Old & New Apostates (Book of Jude)

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

The Call to Defend the Faith in the Present Moment

If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. So this is the battle right now, secularism. So I've noticed that some well-meaning Christians, I think, they have this idea that, yeah, you should talk about Moses fighting the idolaters.

You can talk about the prophets preaching against the kings of Israel, but don't talk about anything that's happening right now. No, we're not buying into that. We can't do that. Verse 8, why? Because Jude didn't do it.

Remember old and new apostates. Jude was talking about things in the Bible in the past. He's also talking about things that are happening right then and there. This is what he says about the current situation.

He says, likewise, also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. And then he goes on to explain what he means, how even the archangel Michael did not dare bring a reviling accusation against the devil.

Watch out for preachers who are openly rebuking the devil and his demons. You would think that would be, aren't we supposed to do that? No, you're not. I remember in, I don't know, this must have been vacation Bible school.

I remember when I was a kid, there was a song, and if the devil doesn't like it, he can sit on a tack. Ouch, sit on, right? Probably shouldn't do that. Who are you to rebuke the devil? What power do you or do we have over the devil and his demons?

Even the archangel Michael didn't dare bring an accusation against him, and yet there's preachers all over the place. They're binding and rebuking Satan as if they're able to do that. That is a red flag.

So these are some of the things that are happening, that Jude is addressing false teachers. He compares them to Balaam. Verse 11, he says, they run greedily in the error of Balaam the prophet. So these are the types of false teachers that are obsessed with money, right?

They're driven by health and wealth and all these things that appeal to the flesh. They gain a following by telling people what they want to hear. 2 Timothy 4, 3 and 4, Paul talks about this. He says, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers.

Why Christians Must Fight for the Faith

So if we need to defend the faith, we have to be willing to fight the battles that are going on now. And yes, even fight against people who profess the name of Jesus. I realize that we wish it wasn't that way, but it was that way then, it's that way right now.

So the title of the message, defending the faith. Are you willing to defend the faith? I hope you are. If somebody is not willing to defend the faith, look at it this way. Let's say a man and his wife are walking down the road, and somebody says something about this man's wife, totally crude, inappropriate, and it doesn't phase the guy at all.

And he's not willing to say or do anything about it. Or day after day, people are attacking his wife, attacking his kids, and he doesn't even care. What does that tell you? Does he love his wife? No, he doesn't.

Does he love his kids? No, he doesn't. If he loves his family, he will defend his family. If a person is not willing to defend the faith, do they really love the faith? So this is kind of an important issue for me.

Like I said, the first time I ever spoke publicly was at a men's breakfast about 15 years ago on this topic, defending the faith. And I'm sure it was a lousy message. I have no doubt about that. But I was willing to do it.

And sometimes we feel like, well, I don't have the words. I don't know what to say. Say something. Say something. I was talking to one person about this topic, and they said, well, does the faith really need to be defended?

Does it really need to be defended? Well, because there's different types of apologetics. Some people use philosophy and logic and archaeology, and that's fine. That has its place, I suppose. There's another approach to apologetics where you just tell people what the Bible says.

Hey, let the Bible speak for itself. You don't need to come up with 50 different clever arguments. Just declare to the person what the scripture says. You know, I think that's the best approach. Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said, the word of God is like a lion.

You don't need to defend a lion. All you need to do is let the lion loose, and the lion will defend itself. So we do need to defend the faith, but the best way to do that is just bring the word of God to bear.

So when a person tells you that the universe exploded into being or that man was evolved from a primate, all you have to do is say, well, Genesis 127 says that God created man in his own image. In the likeness of God, he created him.

Male and female, he created them. The best way to defend the faith is just bringing the word of God to bear. After all, in Matthew chapter 4, when Jesus was tempted by the devil, what did Jesus do? He wielded the sword of the spirit, and when the devil came with his temptations, Jesus quoted the scripture.

If it's good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for us. But in order to use the sword of the spirit to quote the scripture, of course, we need to know. We need to learn the scripture. So how are we supposed to fight?

Use the word of God. First and foremost, use the word of God. And, again, be a joyful fighter. People need to see that you actually have joy in your life. People need to see that you actually have hope and that you love God and you love the church and you love his people.

If they see you and you just seem miserable and angry and you just want to fight just for the sake of fighting, that's not going to be a very good testimony. So be a joyful fighter. We should have that hopeful optimism.

Why? Because we're on the winning side. Amen? We're on the winning team. We're serving the king of kings. We should feel privileged that he has enlisted us into his army. So let's briefly finish up with when we should fight.

We talked about the necessity of fighting. Don't let anyone fool you that you shouldn't fight. No, we need to. Don't let anyone fool you that, oh, just talk about things. Yeah, fight the battles that have already been won in the past.

We'll talk about those, too. The scripture is definitely our foundation. But we need to fight about the things going on right now. And how to fight? Joyfully. Use the word of God. But when? Let's talk about briefly.

Let's talk about when we should fight. You've heard this. People say, well, you need to pick your battles, right? You need to pick your battles. Yeah, I mean, I guess there's some truth to that. You don't need to be interjecting something 100 of the time.

So, okay, use your wisdom and pick your battles. But if you have an opportunity to share what the word of God says, again, in a kind way, and it might come off as confrontational because you're expressing some disagreement.

But whatever opportunity you have, I mean, I would say take it. Take it. Why not? Why not? Again, don't be contentious. Don't be rude. You need to use wisdom. But if you have an opportunity, why not take it?

The Main Opponents: Atheists and False Teachers

But here, okay, when to fight? Here are our two greatest opponents. First, it's the atheists where they attack primarily the creation account, the first few chapters of the Bible, because they know that if they can discredit the beginning of the Bible, then the rest will just fall into place.

If they can get people to not believe the first few chapters of Genesis, then why would you believe anything else? So our enemy, well, let's use the word opponent because they're not really our enemy, are they?

The devil is our enemy. They're just wrapped up in it all. And the goal, don't lose sight of the goal, the goal, part of it is to silence them. Part of it is to shut them up. I have to admit that. But really, our purpose is to win them over.

Amen? We want to win converts. So let's not lose sight of it. But they are our opponent, the atheists. And then, and they're going after our kids. They're going after your grandchildren, especially through the public school system, TV, Internet.

So parents, grandparents, this is your fight. Do you love your children? Do you love your grandchildren? Show it. If you have an opportunity, they express some viewpoint that is totally untrue, ungodly, with a smile, as a joyful warrior, tell them what the Bible says.

Even if they don't appreciate it at the moment, they will grow up to see that you cared about them. And they'll know that. But the other enemy, the other opponent, is the false teachers in the church.

They're a little more subtle. Nobody thinks Charles Darwin, Sigmund Freud, and Richard Dawkins are Christians. Nobody thinks that. But many good folks do get sucked in by false teachers. As the scripture says, what do they do?

They turn the grace of God into, as the NIV puts it, they turn the grace of God into a license for immorality, Jude 1 .4. In the New King James, they turn the grace of God into lewdness. So what they're doing is that Jesus is just there to bless you in your sin.

Jesus is just there to bless you in your sin and to make you feel good about it. And it's so obvious, all one has to do is drive through New England and you see the flags and the placards outside of these so-called houses of worship.

But here's the thing, that same mindset is creeping in to evangelical churches. So, in conclusion, what battles are we to fight? Here are the main battles. We need to defend the essential teachings of Christianity.

What is that? The deity of Christ, the virgin birth of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, the authority of scripture, salvation by grace, not works, that salvation is, Jesus is the only way of salvation.

These are the main battles that the church needs to fight. But really, anything that sort of undercuts the gospel, anything that undercuts the gospel, in other words, anything that promotes sin and worldliness into the church.

Here's what I don't think would ever happen at Morris Corner Church, where a teacher would get up from the pulpit and deny the deity of Christ, or deny the virgin birth, or say, Jesus is never coming back or there is no God.

I don't think that would ever happen. But here's what could happen, where the devil could get a hold of somebody and say, hey, don't worry about that. Okay, I know the Bible says that's wrong, don't worry about that.

And they just make excuses to let sin and ungodliness into the church. That Jesus is just there to bless us in our sin and let's not worry about it. Don't judge, let people do what they want. And I know that that happens in churches and can happen in a church because it's happening everywhere.

So when we see it, say, no, I don't think so. That can't happen here. Well, it can happen here, but we're not going to allow it to happen here. Be a joyful fighter. Show people that you care. Defend the faith.

Do it with kindness. Sanctify, but first, to go back to what Peter said, sanctify the Lord God in your heart. Before you can defend all these other areas and speak up, you know, it has to be in here. You need to sanctify your heart and make sure things between you and God are right.

And then he's going to give you plenty of opportunities to defend the faith. Are you willing to defend the faith? Do you love the Lord? If you love the Lord, you will defend the faith once for all delivered.

Contend earnestly for the faith, which was once for all delivered to the saints. Let's pray. And Lord, how grateful we are that you loved us so much that God became a man to bring men unto God. And I pray that we would be faithful in our mission to preach the gospel and to defend the faith.

And Lord, if someone is listening to this message right now and they have never committed their life to you, I'm reminded of what Isaiah said, or what the Lord said in Isaiah 118. Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord.

Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. And though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Lord, we thank you for the grace you have shown us. Empower your people to do your work, I pray.

It's in Jesus' name. Amen. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, morriscornickchurch .com.

We'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.