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Bro. Otis Fisher
23rd verse of the first book of Jude. I asked you last week to come with your explanation of this verse. Let me read it. And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
Verge, what's your explanation? Clarence, what do you think? Have you had time to look it over? And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire. This refers to the sinners who we consider hopeless.
Now, everybody can be saved as far as man knows. He cannot differentiate between those that are and those that are not, or those that will and those that will not. Seems impossible that they'll ever be saved.
Jude admonishes us not to give up on them. Others have fear with pulling them out of the fire. As far as man's concerned, there is no one beyond redemption. We do not know who the unsaved are, but we are witnesses to all people.
Yes, that's right. They both are. We have the fear of not doing it. We have the fear of doing it. The fact that, what did he say about the garments? Hating even the garment spotted by flesh. If this is a saved person to whom you're speaking and they've slipped back into sin, it's just the garments, the outside.
You cannot save the inside. They're not living as they should and you see it. So I hate even the outward presentation of this person. That it's because of the same gospel that saves the elect will be used to judge everybody else.
If you take the position that this is a lost person, I need to witness to him. What you are witnessing to him, he either receives or he doesn't receive. But regardless of that, you have witnessed to him in preparation for his judgment or his salvation.
By your witnessing to him, you're telling him the gospel. And of course, when we witness, we tell nothing of ourself as Jesus Christ. Therefore, no one can be able to say that they have not heard God.
He'll never be able again to say that he hasn't heard of God, if he's lost. If he's saved and he's backslidden so far that I don't want to mess with him, that's wrong. If he is put in front of you to mess with, don't ignore it.
But yes, but not here. It's saving them like you would snatch something out of a fire to keep it from burning up. God will not use anything the flesh produces. Now, we need to get that fixed in our mind as and to where we don't have to think that anymore.
He will not use anything that the flesh produces. God hates everything that man does of himself, of himself, from his wrong motive, lest it's in response to and led by the Holy Spirit, God doesn't receive it.
All right? Yes, so it becomes a daily challenge. Should I talk to this person? Should I not? And if I do, then what do I say? A prayer must first originate with God. I hope we understand that. He gives us the thoughts, the ideas, the Holy Spirit does.
Then the Holy Spirit takes what we say and translates it into God's language. There's no programs, no gimmicks, anything else that's pleasing to God. God needs nothing. Nothing. We're to teach, to believe, to live his life in us.
Yes. All right, making a difference also applies to you. You do not witness to this person like you witness to that one. You fit it to the person. Make a difference between them. You cannot establish a ritual, you can't establish a sheet that I'll read this to everybody.
It doesn't work like that. You're supposed to make the difference and that applies in you. Now, our Lord is behind all of it, but we have to be smart enough to tailor the conversation to fit this person.
Yes, that's right. Yeah, yes. You cannot memorize a witness. This is something that comes from the heart. Now, the more you know about the person, the more quickly you can get to the heart of the matter, but if you don't know them, just put out some feelers in your conversation.
Mention something about the Lord and if he responds good, then go a little deeper. Yes, yes, that's right. If you've had the experience, if you, well, not if you know about somebody else, but if you had the experience.
Yes. We're to teach to believe and live his life in us. We are not to do all the good deeds we can. Now, that may seem strange to you, but we're not. If I would, when I got up this morning, if I decide that today I'm going to do good deeds, it doesn't work that way.
It has to be spontaneous. It has to be from the heart. It has to be driven by the Holy Spirit that's in you. We're to obey God. He has us right where he wants us to prepare us for that which we ain't.
Poor English, but very good theology. He has you right where he wants you, preparing you for the next step. But that's hard to take sometimes, when I realize that he's got me right where he wants me. We sow as we go.
What's the difference between sowing as you go and going to sow, David? That's right. In all of my experiences, I do not know of a single person saved by the method. God doesn't save like that. Now, he may save that person, but it's not due to what you've done.
We're perfect. We're at each stage we reach. Would God have it any other way than to have everybody right where they're supposed to be? Would he? No. Could he? No. Not in be sovereign. And if he responds to one little thing, that throws the whole thing off.
Hating even the garments spotted by the flesh. The word flesh refers to the psychological part of man. The part of man that can go only so far. You cannot go further. The fact is that the child of God should hate even the garment spotted by the flesh.
The outward appearance of everybody. God cannot use anything that the flesh produces. Make any difference between the weak and the willful. Some we must treat with tenderness. Others save with fear, urging the terrors of the Lord.
There are some of God's children that have a hard time believing in the truth. Be patient with them, remembering that you were at one time also ignorant of his holy word. How many of you remember that?
Let me see your hand. All right. Yes, it should be daily. Remember who you are. This little epistle closes with a glorious benediction. Let me read it. Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy to the only wise God our Savior be glory and majesty dominion and power both now and forever.
Amen. Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling. Who is the him? Jesus Christ. Jesse, he's the one that keeps you. We have been given to him by the Father. He prays for us. He doesn't pray for the world.
He prays for us. Keep us from falling. David, what does that mean? The falling part? That's right. If you view everybody as falling to hell, the Lord came and catches certain ones. He catches you on your way to hell.
Would you not go to hell if it were not for him? Sure you would. So he caught you. He knows who he catches and who he doesn't. And he does it for one reason. One reason only. Dennis, what is that reason?
I'm sorry, but that's not it. He loves us all right to glorify God. He saved you to bring glory to his name. To his name. Now he loves us or he wouldn't save us, but the reason, the bottom reason behind it all was to please God.
Then he's going to present. What's the word present mean, Bill? All right. I'll go with that. I missed something. Yes. Yes. How many of you have pictured yourself already there? Anybody? It's not an easy thing to do, but we are.
Spiritually, we're in Christ and he's there. Present us. Present us how? Russell, how is he going to present us? Blameless, faultless. What does faultless mean, Bill? That's right. No one is going to present us not like we are, thank goodness, but as he is.
Faultless. It's a word that I cannot grasp. I can't get a hold of it. All I can do is say it. Faultless, blameless. Well, sure he does. He does everything. We cannot personally grow into that. Then it's going to be before the presence of his glory and exceeding joy.
Before the presence. Dwayne, what does that mean, before the presence? Dennis, rather. All right. What does he mean when he says, present you faultless? Before the presence of his glory. All right. Be standing in Christ, Jesus, before the Father.
Now, Jesse, how much better can he get? We have no idea what that is. Yes. Exceeding joyful. Yes. Yes. Where the joy of Christ presented to the Heavenly Father. I've got goose bumps all over me. Exceeding joy.
Now, regardless of what you have experienced, what is left for you to experience, it will be a joy to Christ to present you faultless to the Heavenly Father and the glory of the Heavenly Father. Sure, we'll be joyful because he's joy.
The only wise God, our Savior. Who is that, David? The only wise. Jesse, now it'll be Christ, be Jesus, but he is the only wise. What does that mean? Yes. If you had all wisdom, all knowledge, all knowing, all present, you'd be wise also.
That's right. That's right. Greg? Yes. Foolishness or wise, which would you choose? You choose the wise. All others are foolishness. Now, that's a weak word compared to what it really is. The only wise God, our Savior, and that's Jesus.
Be glory and be majesty, dominion, and power, both now and forever. What is the glory here, David? All right. Bill, what's he mean when he says the glory and majesty? Well, it's difficult to do, but he separated them here.
Glory and majesty, they can go together, which they do, but the majesty alone would be enough. His glory alone would be enough. But then we come to dominion. Now, Virg, what does he mean, his majesty dominion and power?
Dominion. Can you name anything that is not? Did God make all things? Is Christ God? Did Christ ever become not God? When he died on the cross, was that Christ that died on the cross, or did God die? Is he right, David?
Well, you're right. Christ didn't die. If he had, God died, and God didn't do that. There wouldn't have been anybody to bring him back. But Jesus died. We saw that on the cross, and he died willingly.
He did not die and then bow his head. He bowed his head, then died. There's a big difference. That's right. That's right. On the cross, Jesus Christ separated himself from the Christ. Jesus died. He was carrying in his body, I don't know how, but every sin we ever committed or ever will commit.
Dominion and power. We come to the last dunamis. Power. Power. Yes. Yes. That's right. That's right. Yes. That's right. He came back using the body that we will have. Now, we got a glimpse of that on the Mount of Transfiguration.
When you study that, that isn't Jesus. It's the earthly Jesus. It's the, what do we call, the glorified body of Christ in the form of Jesus, but it was the glorified body that those men saw. Yes. Dominion.
Yes. I hope, and I'm working on the assumption that you don't go from this class out and tell anybody what you have learned here, because they'll run you off. They'll shake their head. They'll wonder about you, but they don't know what we know, do they?
We know some things they don't. Well, that's true, and that's why I caution all of you. Don't go out and say what you've heard here, but Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, the Jesus part died. Something had to, and it was the man.
Now, we know that. There's no question about it, but we cannot tell others unless they know it also. Well, that's true. That's right, and he has allowed me to understand it. That doesn't mean you understand it.
That means I have to tell you what's been revealed to me, and that's where I leave it. You're right. Separation. I need to focus on that both now and forever. He had to give it up. All right. That finishes Jude.
Next week we'll start, yes, Zephaniah. Zephaniah. I think we're going to just be concerned with Zephaniah next week. It'll blow you away, so read it this week. Read the first verse, well, maybe the first verse.
Read the first chapter. Study it. Zephaniah. Duane, would you dismiss us, please? Dennis, then.