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[0:00] Turn to Jude, the second to last book in your Bible, the letter that Jude wrote.! I'll read the first four verses. So please stand together with me for this reading from God's Word.

[0:14] Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, to those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ, mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.

[0:29] Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.

[0:41] For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men who change the grace of our God into license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ, our only sovereign and Lord.

[0:56] is the faith worth fighting for? Seems that many in the church would answer in the negative.

[1:07] as truth has fallen on hard times and the Christian faith is being attacked and twisted and denied. False gospels are rampant.

[1:20] Destructive heresies and errors of all kinds are tolerated. Homosexual people are accepted as church members and as church ministers.

[1:31] Truth is watered down in an effort to stretch the tent as wide as it can go to get in as many as we can. And it seems that society's twisted brand of tolerance is being imitated by the church.

[1:49] After all, who are we to say that what our brother believes is wrong? And the favorite verse of the day seems to be judge not that you be not judged.

[1:59] And where are evangelicals in this battle for the truth? Well, sadly, many seem to be weary of the fight. And have settled for a peaceful coexistence.

[2:13] We want so much to be accepted and respected by the world. And we want to, above all else, avoid the image of being a fighting fundamentalist on the far right.

[2:29] So contending for the faith has been replaced by a kinder, a gentler compromising of the faith. 500 years ago, John Calvin was born in France.

[2:46] It was 500 years ago this July. And God saved him out of his sin and called him to the gospel ministry in Geneva, Switzerland.

[2:58] Now, the Roman church of his day had long departed from the saving gospel of faith in Jesus Christ alone. And so the question that came to Calvin as his eyes were opened to the true gospel was this.

[3:20] Is the Christian faith worth fighting for? And he and other Protestant reformers said yes. And you and I are still benefiting from that decision and from their fight so long ago.

[3:35] Now, in Geneva, there was a group of citizens called the Libertines. And they boasted about their liberty, their freedom in Christ. Freedom to do whatever they pleased.

[3:48] And so they were known for their drunkenness, their brawling, their swearing and their whoring. Sexual immorality was permissible, they claim, because the communion of saints means that their body should be joined to the wives of others.

[4:04] And they openly practiced adultery and yet desired to come to the Lord's table when it was being served. Well, John Calvin would have none of it.

[4:16] One of these prominent libertines was named Philibert Berthelier. And he was excommunicated from the church there in Geneva because of his known sexual promiscuity.

[4:28] Consequently, he was forbidden from partaking in the Lord's table. But through the underhanded influence of the libertines, the city council overrode the church's decision of excommunication.

[4:44] And Berthelier and his associates came to church to take the Lord's supper with swords drawn, ready for a fight. I can hardly imagine it.

[4:57] Seeing. These men. Coming to the worship of God. With swords drawn. Well, is the faith really worth fighting for now, John Calvin?

[5:12] Well, Calvin stood in front of the communion table. Then they came forward to be served. And Calvin stood in front of the communion table and said, These hands you may crush.

[5:22] These arms you may lop off. My life you may take. My blood is yours. You may shed it. But you shall never force me to give holy things to the profaned and so dishonor the table of my God.

[5:39] And Berthelier and the libertines backed down. Before such unflinching conviction. But Calvin's whole life and ministry declared that the faith is worth fighting for.

[5:55] But this is not just something for ministers of the gospel. In our text today, Jude is insisting. That this is something for everyone who has been called.

[6:11] Is loved and being kept by Jesus Christ. And so he issues a call to arms for every single believer.

[6:22] You, my dear brother or sister in Christ. You are here being called to contend for the faith. You're to fight in this battle for truth. Now this letter in our Bibles, just before the book of Revelation, is not the one that Jude intended to write.

[6:41] It's not the one he wanted to write. In verse 3, he tells us about the letter he wanted to write. And the one that he needed to write. He says, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share.

[6:53] I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. Oh, I so wanted to write to you about the salvation that we share.

[7:07] We share the same problem, our sin. But we share the same Savior, Jesus Christ. And the wonder of how he, through his perfect life and atoning death, has saved us.

[7:19] And that theme was warm in the heart of Jude. His heart was boiling over. He couldn't wait to put it down and send it off to these Christians. But he didn't.

[7:31] Instead, he tells us that he wrote something else. Something that was even more needful for them at that time. He says, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith.

[7:46] Now, that that strong language. I felt I had to write. He's saying, I felt constrained. I felt compelled.

[7:58] Necessity was laid upon me. I had to do it. I had to write something else. And this compulsion was clearly the Holy Spirit by whom he wrote every word.

[8:10] For holy men wrote and spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. And though Jude wanted to write about the salvation that they shared, the Holy Spirit carried him along in a different vein.

[8:26] Now, what was so important to turn him away from such a glorious theme? As the salvation that you and I share? What could it be? What is so urgent to set that on the back burner for something else?

[8:39] Well, the truth is under attack. And so the saints must be urged to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to them.

[8:55] So we have here a call to arms. So we have here a call to arms in the battle for truth. You're to contend for the faith. The faith. The faith here refers to the subject or the object, I should say, of our trust.

[9:10] What is it that we believe? What's the content of the faith? It's doctrine. It's truth. It's the Christian faith, which he says was once for all entrusted to the saints.

[9:26] Now, that once for all is a word that is something that's done for all time with lasting results so that it never needs to be repeated again.

[9:41] That's true of the death of Christ. Once for all, Christ died for sins never needs to be repeated. It's true of the faith having been handed down to the saints.

[9:53] It was once for all handed down, never to be repeated again. In other words, the Christian faith is not evolving. The Christian faith is not growing.

[10:04] There is no new truth being revealed from heaven. And Jesus and his apostles have once for all handed over. The faith.

[10:16] To the saints. So, folks, that simply means that this book is all there is. From heaven. And it's all that we need. It's God's full and final word to man.

[10:30] So to hold to anything more than this or less than this is to hold to perversion and error. And because this faith once for all delivered is under attack, you must fight for it.

[10:47] You must contend for it. The glory of God and the salvation of men are at stake. Yes, the faith is something worth fighting for.

[10:59] The word contend means to fight, to strive, to struggle. The word Jude uses is. Epangomizomai.

[11:14] You can hear our word agonize. Agonizomai. With the prefix ep, which intensifies it even further. It's an intense agony that's involved here.

[11:26] It's it's nothing of playing at swords. This is the real thing. It's it's agonizing in the struggle. And so Jude's putting this on notice that this is no easy thing that he's calling us to do.

[11:42] We are to make great effort in contending earnestly for the faith. Now, in the first place, this is a call then to persevere in believing and obeying the truth ourselves.

[11:54] If we're to contend for the faith, then we must believe and obey the faith ourselves. And there are forces afoot to pull you away from the faith.

[12:04] So contending for the faith means not letting go of any part of it. Fighting off all temptations to compromise the hard teachings that are hard to believe and the hard commands that are hard to obey.

[12:22] So when others are trying to take it away from you. It's a fight to hang on to it. And that's what Jude is calling us to. Fight for it, brother.

[12:35] Don't let go of it, sister. Strive to hold on to the faith. When tempted to compromise, agonize and fight.

[12:47] Jesus was in agony to give you salvation. You're called to agonize for the Christian faith. So to contend for the faith means.

[13:01] Believing and obeying the truth ourselves. But it means also in the second place, taking our stand for the faith, speaking up for it, defending it. And we do this at whatever point the Christian faith is being attacked there.

[13:17] The soldier of Christ must stand and must valiantly fight for the faith. It may be over some theological truth. Who is Jesus?

[13:29] Is he God? Is he man? Is he both? It may be the way of salvation. How does a person get right with God?

[13:40] Is it by what he does? Or is it all by what Christ has done? And what is the response that is imperative for any sinner who would go to heaven? Must he believe?

[13:53] Must he repent? Maybe it's the theology of the cross. What happened at the cross? Maybe it's, is there going to be a day of justice?

[14:04] Is there eternal punishment? Heaven, hell, and who's going there? Man's sinful nature from birth, his lack of righteousness before God, the filthiness of his best deeds.

[14:20] This could be the battleground on which you must stand and defend the faith. Are you ready? Are you prepared? Do you know the truth?

[14:32] Are you holding to it? But it also may be some practical issue of the Christian faith. Maybe God's view of marriage and divorce.

[14:45] Of raising children God's way. The roles of husbands and wives in marriage. God's view of sex outside of marriage. God's view of life in the womb.

[14:59] And abortion. Materialism. Creation. God's definition of right and wrong. His moral standard. It could be one of these more practical areas that the Christian faith is being attacked at.

[15:16] And the point is, is at whatever point the faith is being assaulted and trashed, there the Christian soldier must stand. And defend the faith.

[15:27] And that will mean suffering. It will mean standing alone at times. It will involve a fight. Not with swords loud clashing.

[15:39] Or stir of rolling drums. It's not a crusade that we pick up the sword and go fight for Christianity. It means speaking hard truths in love. And it means living hard truths.

[15:54] Uncompromisingly. That's the battle Jude is compelled to stir us up to fight. To arms then, dear, dear friends.

[16:07] Dear friends. Now you wonder what's the big deal, Jude? Why back burner the message on salvation for this? What's the emergency?

[16:19] What's the pressing situation? And in verse four, he tells us the danger. This is the danger that came to his consciousness. Someone brought to him.

[16:30] He learned it somehow. We're not told how. But he tells us certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you.

[16:42] They are godless men who changed the grace of God into a license for immorality and denied Jesus Christ, our only sovereign and Lord. Now, it's just as Peter had warned.

[16:55] In 2 Peter chapter 2, verses 1 and 2. Peter said, there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them, bringing swift destruction on themselves.

[17:11] Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. And Jude is saying, folks, they're here. Dear friends, they've arrived.

[17:22] Do not join the many who follow their shameful ways. Instead, fight for the faith and fight as though your very life depended upon it, for it does.

[17:34] This is the danger. False teachers assaulting the truths of the faith. Now, Jude is going to go into great detail at describing these false teachers.

[17:49] He's not going to spare them anything. But here in verse 4, he gives us a summary about them. Several important things for us to know about these dangerous men.

[18:03] I think we've listed five here. Five things, then, to know about them. Number one, their condemnation is coming. One of the key themes of this letter is that God will judge false teachers.

[18:19] Jude will spill much ink on this point, as we'll see as we work our way through the letter. It's no small offense to spread lies about God and his truth.

[18:31] For those who do. Judgment is coming. God is jealous of his truth. And those who spread destructive heresies will themselves be destroyed.

[18:47] Their damnation is sure. The punishment of eternal fire awaits them. That's what he says in verse 7. And here in verse 4, he says their condemnation was written about long ago.

[19:02] All right. These people have come in among you and and you must know this about them right up front. They're condemned. Their condemnation has been written about long ago.

[19:12] They're on their way to hell. Where was it written about long ago? Well, look down at verse 14. Enoch, the seventh from Adam.

[19:26] Say, that is long ago, isn't it? He goes way back to the seventh from Adam, the seventh generation from Adam. And Enoch, the seventh from Adam prophesied about these men.

[19:39] These men are living in the first century. And the seventh generation, Enoch from Adam. Wrote about them.

[19:50] This is what he wrote. See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone. And to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts that they have done in the ungodly way.

[20:04] And of all the harsh words, ungodly sinners have spoken against them. Yes, they spoke harsh words against the Lord when they denied his truth.

[20:15] And for this, as well as their ungodly acts, they will be judged. They'll be convicted. They will be punished. So, though these men slipped in unknowingly under your watch, they didn't slip in unawares to God.

[20:31] He knew all about them. He wrote about them thousands of years before. And he also wrote that their condemnation was coming. They're headed for condemnation.

[20:42] But you see, the danger is, is that they would take you with them. By getting you to follow their destructive heresies and destructive lifestyle.

[20:55] Many will follow their shameful ways. Second Peter 2 to will know this, that to follow their shameful ways is to come to their shameful end. They're out to rob you of precious truth.

[21:07] And in doing so, to rob you of heaven. To embrace their errors and ways as to embrace their condemnation. No wonder Jude is alarmed.

[21:19] No wonder Jude is up in arms. No wonder he backburners the letter about the salvation that we serve. Folks, if we don't stand for the truth. If we don't hold to it ourselves.

[21:32] There are lives that will be damned. It's a fight or fall matter. It's content, contend or be condemned.

[21:44] Eternity lies in the balance. And so that's the first thing that we learn about these dangerous men. Their condemnation is coming. Secondly, we learn that they have secretly slipped in among you.

[21:58] This word was used of of a man who was exiled from his homeland. Land. And after some time in exile, he may secretly slip back into his home country.

[22:14] Maybe you're out at night beyond your own curfew, kids. And so when you come home, how do you come? Well, you don't come banging through the front door.

[22:25] You secretly slip in, don't you? That's the way these men came in. Now, which is more dangerous to the United States? A terrorist who lives in Pakistan or one who lives in Chicago?

[22:41] Well, the one in Chicago who has secretly slipped into our country undetected and is now living among us where he's least suspected with easy access to us where he can do far more harm to us.

[22:56] Or which is more dangerous, a wolf on the outskirts of the sheepfold or a wolf wearing the costume of a sheep on the inside of the sheepfold?

[23:07] He can wreak more havoc from the inside. And so he slips in undetected. That's the way Jesus warned about these false teachers.

[23:19] He says in Matthew 7, 15, watch out for false teachers. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. They have crept in unnoticed.

[23:30] Now, outside assaults against the truth are happening. They're coming from our government. They're coming from false religions.

[23:43] They're coming from all different quarters. But outside assaults against the truth are deadly enough. But the deadliest assaults come from the inside.

[23:55] And Jude is insisting that this is what we're facing here. It's an inside job. The truths of the Christian faith were under attack by false teachers from within.

[24:07] It somehow crept in unnoticed and got into the church. They're baptized members of Christian churches. They've wormed their way in.

[24:24] Perhaps they had a lot of Bible knowledge. Maybe they were good with words. Maybe they had a popular personality. Because some were so good that they were put into leadership positions.

[24:35] They were made elders. They were made elders. Shepherds of the Christian flocks. And from such trusted positions, then they are poised to do their greatest harm.

[24:45] They didn't get in by cursing Jesus Christ of Nazareth. They didn't get in by saying things that were blatantly against the gospel.

[24:55] In fact, they appeared to be the finest Christians. They profess faith in Christ. But once in, they used their influence to spread their destructive doctrines and ways.

[25:06] And it's no different today. The greatest danger to the Christian church today is not from outside. It's not Islam. It's not atheism.

[25:17] It's not communism. Or anything else from outside. It's from within Christianity itself. From those who call themselves Christians. Who sneak into pulpits. And sneak into college presidencies.

[25:30] And deanships. And into seminaries. And sneak into Christian television. And Christian radio. And write Christian books that make it into Christian bookstores.

[25:40] And from their positions of influence. Turn others away from the faith. From the truth as it is in Christ.

[25:52] No wonder Jude is calling us to arms. To rise up and fight for the faith. The danger is greatest because they work from inside the Christian church.

[26:03] Seeking followers. And they would love to have you as a notch on their belt. Paul said it. Even from among yourselves.

[26:18] Some will rise up. And distort the truth. And seek to draw disciples away after them. No wonder if the devil's ministers masquerade as messengers of light.

[26:29] Since the devil himself. Pretends. To be a messenger. A messenger of light. So these dangerous men. They're condemned. They're on the inside of the church.

[26:41] And thirdly. Jude gives us a one word summary of their character. Godless. They're godless men. Ungodly. For all their appearances.

[26:52] And perhaps claims to the contrary. This is what they really are. Now notice he uses this word. Ungodly. Or godless. Same word. He uses it four times in verse 15.

[27:03] When he quotes. Enoch's prophecy. About these men. That he says. Our lord Jesus is coming to convict. All the ungodly. Of all the ungodly acts.

[27:15] They have done. In the ungodly way. And of all the harsh words. Ungodly sinners have spoken against him. And in verse 18. Those who follow their own ungodly desires.

[27:26] You get the idea that Jude would have us know these men are ungodly. They are ungodly. That's the telling thing about them.

[27:37] He's going to go into great deal to spell out what ungodliness looks like. He's going to portray it in vivid picture. In high definition. Full color. But for now one word will say it all.

[27:50] They are godless. Here you've got the godly. And here you've got the godless. Now the godly have God in them.

[28:01] And so he is producing his own godly likeness in their lives. And here you have the godless. And God is not in them. And so they do not have the power of God at work.

[28:13] Transforming their lives. Their lives are not godlike. The godly have a high reverence for God. That's the meaning of this word. They revere God.

[28:25] There's none in the universe so great as God. And they live a godward life. The godless does not revere God.

[28:35] Who is Jehovah that I should obey him? And so they do not live a godward life. They live a self-centered life. They're godless. And though they may claim to be godly.

[28:48] They're really godless. But don't forget they're in church. And some of them are preaching. And they're in seminaries. And they're writing books. And they're on the television set.

[28:59] And they're on the radio. Christian radio. But even in these things, folks. They are godless.

[29:11] They do not have God. They do not speak for God. They're godless. That's. What Jude tells us.

[29:24] Now, notice Jude's methodology. As he warns us of these dangerous men. Within the Christian church. You know, if you read the letter this week.

[29:35] You notice he doesn't go into a great catalog. Of their destructive heresies. That's probably because. His letter would not have been 25 verses.

[29:46] It would have been 25 volumes. Because the truth is. That for every Christian truth of the faith. There. There are dozens of. Lies about it.

[29:58] So Jude doesn't take that tact. And. And. And spell out exactly what. All their heresies were. He does something else. He exposes these godless men.

[30:15] By pointing out the practical effects. Of their false doctrines. In their own lives. Their unholy. Ungodly lives. Give them away.

[30:27] That's the emphasis of this letter. And Jesus said as much. In Matthew 7. Watch out for false teachers. They come to you in sheep's clothing. But inwardly. They're ferocious wolves.

[30:38] Well how are you going to recognize them? Well if they ever say that. That I am not God. Or if they ever say. I am not. No he doesn't go into a catalog. Of false teachings.

[30:48] He. He rather says. By their fruit. You will recognize them. By their fruit. By the fruit of their lives. Is it holy? Or is it unholy?

[30:59] Is it godly? Or is it. Is it ungodly? That's how you'll recognize. These dangerous men. Who are false teachers. Both Jude and Jesus.

[31:09] Teach us this important lesson. That what you really believe. In your hearts. Will affect the way that you live. False doctrine. Has its fruit. In false living.

[31:20] True doctrine. Has its fruit. In true godliness. In other words. What's in. Will come out. Truth. And that's why Jude. Is up in arms. And calls us to arms.

[31:31] Truth is important. You say. Oh. Truth is. What I believe. Is not all that. Folks. What you believe. Is affecting. What you're doing today. It's affecting.

[31:42] What you'll do. On your way home. How you will talk. To one another. What you will say. About her. And him. And. And about life. It's affecting. Everything that you.

[31:52] You do in life. Truth. Truth. Is important. Contend. For the Christian. Faith. That's the first.

[32:03] Three things. We learn about these men. Their condemnation. Is sure. They're on the inside. Of the church. And they're. Godless. Now the next.

[32:15] Two things. He tells us. Are about as close. As we're going to get. To descriptions. Of their false doctrine. The rest of the letters. We'll see. We'll focus on their. Ungodly lives. But it tells us.

[32:26] In the fourth place. They changed. The grace of our God. Into a license. For immorality. That whole phrase. A license. For immorality. Is one word. In the original. And it points out.

[32:37] A morally. Unrestrained. Life. Morally. Unrestrained. In other words. There's no. Restraints.

[32:47] Upon. Their desires. It's. Unbridled. Passions. It's. Laying. The reins. Upon the neck. Of their lust. And letting the horse.

[32:58] Run. Wherever. It wants. To run. No wonder. Their lives. Are marked. By. Moral. Unrestraint.

[33:09] All kinds. Of. Sinful. Excess. Is another way. That that. Could be translated. The excess. Of vice. Excess. And how do they justify.

[33:19] Such immorality. By the grace of God. Yes. By the grace of God. That we just sang. Of this morning. That amazing.

[33:31] Wonderful. Grace. Of God. It is amazing. Isn't it? Our holy God. Tells us. His creatures.

[33:42] Whom he owns. And whose we are. Don't do this. And we say. I will. If I want to. And he says. Instead. I want you. To do that.

[33:53] And we say. To him. Not if I don't. Want to. That's what sin is. It's breaking. God's law. Breaking his law. And we all.

[34:04] Have done it. We did it in Adam. And we do it. Every day. Of our lives. And our sins. Are so obnoxious. To God. That they put us. Into. His infinite.

[34:15] Debt. We owe him. Big time. The dishonor. We've done. To God. By our sins. Is so great. That only. Eternal. Torments. Under his wrath.

[34:26] Will ever pay. For the offense. That we've given him. There's a hell. To pay. For our sins. That's what. All of us deserve. That's how bad. We are.

[34:36] And that's how. Holy. He is. But. God. The grace. Of God. Is greater. Than all. Our sins. Now.

[34:47] That's amazing. We sing it. So easily. But. He's so. Gracious. That he sent. His one. And only. Son. To be a substitute. To stand in. And get the wrath.

[34:58] In our place. That's grace. That's giving us. What we didn't deserve. A savior. To take the punishment. So we go off free. We sin.

[35:09] And we don't get punished. How's that? That's grace. God is so gracious. That if we own. Our own sins.

[35:20] And confess our sins. And trust in Christ. To save us from them. He'll forgive us. For all our sins. You know what forgiveness means? It means wiping the slate clean.

[35:32] There they were. All of our sins. And if we trust in Christ. It's clear. He'll. There's no more sin. There's no more guilt. There's no more punishment. Our sins are gone.

[35:44] Because they've been punished in Christ. For all who are his. Believing ones. That's grace. So it doesn't matter.

[35:54] Which sins you've committed. Doesn't matter. How many. Sins you've committed. How long you've gone in. In your sins. Where sin increased. Grace increased.

[36:04] All the more. Romans 520. He's got more grace. Than you've got sin. That's the grace of God.

[36:16] And sinners of all kinds. Have cashed in on it. Prostitutes. Adulterers. Homosexuals. Abortionists. Murderers.

[36:27] They've come to this fountain. And washed themselves clean. And they've gone out. Scott free. Before the judge of heaven. They will never be punished. For all their vile deeds.

[36:39] That's grace. And that's how every one of us got in. To the family of God. And that's how every one of us. Will ever get into heaven. By grace. Through faith in Jesus Christ.

[36:51] Christ. It's full. And it's free. And it humbles. And it thrills. The true Christian. And makes him willing. To offer up the parts of his body.

[37:02] To God. As instruments. Of righteousness. But. The same grace of God. Causes. Others. Because of their.

[37:13] Ignorance. And instability. To twist this grace. To their own destruction. And so they change. The grace of God. Into a license. For immorality.

[37:25] Same grace of God. That you and I. Thrill with. Sing about. And this is how they think. Well. If God is never going to punish me.

[37:37] Then I'm free to sin. All I want. In fact. The more I sin. The more his grace. Will increase. So let us go on sinning. That. His grace.

[37:48] May increase. It didn't Paul write about that. In Romans 6. He had some teaching that. Jude says. That's the brand. Of Christianity. Of these dangerous men. Who have snuck.

[37:59] Inside the church. They change. The grace of God. Into a license. For sin. Kids. You know what a license is. He gives you permission. To do things. You got a fishing license.

[38:10] So you can fish all you want. You got a driver's license. So you can drive all you want. You got the grace of God. So you can sin. All you want.

[38:20] That's turning. The grace of God. Into a license. To sin. We're forgiven. No matter how we live. So we might as well enjoy ourselves.

[38:32] They thought God's grace. Was a permit. To run wild. Since we're forgiven. And there's no punishment for us. We can sin with immunity. Did you know that ambassadors from foreign countries living in the United States are given diplomatic immunity?

[38:52] Most of you do. It means that they cannot be arrested. Or criminally prosecuted for violation of our laws while they live in our land.

[39:05] They've got a privileged status. And it gives them an exemption from punishment. So you're a policeman. In Washington D.C. And you see a drunk driver weaving down the road.

[39:17] At 75 miles an hour. In a 30 mile an hour zone. And you're after him. And you pull him over. And you stand there beside. His open window. And he says.

[39:29] You can't touch me. I've got diplomatic immunity. And you check the list. Sure enough. He's right. You can't touch him.

[39:42] It's like a. A free pass. Like a free get out of jail card. And though it's not meant to be. It can be twisted to embolden them to drive like crazy.

[39:54] Knowing that they're above the law. Well that's what Jude is saying about these false teachers. They sin like crazy. Because they think they have God's grace immunity.

[40:08] In Christ I can't be punished. So I can sin safely. They've turned the grace of God into a license for immorality. Now that's a serious perversion of God's grace.

[40:21] You see they did something to it. Didn't they? They didn't just worship. And thank God for it and praise it. They did something to it. They changed it. They changed it from what it was into something that it wasn't.

[40:33] Because the grace of God has appeared for a different reason altogether. Titus 2 11 and 12 tells us.

[40:45] For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all. It teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age.

[41:03] It teaches us to say no to God. It teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passion. What does? God's grace. The fact that we're the sinners and we get off scot-free.

[41:16] That grace of God teaches us to go and sin no more. To say no to ungodliness and worldly passion. To live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age.

[41:29] But these. But these. These dangerous men were saying, no, no, that grace of God teaches us that we can say yes to ungodliness and yes to worldly passions.

[41:42] It's the very opposite design that God has for his grace. They're twisting it. And so I must ask you, whoever you are, whatever your claim, has the grace of God taught you to say no to ungodliness?

[42:00] Is the grace of God teaching you to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives right now in this present age?

[42:15] If God's grace makes it any easier at all for you to sin, then you've got something of this perversion of grace running in your veins.

[42:27] If you're thinking, I can go ahead and sin because, you see, I've got this immunity card called grace. All I've got to do is 1 John 1, 9, and I'm good to go. So I can sin, you see.

[42:39] If the grace of God makes it easier for you to sin. Then you're twisting the grace of God into something that it isn't. A license for sin.

[42:51] No, the grace of God makes it harder for us to sin. And so here comes the temptation to sin against our God. What does the grace of God do in our hearts?

[43:04] The grace of God teaches us to say no. No. What? You would have me to dishonor the one who gave up his own son?

[43:15] To be damned in my place? That I might be forgiven? And you want me to do that back to him? No. No.

[43:28] What? To walk back into bondage when the son of God gave his own life to the hellish death of the cross to set me free from my sin? And to purify for himself a people that are his very own eager to do what is good?

[43:43] No. No. No. No. The grace of God teaches us to say we never knew what power over sin was until we tasted the grace of God. People who have never tasted the grace of God and think that getting right with God is based on performance.

[44:01] They don't understand grace. And they say, if you teach free grace, you're going to have people living like hell. No. That's because they don't understand. They've never tasted of grace. There is no power so great to keep us from sin as the grace of God in Jesus Christ.

[44:16] And these had perverted that grace. Grace is a deterrent to sin. Oh, how grace melts us. How grace moves us.

[44:26] How it motivates us to say no to sin and to say yes to self-control, upright and godly living. If God's grace is not teaching you to say no to ungodliness, then I should wonder if the true grace of God has ever been revealed to your heart.

[44:47] Ye who think of sin but lightly, nor suppose the evil great. Come to Calvary and view its nature rightly and hear its guilt. You may estimate.

[45:00] Mark the sacrifice appointed. See who bears the awful load. Tis the word the Lord's anointed. Son of man. Son of God.

[45:11] That's how serious sin is. And he bore it for you, dear Christian. He bore it all for you. Now go and say no to ungodliness.

[45:23] The grace of God teaches us. I say, could Jude's letter be more fitting for our day today? If he wrote a letter to us today? Observing the scene in Christendom in the United States, especially.

[45:37] Would he write something completely different? And say, oh, that was for that time. It doesn't really appeal. And apply to you. I say no. We have false teachers of plenty who are preaching up Christ.

[45:51] And they're preaching up the grace of God. But they're preaching it up in such a way that's twisting it into a license for sin. And they're on their way to hell. And they're talking.

[46:03] Bible. Christ. Grace. And they're taking other professing Christians with them. They can sing in church about God's grace and then go on living their ungodly lives.

[46:16] Because after all, we're forgiven. We've got. Immunity from punishment. As I look around the Christian scene, there are a few in the Christian church at large.

[46:29] I'm talking about everyone who names the name of Christ. Every Christian, so-called Christian church. That's what Jude's writing about. The Christian faith. Now, you know what all has been poured into that.

[46:42] There's not a whole lot who are mortifying sin. In their hearts and lives. We're concerned about godly living. Repenting of sin. Confessing sin.

[46:53] Forsaking sin. Watching and praying against sin. Oh, God, search my heart and show me my sin. And few are interested in holiness. And living a godly life separated from this sinful world.

[47:08]  And living pure unto God. And may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may