cast out four enters and hope for the day. That would be the fourth thing. And that is I'm looking for the Lord Jesus coming again. But in connection with the third anchor, that is, umm, keep yourselves in the love of God. How do you do that? I got one verse in John chapter 15.
John 15 and verse 10.
If you keep my commandments, He shall abide in my love.
Even as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love, So what he's been building yourself up thing in your holy faith by prayer to the Holy Spirit to teach you how to put it into practice in your life. Obedience is how you keep yourself in the love of God and enjoy your scholarship.
We really can't keep ourselves and we provoke and so the chapter sums it up is just now unto him that is able the new translation. I like the way the words it didn't doesn't use the word. Now it says but that word, but we like that because it's so I'm going to say something to you regardless of what they say. If we say, but we're basically saying it's OK, This is something different. But let me read that to end our chapter of the aging. But to him that is able to keep you.
It's now stumbling. Oh, we're not just falling. You're stumbling along the way. And you said you with exaltation, blameless before his glory.
Twice God our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord be glory, majesty and authority from before the whole age and now and to the ages are man what what a commendation for us to follow what what an exaltation for us to follow that he's going to keep us so we sometimes think that MOLMO Lamb of God still keep us and this is secret close.
#45 in December.
Oh gracious shepherd.
Love to be.
More.
Three days.
Oh my God. NN new paragraph. NN new paragraph in the night.
Delivery number provided shipment for blah blah blah blah blah.
Oh my God.
01:10:25
Yeah, why can't you remember when I can start?
Goodbye is bad rain.