"Contend For The Faith" | August 15, 2021

hi i'm robert jeffress pastor of first baptist church in dallas we are so excited to have you join us on the i campus today for a time of inspiring worship and biblical teaching you are part of a vast online community gathered from all over the world we consider you a part of our first baptist church family and we hope you feel a part of what god is doing in and through first baptist dallas no matter where you are we hope and pray that this is a time you will grow in your relationship with god and others as we worship our savior together welcome to worship [Music] [Applause] [Music] well good morning and welcome to worship at first baptist dallas today church let's stand together let's praise the lord praise to the lord the almighty the king of creation o my soul praise o my soul praise him for he it's thy health and salvation [Music] join me [Music] [Music] praise to the lord who don't prosper thy word and defend thee surely his goodness and mercy your daily [Music] if [Music] psalm 150 declares praise the lord praise god in his sanctuary praise him in his mighty heavens praise him for his mighty acts of power and praise him for his surpassing greatness let everything that happened praise the lord [Music] a [Music] forever [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] race praise the lord this morning in his sanctuary we lift him up may he inhabit the praises of his people let our grace be your welcome let our songs we are here for you we're here for you we are here for you let your breath come from heaven let your breath come from heaven fill our hearts with your life we are here for you that's why we've come here today we are here for you to you our hearts are open to you our hearts are nothing here is [Music] fall [Music] oh [Music] let your word move [Music] we're here for you we are here for you [Music] fall down [Music] [Music] let your fire fall down let your fire fall down [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] we welcome you with all praise his name today amen you may be seated and we welcome everyone to worship that first baptist dallas today it's great to see you and we also welcome our guests joining us both here in our downtown dallas campus as well as on our eye campus and we have a very special gift package for our guests today it includes our pastors a place called heaven devotional 100 days of living in the hope of eternity as well as our choir's recent cd all for your glory and guest as you came in this morning you received a worship guide you'll find enclosed this welcome card guest please take the time to fill this card out and keep it with you at the end of the service take it with you outside these main worship center doors right there you're going to find our welcome center our staff is waiting there for you we can't wait to meet you and you'll exchange your completed card for your gift package today and we'll answer any questions you might have regarding our church guest if you can't make it to the welcome center we have some orange boxes on your way out you can also just slip the card in one of those and we'll mail you a copy of your gift if you're joining us on icampus there's a link on your screen just click on that to access your gift as well again welcome everyone to worship this morning lots of exciting events taking place here in the life of our church at first baptist dallas let's all take a look together at the screen good morning we are so thankful to be with you in worship we have an exciting season ahead and want to take a moment to tell you about a few upcoming events next sunday august 22nd following worship we are inviting all those who have recently joined first dallas to attend our new member lunch with dr jeffress you can register for this event online that evening at 6 p.m we will have a night of worship to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the first dallas orchestra this free concert is in special memory of our former directors and will feature our orchestra's new album to god be the glory you will not want to miss it fantastic fall sundays kick off on september 5th as grammy and dove award winner michael w smith joins us in worship with the first dallas choir and orchestra invite a friend to the first of eight big sundays at first dallas finally it is good to gather together to worship we encourage everyone to help maintain a healthy environment by using our hand sanitizing stations practicing social distancing when appropriate and wearing your mask if you're not vaccinated for more information on everything happening at our church visit firstdallas.org events our scripture passage this morning is found in the little epistle of jude right next to revelation and we'll be reading verses 17 through 23. it's so small it doesn't even have a chapter name so verses 17 through 23 and we'll read from the new american standard bible and you'll see those words here on the screen for our worship center and for oncampus you'll have the words on your screens as well we want everyone to read god's word together we invite you to stand too to honor the reading of god's word if you will as we read jude beginning with verse 17 ending with verse 23 but you beloved ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our lord jesus christ that they were saying to you in the last time there shall be mockers following after their own ungodly lusts these are the ones who cause divisions worldly minded devoid of the spirit but you beloved building yourself up on your most holy faith praying in the holy spirit keep yourselves in the love of god waiting anxiously for the mercy of our lord jesus christ to eternal life and have mercy on some who are doubting save others snatching them out of the fire and on some have mercy with fear hating even the garment polluted by the flesh may god richly bless the reading of his word let's keep standing together as tyler comes back to lead us as we continue this worship time [Music] jesus christ is lord and at that name every knee shall bow and tongue confess that he is lord jesus christ is lord to the glory of god the father let's worship together lost our saved [Music] of your great name every fear has no place [Music] jesus [Music] will praise your great name although [Music] [Music] receive praise [Music] is [Music] is [Music] the son of god amen [Music] [Music] defender [Music] my [Music] oh [Music] jesus [Music] [Music] sure [Music] way [Music] [Applause] [Music] we praised that great name this morning amen you may be seated as ron harris comes back to lead us in our operatory prayer this is the time of the service that we dedicate the tithes and offerings we give them a little differently now there are receptacles as you leave the worship center where you may deposit them there's online giving there are many other ways that you can give i would encourage you to faithfully support god's work in the life of first baptist dallas and i want to thank you for that but let's take time to dedicate that with prayer there are kneelers here you may kneel as you're able to let's pray before god as we give back to him heavenly father it is a blessing to be here thank you for your love your grace and your mercy in our lives we do come to dedicate tithes and offerings help us to be sacrificial in our giving so that the work of god and the word of god would go forth from this place touching hearts and lives here and around the world and lord on a day like this we are reminded of a rampant pandemic in certain places of devastating earthquakes a remnants of war revival of persecution in some places and it breaks our hearts and minds to the words of the hymn writer oh god our help in ages past our hope for years to come our shelter from the stormy blast and our eternal home may we faithfully tell to all around us that there is hope found in jesus christ god's son and it's in his name that we pray amen [Music] [Applause] is [Music] one side was straight [Music] insane [Music] [Music] i see [Music] then came this savior [Music] i blessed [Music] [Applause] like me [Music] [Music] his heart was broken one is [Music] is [Music] [Music] be crossing [Music] but his precious hand will lead [Music] then i'll join [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] his heart was [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] yes [Applause] [Applause] thank you kelly emery tyler brinson first dallas choir and orchestra good morning church well on behalf of our pastor dr jeffress who by the way will be back tomorrow and in the pulpit next week i want to welcome you to worship i want to welcome those across the way in our day one service and the thousands watching with us on icampus from all over the world you may remember a few months ago the story of the ever given the ever given was one of the largest container ships ever built it was making its way through the suez canal and it was carrying approximately one billion dollars worth of cargo the ever given is almost as long as the empire state building is high and it was navigating the suez canal which is less than 700 feet wide and less than 80 feet deep well as this massive ship navigated this already challenging environment it was suddenly assailed by gale force winds of over 40 miles per hour to make matters worse these winds were blowing in from across the egyptian desert turning the sky yellow impairing the view of the captain and the two pilots now news reports suggest that panic suddenly ensued as the ship was assaulted by these winds the lead pilot began shouting instructions to the helmsman turn right turn left the second pilot began arguing with the lead pilot running out of options the lead pilot commanded full ahead as the second pilot even attempted to countermand that order to no avail according to bloomberg as the giant ship sped ahead thousands of water of gallons of waters rushed past the ship between the shore and started pulling it closer and closer to catastrophe now before anybody could take corrective action the ever given had run aground it had lodged itself diagonally in the suez canal blocking almost 10 billion dollars in trade every day it said and there it sat shipwrecked until help arrived captain muhammad el-sayed hassanin an experienced navy captain serving in the suez canal authority he appeared on the scene and he immediately developed a plan of action they arranged for excavators and dredges to be begin digging out the ship overnight during low tide and then during high tide the tugboats would pull the ship out so after days of working at this they began inching the ship out slowly but surely finally they took on 2 000 gallons of water uh 2 000 tons of water excuse me in the stern of the ship lifting the bow as tugboats pulled the ship back to its intended course now the ever given immediately became an internet sensation it became the butt of all kinds of jokes but i wanted to show you these images today to remind you of a very real and very serious issue in the christian life you see like the ever given we are already navigating a very challenging even a threatening environment we navigate these trenches treacherous waters and suddenly we are blindsided by a very particular danger a danger that inhibits our visibility it creates confusion and it threatens to blow us off course this danger is coming today as an unmitigated assault on the tenets of our faith on sound doctrine on the truth of scripture it's coming in the form of misleading messages and false teachings the christian faith and teachings of scripture are under open assault in america like never before if you are not prepared parents grandparents if your children are not prepared these assaults threaten to thrust you into chaos unable to find your way wrecked by confusion about what is true amidst the ever-changing values of our society so how do we respond as christians well we find the answer in god's word we see it in the book of jude we see that this is not a new phenomenon by any means this is not unprecedented this is something that god's people have been facing since the beginning but unlike those on the ever given you must know what to do when you are battered by the winds of this world so please turn now in your bibles to the book of jude there's only one chapter in jude and we're looking specifically today at jude verses 17 through 23. now in conclusion to his letter to these embattled believers jude outlined his three-step action plan jude writes but you beloved ought to remember the words that were spoken before him by the apostles of our lord jesus christ that they were saying to you in the last time there will be mockers following after their own ungodly lust these are the ones who cause divisions worldly minded devoid of the spirit but you beloved building yourselves up on your most holy faith praying in the holy spirit keep yourselves in the love of god waiting anxiously for the mercy of our lord jesus christ to eternal life and have mercy on some who are doubting save others snatching them out of the fire and on some have mercy with fear hating even the garment polluted by the flesh now before delving further into jude's action plan to believers his charge to us i want to provide you with some background some context for this short letter the author is generally thought to be jude the half brother of jesus christ as we'll see in jude 17 jude who is not one of the apostles points to the apostles teachings as authoritative in verse 1 he identifies himself as a servant of jesus and the brother of james and we know that james of course was also a half-brother of jesus christ meaning he was the son of mary and joseph james became the leader of the church in jerusalem now we know from john 7 5 that jesus's brothers did not necessarily believe that he was messiah when they were younger but according to scripture in acts 1 14 that indicates that they came to believe and they were committed to serving him as lord after christ's death burial and resurrection so here we have a letter from jude his the half-brother of jesus christ who came to know him as lord and is now diligently passionately representing his savior to his church the book's written to a group of believers that are being exposed to false teachings false teachings that threaten to undermine doctrinal tenets and principles and values of their christian faith interestingly in verse 3 jude notes that he intended to write a treatise of salvation he said that i was making every effort to write to you about our common salvation but the crisis that was facing the church demanded his immediate response so thomas schreiner describes jude's letter this way he says it is a warning to beloved believers to escape a deadly peril he explains that jude was written so that believers could contend for the faith that was transmitted to them and so that they would not abandon god's love at a crucial time in the life of their church such a message must still be proclaimed today you see here false teachers had infiltrated this church they were working to see deceive these relatively new believers they were outsiders that had weaseled their way in to the christians lives to lead them astray and these deceivers were peddling a particular form of heresy a form of gnosticism which different differentiated between the spirit as good and the flesh or material as evil and so what they taught was that as long as you were cultivating your spirit you could allow your flesh to indulge in all kinds of fleshly desires in other words rather than conforming themselves to scripture these false teachers these heretics created a theology that accommodated their sinful desires and we see that of course happening in society today edward pentecost notes the heart of this apostasy was that it turned the grace of god into license and lasciviousness jude wrote to warn of this dual apostasy of wrong conduct and false doctrine now where the church may not be presented with an overt message of gnosticism today the wolf of deception that leads you to confusion about what is true comes closed clothed in even more illusory sheep's clothing these assaults on the word of god are commonly presented to us as a type of progressive contemporary thinking and they frame the orthodox teachings of christianity as uneducated uninformed antiquated or obsolete they have often been subversive but today they are becoming increasingly overt we saw this a few months ago as christian university oral roberts made its way to the sweet 16 in the ncaa men's basketball tournament usa today described oru's biblical values as archaic they argued it should not be allowed to compete because it quote fundamentalist christian beliefs are wildly out of line with modern society and the basic values of human decency usa today contended there is no way to separate their men's basketball team from the dangers of their religious dogma no matter how many top seeds they defeat whatever the oral roberts men's basketball team manages to do on the court can't obscure the dangerous and hateful ideology of its core institution and this was because as a university they held to the historic beliefs of christianity and this is just one example of these gale force winds that are sailing christians today these assaults on our beliefs are not just coming from secular media outlets they're not just coming from anti-christian extremists all too often as in the days of jude these misleading these confusing messages are coming from churches and pulpits across america they're coming from christian broadcast and podcasts and books and media they're leaving people wondering what to believe they are messages solely designed to tickle the ears and they're not limited to the trending issues of morality today they're designed to undermine the very foundations of the gospel is there any message that is less tolerated today than that of john 14 6 that salvation through jesus christ is the only way to enter heaven and to escape the fires of hell now by the way that's one reason that i'm excited to serve in a church like first baptist dallas that's built on the bible and to serve under a pastor like dr jeffress who is committed to the truth and the authority of god's word and though today's false messages have been repackaged they've been adapted to our time those attacking the truth of god's worth demonstrate those same characteristics of those in jude's day they deny the lordship of jesus christ they exercise sinful license they rebel against moral authority they're concerned for their own selfish desires and worldly gain they seek to cause division in the church they criticize christians who dare hold fast to the teachings of scripture and so in the face of this deadly peril jude charges believers for all time contend for the faith the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints that is a faith that doesn't change a faith that never grows old as charles ryrie describes it it is the body of truth once for all given not to be added to or subtracted from we know the grass withers the flower fades but the word of god will stand forever contend for the faith harold bateman put it this way strive to preserve godliness in a godless society that is the theme of jude's epistle it is his message to us today now turning again to verses 17 through 23 jude outlines a three-step action plan to contend for the faith first jude encourages believers to remember the scripture remember the scripture in verse 17 he writes but you beloved uh to remember the words that were spoken before him by the the apostles of jesus christ that they were saying to you in the last time there will be mockers following after their own ungodly lust now here the greek tense for remember implies an action that is being commanded as a whole without focus on duration or repetition it is a summary command urging christians to consistently look to scripture as their authority the guide in all matters of faith and practice now remember these christians they didn't have the canonized bible that we have today but they understood the apostles teachings to be authoritative they knew that these were people who had first-hand knowledge of jesus christ's teachings they had witnessed his ministry and they as his appointed apostles their teachings were authoritative they were reliable they were credible and so jude told believers to remember these predictive prophecies of the apostles these prophecies that they foretold mockers would come scoffers would come these false teachers would come and jude is reminding these christians that they shouldn't be surprised they shouldn't be confused or deceived because as they are sailed by these false teachings when their beliefs are called into questions they are they have been warned that these very attacks on their faith would come we see this from the apostles in their last days both peter and paul warned christians of those who would pervert the truth of scripture in attempts to deceive the brethren in second peter 3 3 peter wrote above all you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come scoffing and following their own evil desires in the same later he cautioned the church against these false teachers who had introduced destructive heresies even denying the sovereign lord paul also warned the church in ephesus he said i know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you not sparing the flock and from from among your own selves men will arise speaking for perverse things distorting the truth to draw away the disciples after them therefore be on the alert he's saying those who even claim to be christians will confuse you with these false and misleading messages intended to undermine the faith now as part of this warning we also get a peek into the enemy's playbook we get to see their mo their modus operandi they told believers that these heretics would scoff at their beliefs they would follow their own ungodly desires they would seek to defied the church in verse 19 jude says they seek to cause divisions they are worldly minded rather than spiritually minded literally they only think about the things of the world they never think about the things of god he says they're devoid of the spirit they're not saved they don't bear the fruit of the spirit they don't act like jesus christ now before moving on i want to pause here and i want to address something i find it interesting that these false teachers these enemies of the faith employ a certain strategy they seek to cause division in the church in proverbs 6 19 scripture lists causing division among christian brethren as one of the things that god hates in psalm 133 david wrote how good and pleasant it is when god's people live in unity together in his sermon on this passage the prince of preachers charles hadn't spurred and proclaimed how my heart loves the doctrine of the one church as the body of christ we're called to be unified under his headship intolerant of divisions and of those who would seek to divide us and again that's something i appreciate about the first baptist church in dallas that's something that we get to enjoy a healthily unified church that's not plagued by divisions and i want to take this moment to encourage us all today to do everything that we can empowered and equipped by god's holy spirit to maintain that unity that we enjoy in our church now why is it so important that we remember this warning this warning of the apostles that identifies these heretics now it's critical as christians that we are able to anticipate these attacks as parents and grandparents seeking to rear your christian children as your beliefs are ridiculed in the workplace as they're scoffed at in the media as confusing heresies are secretly and sneakily introduced to you jude and the apostles are saying beware don't be blindsided by these assailing winds and caught off guard such that you make wrong decisions and you shipwreck your faith prepare yourselves with this truth of scripture when these challenges come you know what to do and you know what they are now this verse reminds me of the famous heavyweight championship boxing match between muhammad ali and george foreman it was called the rumble in the jungle in 1974 it was described as one of the greatest sporting events of the 20th century and foreman was the perceived favorite he was younger he was a powerhouse he was aggressive but ali said he had a secret plan to defeat foreman he knew what foreman was going to do so when foreman charged out and started punching away at ali ali employed what he called the rope-a-dope he stood back and he took punch after punch shot after shot until eventually george foreman became tired and ali went to work knocking him to the canvas and ultimately winning the heavyweight boxing championship and that's what jude is telling us here like muhammad ali we know what our overly aggressive opponent is going to do it is going to come at you with every lie in the book it is going to hit you with every false deceiving message that it can it is going to attempt to undermine your faith and if you are not prepared it is going to knock you out but if you know what it's going to do you can prepare yourself to absorb those blows you can prepare yourself from a barrage of heresies with a knowledge of god's word and an unshakable commitment to its authority ultimately as christ promised us in revelation 2 those who are not seduced by the things of satan and stay true to his god's word will over come remember the scripture secondly jude writes keep yourselves in the love of god in verses 20 and 21 he writes but you beloved building yourselves up on your most holy faith praying in the holy spirit keep yourselves in the love of god waiting anxiously for the mercy of our lord jesus christ to eternal life so what he's saying here is it's not enough just to resist attacks you can't just stay on defense but you have to be prepared to go on the spiritual offensive too now what does it mean to keep yourselves in the love of god commentators and theologians wrestle over this does it mean that you are to maintain your love for god or does it mean that you are somehow to maintain his love for you the answer is both they cannot be separated we love god because he first loved us we see that in first john 4 10 and 19. the greek lexicon reflects this commandment is an encouragement to keep yourselves from harm by making it possible for god to show his love for you in the future in other words do those things that lead you to live in such a way that you demonstrate your love for god and when you do god and his love for you can rightly demonstrate his love for you now here's an illustration as a father i want to do good things for my children i want to demonstrate my love for them and there have been times when we're about to walk out the door we're about to go do something fun or i'm about to go buy them a present but something goes wrong they start to misbehave they're disrespectful they talk back they hit each other something goes wrong and i have to stop and tell them i can't do what i wanted to do for you because i can't reward that type of behavior i love you i want to demonstrate my love for you but i can't do this right now because i can't condone this type of behavior and that's what jude is saying to us he's saying act in such a way that god can in his grace and in his love demonstrate his love for you when you do those things that allow your heavenly father to pour out his love for you you also strengthen your love for god jesus gave us a similar command saying that we are to abide in his love john 15 8-11 jesus said my father is glorified by this that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples just as the father has loved me i have also loved you so abide in my love he's saying listen to my word do what i have instructed you so that you can continually experience my love spurgeon observed love is like a fire if it does not consume more fuel it burns low you cannot stop where you are to retain you must annex remember that you must advance or backslide you must build higher and higher love must become more and more supreme in your souls or you will decline if you would remain warm be warm now so how do you keep yourselves in the love of god well jude gives us three offensive actions first build yourselves up second pray in the holy spirit third wait on the mercy of christ and so some english versions indicate that these are separate commands but in the greek we see that these are actually means by which christians can keep themselves in the love of god so first he says build yourselves up the greek here for building up means to engage in a building project in the process of personal and corporate development so it is an action of both building up your personal faith and joining together with the church to strengthen the body of christ jude is using this metaphor of building on a solid foundation the foundation is your most holy faith that is sound doctrine the teachings of the apostle apostles the gospel of jesus christ that is reflected in god's word so to withstand these assaults from these false teachers these deceivers you must build upon the truth of your faith constantly learning what god has revealed in his word to you through the scriptures applying it in your life paul gives us a similar instructions in colossians 2 4-8 urging christians not to be deceived by worldly philosophies or fine sounding arguments paul says so then just as you received christ jesus as lord continue to live in him what does he say rooted and built up strengthened in the faith as you were taught now earlier this year we opened the expansion of our horner family center and that includes two new floors on top of the building 90 000 square feet it doubled the size of our existing horner family center but even though that built that expansion was built on top of the building do you know what the first question we had to answer was is the strong is the foundation strong enough is the foundation strong enough you can't build higher if you don't have a firm foundation and the truth of the gospel the authority of scripture is your foundation you build upon god's word clark penick writes the authority of scripture is the foundational principle on which all christian theology rests it constitutes the sturdy ground on which our faith resides thus when you build upon this foundation you will not falter or fail when you are assailed with these wins of false teachings secondly to remain in god's love jude says pray in the holy spirit engage the lord in prayer we are to be a people of prayer as paul writes in thessalonians 5 17 we are to pray continually without ceasing in ephesians 6 18 he issues an instruction like the one from jude paul writes here in the new living translation pray in the spirit at all times then on every occasion stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere now it's clear from scripture when paul when jude talk about praying in the spirit this isn't about speaking in tongues this isn't about some special prayer language this is not some special prayer that is only available to certain believers they are encouraging us to pray genuinely pray is guided by the holy spirit with confidence that the holy spirit will even intercede on your behalf when you don't know what to pray prayer bolsters your faith it enables you to stand boldly for christ and for what you believe the third means for keeping yourself in the love of god is to wait on the mercy of christ to wait on the mercy of christ in jude verse 21 jude writes keep yourself in the love of god waiting anxiously for the mercy of our lord jesus christ to eternal life so believers are to wake anxiously eagerly anticipating looking forward to the second coming of jesus christ our lord to his final judgment to his eternal kingdom we're to keep our eye on the peter warned that scoffers would ask where is this coming that christ promised everything goes on just as it has since the beginning but peter goes on to encourage christians to live holy and godly lives as you look for and hasting the coming of the day of god in writing to titus paul reminded us look for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great god and savior christ jesus he who gave himself for us to redeem us from every lawless lawless deed to purify himself a people for his own possession zealous for for good deeds so it's clear from both peter and from paul that they make a connection between holy living and the anticipation of christ's return so he says look forward to christ's return and thereby you can remain in god's love one commentator explains it this way he says one of the means by which we continue in our love for god is if we continue to long for the day when jesus christ will show us his mercy when he will grant us the gift of eternal life when we will be perfected forever those who take their eyes off their future hope will find that their love for god is slowly evaporating it will be evident that their real love is for the present age so jude writes to contend for the faith keep yourself in god's love do this by developing your faith through the study and the knowledge of god's word by continually engaging the lord in prayer and by living in constant anticipation for christ's return the third and final step in jude's action plan is to have mercy on others he advises christians to demonstrate mercy to two distinct groups he says show mercy to struggling christians and show mercy to unbelievers first he says be gracious to struggling christians he sternly warns against those who are propagating false teachings and confusing messages to undermine the faith but he tells christians to have mercy on those believers that doubt who are being taken in by these false teachings as the church is bombarded with the deception of the enemy as they wage war on the tenets of our faith there are going to be believers who are drawn in who are confused those who are earnestly searching for answers some who are even deceived into engaging in sinful behavior and it's been said by critics that christians love to eat their own in other words we often fail to show mercy to our own even when they need it the most but jude is saying that's contrary to scripture as those who understand the truth we are to correct we are to instruct other christians in love and respect paul explained this to the young pastor timothy his son in the faith teaching him how to deal with such issues in the church paul wrote the lord's bond servant must not be quarrelsome but be kind to all able to teach patient when wronged with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition if perhaps god may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth that they may come to their senses and escape from the snares of the devil secondly jude says save unbelievers save unbelievers from the fire and that's how we show mercy to them he addresses our obligation to unbelievers he charges the church to save others from the fire of course only jesus saves but jesus has commissioned us to participate in his work he has asked us to engage in this rescue mission through the proclamation of the gospel now when i read this verse in jude charging us to save others from the fire i can't help but think of zechariah's vision of the high priest joshua it's recorded in zechariah 3 and his this vision was specific to joshua who at that time represented the nation of israel but but this is a picture of what christ has done for each believer what christ has done for us today zechariah and his vision he finds himself standing before the throne of god he's in the courtroom of heaven and he sees the high priest joshua standing there clothed in filthy rags representing his sin his guilt and the prosecutor satan is there beside him accusing him of his sin demanding the consequences this man joshua deserves to burn in hell and when all seems lost as zechariah stands before in the holy throne of god his advocate steps forward jesus christ our savior he comes forward he says the lord rebuke you satan is not this man a burning stick that i have snatched from the fire and it's not joshua's innocence that saves him here there's absolutely no question that he stands before god wholly guilty it's god's grace it's the intervening action of his advocate his mediator his defender his redeemer jesus christ and jesus steps forward he declares his innocence he says remove his filthy rags remove those garments of sin clothe him in rich white clean garments that represent my righteousness he removes his guilt he puts a a clean turban a priestly turban on his head not only does he remove his guilt he closes him clothes him in the righteousness of christ but by dressing him in these priestly garments he is commissioning him for service he has snatched him from the fire he is now equipping him and sending him out and zechariah 3 8 tells us that joshua and the high priest were symbolic of those things to come you see when you trust in jesus christ as your lord and savior this is exactly what he does for you when state and satan stands before god's throne to accuse you of your sin to accuse you of your guilt there's nothing you can do to declare your innocence but jesus can't your advocate steps forward he rebukes satan on your behalf he claims you as his own as one that he has snatched from the fire through his own atoning death his burial his victorious resurrection he strips off those filthy rags he clothes you in his own righteousness he declares you innocent and presents you as faultless before the throne of an almighty and a holy god more than that he commissions you you are a member of a priesthood of believers he commissions you for service as jude said he sends you out to snatch others from the fire how can we do anything less when you're assailed by the winds of false and confusing messages as you navigate the waters of this world are you prepared to contend for your faith what will you do when others tell you that your beliefs are archaic that they're hateful that they're out of line with modern society can you contend for the faith jude says remember the scripture keep yourselves in the love of god show mercy to others as paul says when the devil day of evil comes having done all these things you can stand let's bow in a word of prayer i'm asking that nobody moved this is our invitation time and i realize that there are some in this service some watching online that have never trusted in jesus christ as their lord and savior before when you stand before the holy god you stand there guilty in your sin you need an advocate a redeemer a savior to step forward and declare your innocence to clothe you in his righteousness jesus christ had paid the price for your sin when he died on the cross he's ready to offer that gift of salvation if you're ready to receive it jesus said i am the way the truth of the life no man comes to the father except through me but it doesn't matter what your background is it doesn't matter what you've done it doesn't matter what those filthy garments represent in your guilt god is ready to forgive you of your sin and you can enjoy his presence and his love forever if you're ready to make that decision today i just ask that you would pray this prayer with me here in the quietness of this moment pray it in your hearts heavenly father i realize that i have sinned i know that i am guilty i have failed you in so many ways but i believe what i've heard here today i believe what your word says that you sent your son jesus christ to die on the cross to take the punishment for my sins that i might be made new and clean and holy so today i am entrusting in christ as my savior for the forgiveness of my sins and i promise to live the rest of my life for you in jesus name amen now looking up i'm going to ask everybody if you would to take this card in your worship guide you should have received one when you came in today and if you made that decision to trust in jesus christ as your lord and savior there's a place on this card where you can indicate that you've made such a decision here at the bottom there's a box that says i prayed the prayer now if you prayed that prayer today if you have trusted in jesus christ as your savior we want to know about that because we want to minister to you we want to strengthen you we want to come alongside you so if you would just take a pen and check that box that said i prayed the prayer and you can take this card when you leave today you can drop it in the receptacles as you exit you can take it to the welcome center just outside where our staff will be and you can give this to them to let us know about your decision and when you do we will send you some resources about what it means to be a christian and how you can continually grow in your faith if you're worshiping with us online today there's a link in the chat room and you can click on that to indicate that you've made the decision and we want to send to you those very same resources our staff is available to you they will connect with you by phone or email to counsel you about your decision and talk with you about what to do next now some of you are here today and you're already saved but maybe you're looking for a new church home you're looking for a place where you can join with other believers in your christian faith a church that's built on the bible on the authority of scripture and committed to god's word if that's you i'd ask that you check the box indicating that you'd like to become a member of our church and again you can leave this card in the receptacle as you leave you can take it to the welcome center we would love for you to become a part of the first dallas family and the family of god others may have an interest in our church you can also check the box indicating that you have would like more information about our church and we'll make sure to get that to you as soon as possible now if you would like to join our church i want you to know that just in a couple of weeks on august 22nd we have a new member's lunch with our pastor and so if you will check that box today our staff will be in touch with you they will get you an invitation to that lunch dr jeffress will be there to meet you and to answer any questions that you have about our church thank you for being here today don't forget that dr jeffress will be back in the pulpit next week and i'm going to ask that you be praying about our fantastic fall sundays that are coming up beginning the first week of september with michael w smith i'm telling you first baptist dallas is one of the most historic and influential churches in our country it is a model of ministry and evangelism but this fall may be one of the greatest opportunities in the 150 year history of our church so i'm asking that you pray and that you invite somebody to be here with you tyler you come now and close our service thank you and could we thank ben lavorne our executive pastor for his great message today and could we stand together church as we close singing his praise this is our story our song [Music] this is my story this [Music] is my story [Music] [Applause] [Music] have a blessed day church [Music] well thank you so much for joining us for worship today on the first dallas eye campus it's our honor and privilege to worship chat and pray with you throughout the service if you are local to dfw let me encourage you to come on down we'd love to have you visit us in person we'd love to greet you and show you a great spot in the worship center for you to sit it would be our honor to worship with you in person in the heart of downtown dallas right here at first baptist dallas also if you are new here to the icampus or have been watching for a while and want to get plugged in let me encourage you to sign up for a free gift we'd love to provide that to you directly in your inbox and then sign you up for pastors daily devotional it's straight from the pen of dr jeffress and you will be encouraged with that great resource each and every day simply visit the link that's provided on your screen and lastly stay connected with us each and every day with our facebook global group there we encourage one another through scripture and graphics but also pray for one another so head on over to facebook and join our icampus global facebook group thank you again for joining us today for worship we look forward to seeing you next week on the first dallas i campus hi i'm robert jeffress pastor of first baptist church in dallas we are so excited to have you join us on the i campus today for a time of inspiring worship and biblical teaching you are part of a vast online community gathered from all over the world we consider you a part of our first baptist church family and we hope you feel a part of what god is doing in and through first baptist dallas no matter where you are we hope and pray that this is a time you will grow in your relationship with god and others as we worship our savior together welcome to worship [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] well good morning and welcome to worship at first baptist dallas today let's stand together and let's praise the lord praise to the lord the almighty the king of creation [Music] my soul praise [Music] [Music] [Applause] join me [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] me [Music] if [Music] psalm 150 declared praise the lord praise god in his sanctuary praise him in his mighty heavens praise him for his mighty acts of power and praise him for his surpassing greatness let everything that have breath grace to the lord [Music] again [Music] gladly forever [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] forever foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] race oh praise the lord this morning we lift him up in this place he inhabits the praises of his people oh let's sing together [Music] we're here we are here for you let your breath come from heaven let your breath come from heaven fill our hearts with your life we are here for you that's why we come here today we are here for you to you our hearts open to you our hearts are open nothing here is [Music] [Music] let our shout out [Music] we're here for you we are here for you let your word move [Music] we are here for you [Music] is [Music] you are [Music] is [Music] let your fire fall [Music] down your fire fall down [Music] oh [Music] oh bless his name this morning amen you may be seated and let's turn our attention to the baptistry thank you tyler we do church continue our worship this is an act of worship as you walk in obedience to the lord we have two today this is christine epps she came to the lord at 16 years old and she's been at our church a couple of months and she is following the lord in believer's baptism christine because you've trusted jesus christ by faith and you've taken him into your life as your lord and savior and in obedience to the lord's high command i baptize you my sister in christ in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit we're buried with christ in the likeness of his death and raised to walk in newness of life and this is anthony terry i asked anthony this morning when he was saved and he said when i was in my daddy's truck there are a lot of people who are saved in their parents vehicles but he came to the lord in july of 2018 and anthony because you've trusted jesus christ as your lord and savior and in obedience to the lord's command i baptize you my little brother and the lord in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit buried with christ in the likeness of his death and raised to walk in newness of life [Applause] incredible we praise the lord this morning and we welcome you to worship we welcome our guests joining us here at first baptist dallas today and if you're a guest joining us we have a very special gift package for you it includes our pastors a place called heaven devotional 100 days of living in the hope of eternity as well as our choir's recent cd entitled all for your glory and guest as you came in this morning you received a worship guide you'll find and close this guest card please take the time to fill this out and keep the card with you at the end of the service take it outside these main worship center doors you're going to find right there our welcome center our staff is waiting there for you to exchange your completed card for your gift today and answer any questions you might have regarding our church we look forward to meeting you now if you can't make it to the welcome center there's also some orange boxes on your way out you can simply slip the card in one of those and we will mail you a copy of your gift if you're joining us on icampus just follow the link on your screen to access your gift as well again great to see each of you this morning so many exciting events are taking place here at first baptist dallas so let's all take a look together at the screen good morning we are so thankful to be with you in worship we have an exciting season ahead and want to take a moment to tell you about a few upcoming events next sunday august 22nd following worship we are inviting all those who have recently joined first dallas to attend our new member lunch with dr jeffress you can register for this event online that evening at 6 pm we will have a night of worship to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the first dallas orchestra this free concert is in special memory of our former directors and will feature our orchestra's new album to god be the glory you will not want to miss it fantastic fall sundays kick off on september 5th as grammy and dove award winner michael w smith joins us in worship with the first dallas choir and orchestra invite a friend to the first of eight big sundays at first dallas finally it is good to gather together to worship we encourage everyone to help maintain a healthy environment by using our hand sanitizing stations practicing social distancing when appropriate and wearing your mask if you're not vaccinated for more information on everything happening at our church visit firstdallas.org events our scripture passage this morning is from the small epistle of jude next to the last book in the bible and it's so small it doesn't even have chapters it's just jude and we'll be reading verses 17-23 reading from the new american standard bible those will be the words on the screen in the worship center and for eye campus as well so that we can all read god's word together and we invite you to stand we do that to honor the reading of god's word as we read together jude beginning with verse 17 and ending with verse 23 but you beloved ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our lord jesus christ that they were saying to you in the last time there shall be mockers following after their own ungodly lusts these are the ones who cause divisions worldly minded devoid of the spirit but you beloved building yourself up on your most holy faith praying in the holy spirit keep yourselves in the love of god waiting anxiously for the mercy of our lord jesus christ to eternal life and have mercy on some who are doubting save others snatching them out of the fire and on some have mercy with fear hating even the garment polluted by the flesh may god richly bless the reading of his word now let's keep standing as tyler comes back to lead us as we continue in worship there's no greater name than the name of jesus and at that name every knee shall bow and tongue confess that jesus christ is lord to the glory of god the father let's worship together lost our saved find their way at the sound of your great name all condemned feel no shame at the sound of your great name everything has no place [Music] has to leave jesus [Music] and all the world will praise [Music] hungry [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] jesus [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] oh thank you [Music] [Music] jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus [Music] oh [Music] praise that great name amen you may be seated as dr ron harris comes back to lead us in our offertory prayer it's time for us to dedicate our tithes and offerings as we have opportunity to give you can give as you exit the receptacles that are there you can give online there are many ways that you can give be faithful to give back a portion of how god has blessed you for the work of his church here at first baptist there are kneelers in this main area we invite you to bow before the lord as we pray together at this time heavenly father it is a blessing to be here to be among your people to praise your holy name and we pray lord that as we give our tithes and offerings that we will do it lord humbly realizing that you have given us everything and have asked for a portion of it back as an expression of our love for you who sacrificed all for us lord we look around us in the world and there's so much turmoil the ongoing pandemic the horrendous earthquakes the resurgence and remnants of wars and lord those who are being persecuted for their faith we think of the words of the hymn writer who said oh god our help in ages past our hope for years to come our shelter from the stormy blast in our eternal home lord may we demonstrate in our own lives our rock solid foundation in the truth of your word and the hope of christ so that those around us will see and hear and know the power of the gospel the hope of jesus and be encouraged and strengthened we thank you for a church that sends out your truth far and wide and may we be a people who do the same in our own personal lives taking seriously the opportunity to be ready to share the hope of christ lord we pray all this in the strong name of the one who gave his life for us on calvary jesus amen [Music] is [Music] once i was [Music] within [Music] then came this you my blessed savior to save the poor [Music] [Applause] like me [Music] oh [Music] his heart was oh [Music] is [Music] [Music] i'll soon be crossing [Music] but his precious hand will lead me safely [Music] then i'll safely i'll sing [Music] uh [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] thank you kelly emory tyler brenson first dallas choir and orchestra good morning church well dr jeffress our pastor will be back tomorrow and he'll be back in the pulpit next week but on his behalf i want to welcome you to worship today i want to welcome those across the way in our day one service welcome to thousands of you watching with us on our first dallas eye campus and i want to especially welcome our guests who are with us here today some of you may recall the story of the ever given a few months ago the one of the largest container ships ever built the ever given was making its way through the suez canal carrying nearly 1 billion dollars worth of cargo the ever given is almost as long as the empire state building is tall in contrast the suez canal is less than 700 feet wide and less than 80 feet deep as this massive ship navigated an already challenging environment all of a sudden it was assailed by gale force winds of more than 40 miles an hour to make matters worse these winds were coming across the egyptian desert blowing sand into the sky turning the sky yellow which impaired the view of the captain and the two pilots now news reports suggest that as the ship was suddenly assaulted by these winds panic ensued the lead pilot began shouting instructions to the helmsman turn right turn left the second pilot began arguing with the lead pilot about the best course of action running out of options the lead pilot commanded full speed ahead according to bloomberg as the giant ship sped ahead and the thousands of tons of water rushed between the ship and the shore the ship was pulled closer and closer to catastrophe and before anyone could take corrective action the ever given had run aground it lodged itself diagonally in the suez canal blocking trade of nearly 10 billion dollars a day there it said shipwrecked until help arrived captain mohammed el-sayed hassaneen an experienced navy captain serving with the suez canal authority appeared on the scene and began developing an action plan a plan to free and float the ship after considering several options the team decided to bring in excavators and dredgers they began digging out the ship during low tide overnight and pulling with tub boats during hike tide during the day this went on for several days until after being stranded for almost a week they made the decision to take on 2 000 tons of water in the stern to lift the bow of the ship and slowly but surely inch by inch even as ropes begin snapping off of tug boats the giant ship was freed and it resumed its intended course of action now the ever given immediately became an internet sensation in the butt of all kinds of jokes but i wanted to show you these images today to remind you of a very real and very serious threat to the christian life you see like the ever given we are navigating a challenging even threatening environment often as we navigate these treacherous waters we're suddenly blindsided by a very particular danger a danger that inhibits our visibility it creates confusion it threatens to blow us off course that danger is coming as an unmitigated assault on the tenets of our faith on sound doctrine on the truth of scripture it's coming in the form of misleading messages and false teachings indeed the christian faith the teachings of scripture under open assault in america like never before if you are not prepared parents and grandparents if your children are not prepared you may find yourself caught unaware thrust into chaos unable to find your way wrecked by confusion about what is true amidst the ever-changing values of our society so how do we respond well we find the answer in god's word in the book of jude we see that this is not a new phenomenon this is not unprecedented in fact it has been the experience of god's people since the beginning but unlike the ever given you must know what to do when you are battered by the winds of the world to that end jude provides us with a three-step action plan for contending for the faith so please turn in your bibles to the book of jude there's only one chapter in jude and today we're specifically looking at jude verses 17 through 23. now in conclusion to this letter to these embattled believers jude outlines a three-step action plan beginning in verse 17 he says but you beloved ought to remember the words that were spoken before him by the apostles of our lord jesus christ that they were saying to you in the last time there will be mockers following after their own ungodly lust these are the ones who cause division they're worldly minded devoid of the spirit but you beloved building yourselves up on your most holy faith praying in the holy spirit keep yourselves in the love of god waiting anxiously for the mercy of our lord jesus christ to eternal life have mercy on some who are doubting save others snatching them out of the fire and on some have mercy with fear hating even the garment polluted by the flesh now before delving further into jude's charge to believers this three-step action plan i want to provide you with some background and some context for this short letter uh the author of the letter is generally thought to be jude the half-brother of jesus and we see in jude verse 17 he points to the apostles jude was not one of the apostles but he points to their teachings as authoritative in verse one jude identifies himself as a servant of jesus and the brother of james and we know that james was another one of jesus's half-brothers meaning he was the son of mary and joseph we also know that james became the leader of the church in jerusalem well scripture tells us in john 7 5 that jesus's brothers did not necessarily believe that he was the promised messiah when they were younger but then in acts 1 14 scripture indicates that they became to believe and they were committed to serving him after christ's death burial and resurrection and so we have here a letter from jude the half-brother of jesus who is honoring jesus as lord he's come to know him as lord and now he is diligently he is passionately representing his lord and savior to his church the book is written to a group of believers who are being exposed to this danger of false teachings false teachings that were intended to undermine the doctrinal tenets the principles the values of the christian faith in verse three it's interesting jude notes that he had actually planned to write a treatise on salvation jude writes i was making every effort to write to you about our common salvation but this crisis that was facing the church demanded his immediate response it was urgent thomas schreiner describes jude's letter this way he says it is a warning to beloved believers to escape a deadly peril he explains jude was written so that believers would contend for the faith that was transmitted to them and so that they would not abandon god's love at a crucial time in the life of their church such a message he writes must be must still be proclaimed today you see here false teachers had infiltrated the church they were working to deceive these relatively new believers these were outsiders who had weaseled their way into the christian life to lead them astray these deceivers were peddling a particular form of heresy a form of gnosticism which differentiated between the spirit as good and all material or all flesh as evil in other words they taught that if you cultivated the spirit then you could indulge your fleshly desires they created a theology that accommodated their sinful desires rather rather than conforming themselves to the truth of scripture and certainly we see that happening in our world today edward pentecost notes the heart of this apostasy was that it turned the grace of god into license and lasciviousness jude wrote to warn of this dual apostasy of wrong conduct and a false doctrine now while the church today might not be presented with an overt message of gnosticism the wolf of deception that leads to confusion about what is true is often dressed in even more illusory sheep's clothing these assaults on the word of god are commonly presented to us as progressive contemporary thinking the historic orthodox teachings of christianity are framed as uneducated or uninformed antiquated and obsolete often these attacks are subversive but they are becoming increasingly overt for example as christian university oral roberts made its way to the sweet 16 and ncaa men's basketball tournament this year usa today described oru's biblical values as archaic it argued it should not be allowed to compete because it was quote fundamentalist christian beliefs are wildly out of line with modern society and the basic values of human decency usa today contended there is no way to separate their men's basketball team from the dangers of their religious dogma no matter how many top seeds they defeat whatever the oral roberts men's basketball team manages to do on the court can't obscure the dangerous and hateful ideology of its core institution this because they hold to the historic beliefs of christianity this is just one example of the gale force winds assailing christians today but these assaults on our beliefs are not just coming from secular media outlets they're not just coming from anti-christian extremists all too often as in the days of jude these misleading and confusing messages are being presented in churches they're being presented from pulpits and christian broadcasts and podcasts through books and other forms of media they are nothing but messages designed to tickle the years but they leave many wondering what to believe is true these messages are not limited to the trending issues of morality today they're designed to undermine the very foundations of the gospel indeed is there any message that is less tolerated today than the truth of john 14 6 that salvation through jesus christ is the only way to enter heaven or escape hell by the way that's one reason why i'm so grateful to be part of a church that is built on the bible i'm so grateful to serve under a pastor like dr jeffress who doesn't compromise on the absolute truth and the authority of scripture today's false messages have been repackaged and they've been adapted to our time those attacking the truth of god's word demonstrate the same characteristics of those in jude's day they deny the lordship of christ they exercise sinful license they rebel against moral authority they're concerned with their own selfish desires and worldly game they seek to cause division in the church and they criticize christians who dare hold fast to the teachings of scripture and so in the face of this deadly peril jude charges believers for all time contend for the faith the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints that is a faith that does not change over time of faith that never grows old as charles ryrie describes it it is the body of truth once for all given not to be added to or subtracted from we know that the grass withers and the flower fades but the word of god will stand forever contempt for the faith harold bateman put it this way strive to preserve godliness in a godless society that's a theme of jude's epistle that's the theme of his message to us today now turning again to verses 17 through 23 jude outlines a three-step action plan a plan to contend for the faith first jude encourages believers to remember the scripture remember the scripture in verse 17 he writes but you beloved to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the the apostles of our lord jesus christ that they were saying to you in the last time there will be mockers following after their own ungodly lust now here the greek text will remember implies the action is commanded as a whole without focus on duration or repetition in other words this is a summary command it's urging christians to consistently look to scripture look to scripture as your authoritative guide in all matters of faith and practice now these christians they didn't have the canonized bible that we have today but they understood the apostles teachings and their letters to be scripture just like the writings of the old testament as christ appointed apostles their teachings and their writings were authoritative they were reliable and they were credible so jude told believers to remember these predictive prophecies of the apostles they foretold of mockers and scoffers and false teachers and jude was reminding these christians that they shouldn't be surprised much less deceived or confused when they are assailed by these false teachings when their beliefs are questioned by others and he says you were warned in advance that these attacks on your faith would come for example in their last days both peter and paul warned christians of those who would pervert the truth of scripture in attempts to deceive the brethren in second peter 3 3 peter wrote above all you must understand in the last days scoffers will come scoffing and following their own evil desires in that same letter he cautioned the church against false teachers who would introduce these destructive heresies even denying the sovereign lord similarly paul warned the church in ephesus i know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you not sparing the flock and from among your own selves men will arise speaking perverse things distorting the truth to draw away the disciples after them therefore be on alert so both peter and paul are saying even some who claim to be christians will introduce these confusing messages these destructive ideologies these false teachings to draw you astray as part of this warning we also get a peek into the enemy's playbook jude and the apostles before him described their mo their modus operandi they told believers these heretics would scoff at their beliefs they'd follow their own ungodly desires they would seek to defy the church we see in verse 19 they seek to cause divisions they are worldly minded rather than spiritually minded meaning they only think about the things of the world they never think about the things of god they are devoid of the spirit that means they're not saved they don't demonstrate the fruit of the spirit they don't act like jesus before moving on from this point i want to point out something both important and interesting jude points out that one of the strategies these enemies of the faith employ is to divide the church satan wants to divide the church in proverbs 6 19 scripture even lists that causing divisions among christian brothers is one of the things that god hates in psalm 133 david wrote how good and pleasant it is when god's people live in unity in his sermon on this passage the prince of preachers charles head and spurgeon proclaimed how my heart loves the doctrine of the one church as the body of christ we are to be united under his headship we are to be intolerant of divisions and those who seek to divide us and again church family that's something that i'm so grateful for here at first baptist dallas that we enjoy that healthy unity of the body of christ that we are not plagued by divisions like so many others and i want to encourage us all today to faithfully commit to maintaining that unity in our church just as god demands now why is it so important that we remember these warnings of the apostles that we're able to identify heretics that come into our midst the reminder is critical to christians today as parents and grandparents seeking to rear christian children in this world as your beliefs are ridiculed in the workplace or scoffed at in the media as confusing heresies are secretly and sneakily introduced to you jude and the apostles are saying beware don't be blindsided by these assailing winds caught off guards and make decisions that shipwreck your life and your faith prepare yourself with the truth of scripture so when these challenges come you know what they are and you know what to do this reminds me of the famous heavyweight boxing championship between muhammad ali and george foreman the rumble in the jungle in 1974 sometimes described as the greatest sporting event in the 20th century well the younger george foreman was the perceived favorite he was an aggressive powerhouse but muhammad ali knew what to expect he knew what george foreman was going to do so when the bell rang george foreman came charging out of his corner he began attacking muhammad ali throwing punch after punch but ali had what he called a secret plan later referred to as the rope-a-dope ali braced himself on the ropes he defended himself absorbing punch after punch blow after blow he fended off george foreman until ultimately foreman became tired and ali went to work ultimately knocking him on the canvas and winning the heavyweight championship well jude reminds us like muhammad ali we know exactly what our overly aggressive opponent is going to do the enemy is going to hit you with every lie it can devise in an effort to confuse you about what is true and to undermine your faith and if you're not ready you're going to be knocked out but if you are if you are prepared you can defend yourself you can absorb the barrage of heresies with the knowledge of god's word and unshakable commitment to its authority and ultimately as christ promised us in revelation 2 the one who is not seduced the one who stays true to his word will overcome so remember the scripture secondly jude writes keep yourselves in the love of god in verses 20 and 21 he writes but you beloved building yourselves up on your most holy faith praying in the holy spirit keep yourselves in the love of god waiting anxiously for the mercy of our lord jesus christ to eternal life so it's not enough merely to resist or defend against these attacks you can't just remain on the defense jude says that you have to take action too you have to go on the spiritual offensive so what does it mean to keep yourself in god's love well commentators and theologians wrestle over whether this means that you should maintain your love for god or work to maintain his love for you well the answer is both they can't be separated we know that we love god because he first loved us first john 4 10 and 19 tells us that the greek lexicon reflects this command as an encouragement to keep yourselves from harm by making it possible for god to show his love for you in the future in other words do those things that lead you to live in such a way that you demonstrate your love for god so that god in his love for you can rightly show his love for you let me illustrate it this way as a father i love to do nice things for my children i love to demonstrate my love for them i want to give them the good things i want to spend time with them but there have been times where we are walking out the door of our house to go do something fun possibly even to go buy them a new present and all of a sudden something happens they misbehave in some way they show disrespect they get in an argument with each other something happens that i as a father cannot reward and so i have to stop and i have to tell them i want to demonstrate my love for you i want to do good things for you but because of i love you i can't reward this behavior and that's what jude is saying here he says do those things that allow your heavenly father to pour out his love for you not to mention he says when you do you also strengthen your love for your father jesus gave us a similar command saying we are to abide in his love in john 15 8-11 jesus said my father is glorified by this that you bear much fruit and so you prove to be my disciples just as the father has loved me i have also loved you so abide in my love so jesus is saying listen to my word do what i have taught you to do and you will continue ex continually experience my love spurgeon observed love is like a fire if it does not consume more fuel it burns low you cannot stop where you are to retain you must annex remember that you must advance or backslide you must build higher and higher love must become more and more supreme in your souls or you will decline if you would remain warm be warm now so how do we keep ourselves in the love of god well jude lists three offensive actions that we can take he says to build yourselves up to pray in the holy spirit and to wait on the mercy of christ now some english versions seem to indicate that these are all different commands separate commands but the greek reflects that these three actions are actually means by which christians can keep themselves in the love of god so first he says build yourselves up here the greek for building up means to engage in a building process both personally and corporately so it's the action of both building your personal faith and joining together with the church to strengthen the body of christ jude uses a metaphor of building upon a solid foundation and that foundation he says is your most holy faith it's sound doctrine the teachings of the apostles the gospel of jesus christ reflected in god's word so to withstand the assaults of false teachers and deceivers you must build upon the truth of your faith constantly learning more about what god has revealed to you in scripture and applying it to your lives paul gives instruction in colossians 2 4 through 8 urging christians not to be deceived by worldly philosophies by fine sounding arguments he says so then just as you received christ jesus as lord continue to live in him doing what rooted up and built up in him strengthened in the faith as you were taught now earlier this year you'll remember that we opened the expansion of our horner family center and that expansion included two new floors that actually doubled the size of our existing horner family center 90 000 square feet built on top of the existing building but even though that expansion went up and was built on top of the building do you know what the first question we had to answer was is the foundation strong enough you can't build up unless your foundation is strong and the truth of the gospel the authority of scripture is your foundation clark penick writes the authority of scripture is the foundational principle on which all christian theology rests it constitutes the sturdy ground on which your faith resides thus when you build on this foundation you cannot falter or fail when you are assailed by the winds of this world second to remain in god's love engage him in prayer jude says pray in the holy spirit we are to be a people of prayer as paul writes in thessalonians 5 17 we are to pray continually without ceasing in ephesians 6 18 he issues an instruction like the one from jude paul writes here in the new living translation pray in the spirit at all times and on every occasion stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere so it's clear from scripture from the teachings of both paul and jude that they are not referring to some type of prayer language or prayer tongue some type of super spiritual prayer that's only available to certain christians they are encouraging us all to pray genuinely to pray as guided by the holy spirit to pray with confidence that the spirit intercedes on our behalf as reflected in romans 8 26 because they know that prayer bolsters your faith it enables you to stand boldly for christ and for what you believe the third means for keeping yourself in the love of god is to wait on the mercy of christ again verse 21 jude writes keep yourself in the love of god waiting anxiously for the mercy of our lord jesus christ to eternal life believers are to wait anxiously eagerly to wait in anticipation looking forward to the second coming of christ to the final judgment and to his eternal kingdom we are to keep our eye on the prize peter warned that scoffers would ask where is this coming that christ promised everything goes on just as it has since the beginning of creation but he goes on to encourage christians live holy and godly lives as you look forward to and you hasten the coming of the day of god in writing to titus paul reminded us look for the blessed hope and the appearing of glory of our great god and savior christ jesus who gave himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed to purify himself a people for his own possession zealous for good deeds so clearly here both peter and paul understood that waiting eagerly in anticipation for the lord's return caused one to live according to christ's teachings and thereby remain in god's love one commentator explains it this way he says one of the means by which we continue in our love for god is if we continue to long for the day when jesus christ will show us his mercy when we will when he will grant us the gift of eternal life and we will be perfected forever those who take their eyes off this future hope will find that their love for god is slowly evaporating it will be evident that their real love is for the present evil age so jude writes to contempt for your faith keep yourselves in god's love and you do this by developing your faith through the study and the knowledge of god's word by continually engaging the lord in prayer and by living in constant anticipation of christ's return the third and final step in jude's three-step action plan is to have mercy on others have mercy on others he advises christians to demonstrate mercy to two distinct groups struggling christians and unbelievers first he says be gracious to struggling christians though he sternly warns against those who are propagating these false teachings and undermining the faith he tells christians to have mercy on other believers who doubt who are being taken in by these false teachings as the church is constantly bombarded by the deception of these false teachings as the enemy wages war on the tenants of our faith we know that there are naturally going to be some genuine believers who are earnestly searching for answers they're looking for the truth of god's word and its rightful interpretation but these believers may be deceived by these false teachings they may even be lured into sinful behavior and it's been said by critics that christians love to eat their own in other words a lot of times we fail to show grace and to mercy to other christians even when they need it the most but jude says that that approach is totally contrary to scripture as those who know the truth and understand the truth we are to correct and instruct other christians in love and in respect paul explained this to the young pastor timothy his son in the faith and teaching him how to deal with such issues in the church paul wrote the lord's bond service bond servant must not be quarrelsome but be kind to all able to teach patient when wronged with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition if perhaps god may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil having been killed held captive by him to do his will so show grace show mercy to christians who are struggling and doubting he also tells us to save unbelievers from the fire he addresses our obligation to unbelievers he charges the church to save others from the fire and we know that only jesus can save but jesus has commissioned his church to participate in his work in this rescue mission of snatching others from the fire of hell through the proclamation of his gospel and i can't read these verses without thinking about zechariah's vision of the high priest joshua which is recorded in zechariah 3. and in that passage zechariah finds himself standing before the throne of god he's in the courtroom of heaven and there before god's throne he sees joshua the high priest of israel and this vision is specific to joshua who also represents the nation of israel god's chosen people but it is a picture of what christ has done for us and what he has charged us to do you see joshua stands before the throne and he is clothed in filthy rags he is clothed in his sin his guilt and there at his side stands satan the prosecutor and satan steps up to accuse joshua to point out his guilt to a holy god and to call on for his punishment satan says this man deserves to burn in hell and as joshua stands there he is certainly guilty there's no doubt he's standing before god clothed in his sin but then his advocate steps forward christ his redeemer our mediator and jesus says the lord rebuke you satan is not this man a burning stick that i have stashed from the fire and it's not joshua's innocence that saves him there's no doubt that he's guilty but it's god's grace it's the intervening power and action of jesus christ jesus steps forward he orders that those filthy rags be removed he clothes him in rich and clean and white garments he clothes him in his own righteousness and scripture tells us that they put a clean turban on joshua's head at christ's command you see christ has not only removed his guilt but he has clothed him in priestly garments he has commissioned him for service he's dressed him in the righteousness of his cry of his blood zechariah 3 8 tells us that joshua and the high priest were symbolic of things to come in other words this is about you you see when you trust in jesus christ as your personal lord and savior this is exactly what he does for you and though satan stands to accuse us to proclaim our guilt and to seek the death penalty jesus claims us as his own he says that he has snatched us from the fires of hell and he's done this through his own atoning death his burial and his victorious resurrection he strips off your filthy rags he removes that stain of sin he clothes you in his righteousness and he commissions you for his service as jude says to go and to snatch others from the fire having been saved by christ having been snatched from the fire ourselves how could we do anything less so when you are assailed by the winds of false and confusing messages as you navigate the waters of the world are you prepared to contend for your faith what will you do when others tell you that your beliefs are archaic they're hateful they're out of line with modern society contend for the faith remember the scripture keep yourselves in the love of god show mercy to others so as paul says when the day of evil comes having done all these things you may stand let's bow together in a word of prayer i know that there are some here today are watching with us online who haven't trusted jesus christ as their personal lord and savior you stand before a holy god in his throne room the courtroom of heaven dressed in your sin and satan is ready to accuse you to seek the death penalty for your guilt but there on the other side christ is ready to claim you as your own as his own to to address you in his righteousness to redeem you to be your advocate to save you and he is the only one who can because he is the only one who came to earth as god's son giving up his rights as god humbling himself even to the point of death on the cross to take the punishment for your sin and for my sin so that we could be cl proclaimed not guilty if you're ready to accept that gift of salvation today christ is ready to extend it to you all you have to do is pray with me and trust in christ as your savior so i ask you now to pray now in the quietness of this moment heavenly father i know that i am guilty i know that i have sinned i know that i have failed you but i believe what your word says that you sent your son jesus to die on the cross to take the punishment for my sins and by trusting in him you proclaim me not guilty you cleanse me of my sin and unrighteousness you snatch me from the fire and you make me your own so today lord i accept that gift of salvation and i commit to live the rest of my life for you and i pray this in jesus name amen now if you made that decision today i'm going to ask you to take this card in your worship guide and i want you to let us know that you've made that decision because when you do we will come alongside you we want to send you some resources about what it means to be a christian and the next steps that you can take in your christian life to grow in your relationship with the lord so all you have to do is take this card and check the box that says i prayed the prayer and you can take this card you can drop it in the receptacles as you leave this morning or you can take it directly to our welcome center where our staff will be ready to meet you and greet you if you're worshiping with us online today there's a link in the chat on our icampus that you can click to indicate your decision and let us know that you've trusted in christ as your savior and if you do we will send you those same resources and our staff will be available to talk with you and counsel you by phone or by email but let us know that you've made that decision today there may be others of you that are here today and you're already a christian but you are ready to join a church family you're ready to join with other believers and carrying out that great commission into building up your faith through the body of jesus christ well you can do that very easily today and that's by taking this card and by checking the ch the box that says you would like to join first baptist dallas and again you can leave that in the receptacles you can take that to our welcome center but we have a special offering for you if you're ready to join our church here in a couple of weeks on august 22nd we will be hosting a new member's lunch with our pastor and i know that he would love to meet you and to get to know you he'll be available to answer any questions you have about our church but we would love for you to become a member of first baptist dallas and part of our church family others of you may be a first time guest you may like some additional information about our church and there's a place for you to indicate that as well thank you again for being here in worship today i want to remind you that dr jeffress will be back in the pulpit next week so i hope that you will be here too i also want to ask that you be praying for our fantastic fall sundays that begin the first weekend of september with michael w smith now you know first baptist dallas is one of the most historic and influential churches for jesus christ in the world today but this coming fall is one of the greatest opportunities in our 150-year history to proclaim the gospel of jesus christ to the world so i hope that you'll be praying toward that end and i hope that you'll be here with a friend on those sundays thank you again now tyler you come and close our service thank you ben i believe we've all been encouraged and inspired this morning let's thank ben lavorne our executive pastor for leading us with an incredible message thank you ben and let's all stand together as we close singing out his praise this is our story this is our song this is my story this is my song [Music] this is my song [Music] [Applause] [Music] god bless you church well thank you so much for joining us for worship today on the first dallas i campus it's our honor and privilege to worship chat and pray with you throughout the service if you are local to dfw let me encourage you to come on down we'd love to have you visit us in person we'd love to greet you and show you a great spot in the worship center for you to sit it would be our honor to worship with you in person in the heart of downtown dallas right here at first baptist dallas also if you are new here to the icampus or have been watching for a while and want to get plugged in let me encourage you to sign up for a free gift we'd love to provide that to you directly in your inbox and then sign you up for pastor's daily devotional it's straight from the pen of dr jeffress and you will be encouraged with that great resource each and every day simply visit the link that's provided on your screen and lastly stay connected with us each and every day with our facebook global group there we encourage one another through scripture and graphics but also pray for one another so head on over to facebook and join our i campus global facebook group thank you again for joining us today for worship we look forward to seeing you next week on the first dallas icampus you

Channel: First Baptist Dallas

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Length: 180min 15sec (10815 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 15 2021