If you will, take your Bible tonight. Turn with me to the epistle of Jude. Tonight we're looking once again at this letter and our particular attention is on verses 3 and 4 as we talk about contending for the faith. I want to begin reading at verse 1. It says, Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ. Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men who turned the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Here in these two verses, we learn the reason for Jude's letter. It's also here that we're given a definition of apostasy. Now, apostasy has been around since the beginning of time, and it's here even now. And you have to ask the question, well, what is apostasy? And if I could give you a basic definition, I would say it like this, that it is the abandoning of the truth. It's not to be confused with mere indifference to the Word. It involves an intellectual acceptance of the Scriptures. but it also involves an abandoning of them. Neither is apostasy to be confused with error. It's not necessarily believing false doctrine. An apostate can acknowledge that certain doctrines are true, but fail to believe them in his heart. An apostate can even acknowledge Christ without accepting Him. But as John MacArthur writes, apostates have received light, but not life. They have known and accepted the written Word, but have never met Christ, the living Word. See, their response is a deliberate rejection of the truth after it is known. And the writer of Hebrews has something to say about this in Hebrews 10, verse 29. He says, of how much worse punishment do you suppose will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which He was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? In other words, those who know the truth and stomp it across deserve a more severe punishment than those who do not know the truth. In 2 Thessalonians 2 and verse 10, we find that apostasy is expressed in this phrase, that they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved. In other words, they received the truth, but never acquired a love for it. So they fell away. Hold your place right there and turn with me to Acts chapter 8. It's here in Acts chapter 8 that we're introduced to Simon, Simon was an apostate. It says there in verse 13, Then Simon himself also believed. And when he was baptized, he continued with Philip and was amazed, seeing the miracles and the signs which were done. Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the Word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet he had not For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And so they laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands, the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying, give me this power also that anyone whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit. But Peter said to him, your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money. You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this, your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity." That is an apt description of someone who professes a faith in Christ but abandons that very truth that they profess. Here in Simon's case, he thought he could buy the power of the Spirit. He thought that he could buy this power, and if you know his background, he was a sorcerer. He liked to amaze the people. The Greek word for apostasy is the word apostasia. It only occurs two times in the New Testament. We find it in Acts 21. In verse 21, and we also find it in 2 Thessalonians 2.3, one is referring to the forsaking of the truth, while the other refers to the worldwide apostasy or the worldwide falling away that will occur when the Antichrist is revealed. Now, Jude begins his letter with the salutation, and we looked at that last time. And then he moves into the purpose of the letter, and that picks up in v. 3. Notice again what it says. Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. Here in v. 3, we see Jude's first intention in writing. It begins, first of all, with a special address. It says, Beloved. That word literally means loved. It's used in Romans 1-7 to describe believers at Rome. They were called the beloved of God. So he addresses them with this endearment term, and then he tells them of his intention to write about our common salvation. He says, while I was very diligent to write to you. And the idea of his diligence, it refers to his zeal. He had a zeal to write about this common salvation. The word itself for diligence, it indicates a powerful desire, a powerful purpose. And he uses the present tense of the verb, which also points to his concern. He had a continual, constant desire to write to them about the salvation which all Christians share in common. But at the same time, his desire and his concern was to warn the believers about apostasy. This is a good note to say this, that it's very important that the pastors in this church warn the flock about apostasy and false teachers. There has been questions here in the past, every time we speak, that we seem to say something about somebody else that's noting their error. Well, folks, I can't apologize for where we are in the text. It just seems that the text takes us there, but at the same time, we want to apply it to current modern day events because that's exactly what the writers of Scriptures were doing. They would warn the flock. They would help them see what is taking place so that you could identify those who truly are speaking of God and those who aren't. And see, the average Christian today is not studying the Word. The average Christian today has taken his Bible and he leaves the service, if he even brings it to the service, and puts it on a shelf and it sits there throughout the week. How can he know what God is saying? How can he at the same time check out what God's men are saying if he's not in the Word? See, we want to encourage you to check out everything that is being said. I want you to test what I'm sharing with you. And at the same time, I want you to test what you're hearing throughout the week, what you hear on the radio, what you hear on CDs and tapes, what you see on the TV. I want you to test those who say that they are teachers of God, because that's what Paul did. That's exactly what John said in 1 John 4, verse 1, when he said, to see whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. Even Peter makes reference to that in 2 Peter 2 when he says that there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you. And so we have to be on the guard. There is never a moment when you let your guard down. You are to be watchful. You are to be sober. And I'll tell you that today the church has bought into an easy believism that you can just pray a cute little prayer and that makes you a child of God. No selling out. Come and sit comfortably. Come soak everything in that it's an easy life. Listen, I've been a believer for 19 years and there hasn't been anything easy about it. Has it been easy for you? Is it easy to crucify yourself and your passions and your lust? Is it easy to fight against the flesh? Not at all. And yet, when we hear sermons on sin, some of us run out and say, that's too hard. Well, folks, we'll talk about sin until Jesus comes because the Bible talks about sin. And we'll talk about what it means to be filled with the Spirit and how to overcome your sin. You see, sometimes we major on one aspect of it that we can't get past, but we forget about the rest of it. And see, when Jude is writing this letter, he is writing with a purpose. All of the letters have a purpose. All of the Scripture has a purpose in your life. I believe that our evening tonight has been God-ordained. God has you here for a purpose. He has you here for a purpose of studying Jude 3 and 4. He has us here talking about fighting for the faith. Are you fighting for the faith? Are you willing to defend the faith? See, you can only defend what you're rooted in. Are you rooted in the faith? Look there at Colossians chapter 2. Paul tells the Colossians in chapter 2 and verse 6, As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him." See, it's not an easy believism. It is pattering your life after Jesus Christ. He says, "...rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith as you have been taught." abounding in it with thanksgiving. And then he says, beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. There are people out there that do want to cheat you. And here is a reference to the Essenes, because they believed in this brutality of the body. They believed in angel worship. Go with me over to Ephesians chapter 4. In Ephesians 4, Paul talks about the purpose of the pastors and evangelists given to the church. He says in verse 11, he himself, that is Christ, gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastor-teachers. Well, we don't believe that the apostles exist anymore today, even though you can ride down the street and you see, come in here, apostles so-and-so. The only way that you could be an apostle, according to the Scriptures, is that you had to see the resurrected Jesus Christ. So there are no apostles today because no one has seen Jesus physically. And as far as prophets, the office of prophet has ceased as well, but the gift of prophecy hasn't. In fact, the word for prophecy is the Greek word profemi, which means to stand before and proclaim truth. And that's exactly what we're doing right now. And then, of course, there are evangelists. And evangelists are not the ones who have 26 sermons and 52 suits or whatever, and he goes from church to church preaching a gospel to save people. No. He is a person who goes into a city where Christ is not named. He stays there and wins people to Christ. He stays there long enough to raise up leadership, and then he leaves and moves on to another city. That was an evangelist. He was more of a church planner. And then it says, in some pastors and teachers, and in the Greek, that is Pastor Chi, and it's talking about teachers here, and it could be translated teaching shepherds or pastor-teachers. But he tells us in verse 12 the purpose of these gifted men that God's given to the church. And what does he say? For the equipping or the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry. for the edifying, the building up of the body of Christ. You know, every time you grow, that builds up not only your life, but the life of other believers. And how long is this to go on? It says in verse 13, "'Til we all come to the unity of the faith, and of the ethiknosis, the knowledge of the Son of God, to a teleos, a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." And then he says that we should be no longer children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine. In other words, God desires for your life maturity. And the path to maturity is not an easy one either. There's work involved of growing through the trials, growing through the pressures in your life as a child of God. And Jude is saying, listen, as I write this letter to you, I am going to warn you about these apostates, about those who are claiming to know Jesus Christ and they're coming and they're embracing the truth, but then they're walking away. He's saying, no, these aren't people that have lost their salvation. They never had it to begin with. You know, we think every time we see somebody come to Christ and then they disappear for a while that they lost their salvation. How can you lose something that's eternal? You can't lose eternal life. But again, you've got to start from the premise that he never had it. Well, Jude says, I was very diligent to write to you. I had zeal and earnestness. I had a very powerful desire, a very powerful purpose in writing about our mutual salvation. And now we see Jude's compulsion here in verse 3 as he changes his subject. He says there, but I found it necessary to write to you, exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. In other words, he was pressured by the current events. He says there, I found it necessary. And the word necessary is talking about a compulsion that he had. The root meaning of this word or this expression means to compress. It was a pressure that was brought about on him. And I could describe it in this way, just in that preparation sense of teaching. Sometimes there are things that are pressed on me more than others to bring to the flock. Jude explains that a compelling obligation to the people of God prompted him to write for their spiritual good. See, not every sermon that you hear week after week might be that one that you love and like, but I can tell you this, it's for your spiritual good. God has your good in mind. Maybe it's not a certain one that you want to hear, a hellfire, damnation kind of sermon. Or maybe it's not one that makes you feel good and you've got your little spiritual goosebumps going. No, but it's something that has your good in mind. Just like this past weekend when we talked about what does it really mean to confess your sin? That is good in mind spiritually. Because we certainly want to know how to confess our sin. We want to make sure that we're not hiding it. We want to make sure that we are pleasing God by owning up to the responsibility of what we have done. Well, Jude says, I had this pressure on me. And this caused him to exhort his readers to action. He says, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you. admonishing you, entreating you, urging you to pursue some course of action. A very interesting word he uses for exhorting. The word is used of speeches of leaders and of soldiers who urge each other on. And then he says here that he wanted to urge them to contend earnestly, and that is one word in the Greek. And it means to struggle for or to contend for. or to exercise great exertion for the faith. Maxwell Coder translates this to agonize upon the faith. Baxter's Greek lexicon renders this word to contend strenuously in defense of the faith. Would that describe you? Are you hard at work defending the faith that was delivered to the saints? See, the word means to fight with great strength. It means to defend strenuously for the faith. And the idea of the faith here, it refers to the content of Christianity, the revelation of God, the whole body of teaching that makes up God's Word. And this is the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. And the idea of once for all means one and one time only. There aren't many faiths. We hear today many churches, many denominations, many religions. There's one faith, folks. There's one God. There's one Christ. There's one baptism. There's one Holy Spirit. But yet there are so many groups out there today saying, no, we have it. No, over here, we have it. We have the truth. Follow us. But we don't believe in the Holy Spirit. Follow us. We don't believe in the Trinity. Follow us. We don't believe in dying to self. Follow us. You can just pray a prayer, walk an aisle, get baptized, put your name on a church roll. See, there's all kinds of stuff out there today, folks. Do you know which is true? You're only going to know it from here. When you're told to examine all things, this is what you examine them by. You listen to what they're saying. You read what they're putting out. The revelation of God was delivered once for all to the saints. And that was done in the past. And it was completed. There is no other Gospel than the one that we have received. Look with me at Galatians chapter 1. In Galatians chapter 1, Paul said to the Galatians in verse 6, I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you into the grace of Christ to a different gospel, which is not another, but there are some who trouble you and they want to pervert the gospel of Christ. And so Paul says this, but even if we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel to you than that which we have preached to you, let him be anathema. Let him be accursed. Verse 9, as we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than that which you have received, let him be accursed. Anathema. There is only one gospel. And listen, over in Philippians 1, that's why Paul could rejoice in those who were preaching Christ under false pretenses because they weren't preaching a different gospel. They were preaching the true gospel with the wrong motive. Look at that in Philippians 1. He says there in verse 12 of chapter 1, But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happen to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard and to all the rest that my chains are in Christ, and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill. The former preached Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing he had affliction to my chains, but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached. And in this I rejoice. And yes, I will rejoice." See, they weren't preaching a different gospel. He couldn't rejoice in that because we just read that in Galatians 1. They were preaching Christ from the wrong motive. Some were doing it for pretense. Some were doing it with the wrong motive. And he was excited that Christ was preached. And in that, he was rejoicing. But see, when you talk about what Jude is hitting on here in Jude chapter 1, he's saying, listen, I am wanting to exhort you I'm wanting to get you to contend earnestly for this faith, this once-for-all faith that was delivered to the saints. So I ask you this question. Do you fight for the faith? Are you fighting for the Gospel? Because that's what the whole issue is. The issue is not all of these different doctrines that we want to talk about. The issue is the Gospel. Are you contending earnestly for that body of faith, that body of truth, the gospel of Jesus Christ? Because there are people today perverting it. There are people that are giving shallow professions of faith. There are people that are watering it down. I don't want us ever to be guilty of watering down the gospel or watering down the truth. Listen, we're going to tell you everything even if it upsets you. And I look at it this way, before I can be helped, I have to be hurt. And that's what the Word does. It goads you. It has a way of prodding you in the right place to get you to the right action. Notice the description of the apostates. They're found in verse 4. Their identification picks up here by the phrase, for certain men. Now again, I remind you that apostasy means a defection from the true biblical faith. Now, look at the 15 different phrases that are used throughout this letter to describe these men. In verse 4, you find two of them. They're called certain men and ungodly men. In verse 8, they're called dreamers. In verse 10, they're called brute beasts. In v. 12, you find four of them. They're called spots in your love feast, clouds without water, late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead. In v. 13, you see two titles there, raging waves of the sea, wandering stars. V. 15, they're called ungodly sinners. V. 16, they're called murmurers and complainers. V. 18, they're called mockers. V. 19, they're called sensual persons. This is the description of apostates. You want to hear it in the terms that John gives? Turn with me to 1 John 2. This is how John describes them. He says in verse 19, they went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us, but they went out that they might be made manifest that none of them were of us. There's your answer for those who desert the faith. They didn't lose their salvation. They apostatized. They came to the truth. They tasted of the Lord and they walked away. Listen, you taste of the Lord. There is no other way. This is it. Look with me at Hebrews 6. In Hebrews 6, It says in verse 4, it says it's impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God and they put Him to an open shame. If you say that there is another way, or you're saying that Christ's sacrifice alone was not enough, you are crucifying Him again. Hebrews 1 says that what He did was once and for all. And to illustrate that, He sat down at the right hand of the Father to show His work was complete. And no priest in the Old Testament ever sat down. There were no seats in the sanctuary. Their work was never finished. When he offered that perfect sacrifice, he sat down, never to be repeated again. And you read in John 19.30, it is finished. It's perfect. Never again to be repeated. Well, Jude tells us about these certain men. What does he tell us? Well, he shows us their subtleness. He says that they have crept in unnoticed. This verb describes, as Tom and Manton puts it, they're creeping into the hearts and the affections by plausible pretenses and insinuations, instilling their errors drop by drop before they could be observed, and pretending themselves to be friends of truth and piety. Did you get that? They're pretending. They are pretenders. You could say it this way, beware of the pretenders. See, the idea is that they crept in unnoticed, and that means that they slipped in alongside of secretly. I mean, that can happen right in here, folks. And it may have already happened. People can slide in and make some profession of the truth, and they can quote all of the verses. They can carry their Bible. They can know some theology. And they can creep right in here. And yet, secretly, they are apostates. See, Jesus described these apostates as coming in sheep's clothing. They look like sheep, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. Paul said that they will come in from among you in Acts 20-29. Even in verse 30 he says, also from among yourselves, men will rise up. And that's all coming from within the congregation. They are right there. You have in the congregation believers that are truly born again, and then you also have false believers, people who think they're saved and they're not. And then you also have tares who have been planted there by the devil. Peter gives this description in 2 Peter 2.1 when he says, but there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you. who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction." So we see their identification. They are noted as certain men. We see their subtleness there in verse 4. They crept in a notice. Notice their condemnation. It says also in verse 4, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation. And the idea of being marked out, it means that it was pre-written. In other words, this Word is intended to show that they were already doomed to punishment as enemies of God. And the idea of the perfect tense that he uses here indicates the continuing authority of that which was written. It was written long ago. It was pre-written in the Word about the destruction of apostates. the destruction of false teachers. It was already pre-written. And it says that they were long ago marked out for this condemnation, and the word condemnation is the Greek word krima, and it means that which was decided upon. It's referring to judgment. And notice there in verse 14, It says, now Enoch the seventh from Adam prophesied about these men, also saying, Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints to execute crema, judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him. There is a judgment coming for apostates. There is a judgment also coming for unbelievers. It says over in 2 Peter 2 9, it says here in the middle of the verse, to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment. Look also at verse 12. It says at the end of the verse that they will utterly perish in their own corruption. And then verse 17, it says that these are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, to whom the gloom of darkness is reserved forever. And then of course, Deuteronomy 18.20. It says, if the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die." God took a stern, stiff hand toward apostasy, and He still does today. And can I also say this, that the God of the New Testament is the God of the Old Testament? We think that in the church age and in New Testament times that we read the Bible and that there are two different gods in the Scripture. We have this God in the New Testament that we identify as the God of love, and we forget that He is also a holy God. What about Jesus going into the temple and overturning the money changers' tables and He said, you have made My Father's house a den of thieves. He went through there with zeal. That was the evidence of a holy God. What about the many statements He said to the Pharisees? He called them hypocrites, blind leading the blind. What about John the Baptist in Matthew 3? You brood of vipers, who's warned you to flee the rapists to come? And for some reason we think today, we read the Bible, that God is a different God today than He was in the Bible. God still has that same feeling towards sin. That's why you and I can praise God for our salvation. That's why you and I can praise God for the deliverance, the forgiveness that's found in Jesus. And that's what makes our message even more urgent, doesn't it? Because there is a coming judgment. There is a coming doom. And you read about that right there in Jude, when he says there about Enoch, and we just read it just a moment ago. And what's he saying? Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men, also saying, Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, myriads upon myriads, thousands upon thousands of His saints, and what are they going to do? Execute judgment. There's coming a judgment, folks. And that should tell you, you need to warn unbelievers. Warn them about the wrath that is to come. That's the gospel? You can't talk about good news until you inform them about the bad news. And the bad news is that they are dead in trespasses and sins. The bad news is if they don't repent, they will perish. That's the bad news. The good news is Jesus has provided salvation. Point them to Christ. You say, well, maybe they're not the elect. Folks, I don't know where we've gotten off here. I love the doctrine of election, but does it have to come up in everything? When I'm talking to a lost person, I'm not talking about the doctrine of election. I'm talking about the doctrine of repentance, the doctrine of salvation. They don't understand election, and most believers don't understand election. So why should I be talking about that with a lost person? What they need to hear is that they need to repent of their sin. I talk about the wrath of God, the judgment of God, the mercy of God. Talk about the love of God. God truly does love you. He took your sins and took them on Himself. He who knew no sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. That's what I talk about. Well, notice their heresy. Heresy is noted also in verse 4. It says here that they are ungodly men who turn the grace of God into licentiousness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Well, you see their heresy noted, first of all, in their character. They are called ungodly men. In other words, they are destitute of reverential awe toward God. And then you see it in their conduct. It says that they turn the grace of God. And notice this word, turn. It means to change or to transpose from one place to another. To transfer. They take the grace of God and they transfer it into lewdness or licentiousness. And that just literally means an unbridled life, unrestrained vice, gross immorality. Read the verse back that way. They change or they transfer the grace of God into an unrestrained vice or a gross immorality. It describes a person that is so lost to honor and decency and shame that he does not care who sees his sin and his immorality. It's not that he necessarily flaunts his sin, but he simply does the most shameful acts. because he ceased to care about them. He just does not care. And so they transfer the grace of God into this unriotous living, unbridled living. In other words, they use it as a license to sin. You know, Paul had a word about that in Romans 6. He says, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. Meginoti. Forbid that that would ever take place. Perish the thought. May it never be. May that never be the case. We don't want to sin to get more grace and to use God's grace as a license to live like that. If that's the way you live, I question where you really have been forgiven. How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? He says there in chapter 6 and verse 15, What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law, but under grace? And then he uses that same negative, Meginoti, may it never be. God forbid. And so we see the heresy is seen in their character, is seen in their conduct, and it's also heard in their words. It says here at the end of the verse that they deny the only Lord God in our Lord Jesus Christ. The word deny, it means to say no. They refuse our Lord. They refuse our Lord Jesus Christ. It's not just a denial, but it is a refusal of Him. It is a refusal first of His authority, and that's the first word that's used there for Lord, The word is translated, in some translations, master. It's the word despotes. And it means one who possesses supreme authority. It's talking about the sovereignty of Jesus. The second word is kurios, and it's referring to His title of honor. The term God, that's omitted in some of the text. But apostates, They disown Christ as Sovereign Lord, that's despotis, and they disdain Christ as Honorable Lord, that's kurios, by their wicked behavior. It says that they say no to our Lord Jesus Christ. You know what Jesus said one time? Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do the things that I say? It doesn't make sense, does it? There are many people that attach their lives to Christ, but they say no to Him in their hearts. That is an apostate. They refuse to submit to the authority of Christ. They refuse to submit to His Lordship, His sovereignty. Our only Lord, our Master. Now, of course, The two terms Jesus Christ. Jesus is Jesus. Identifies Him as Savior. Christ is Christos, which means Anointed One. In the Hebrew, it's reflecting Mashiach, which means Messiah. They are saying no to Jesus who is Messiah. See, they deny it all. They deny His sovereign rule as God. They deny His Lordship over believers as the One to be honored and obeyed. They deny His Saviorhood and His Messiahship. They deny it all. But yet, they pretend that they embrace it. That's the heresy of it. They pretend to be believers. They pretend to be born again. But they haven't been born a second time. They're lost. And they lead the flock astray. It's extremely important, folks, that we have discernment, especially in this age. We are told in the Scriptures to examine all things, to test all things. We have to have discernment. Very important. If you turn on TBN, have discernment. If you turn on the radio, have discernment. If you listen to a tape or a CD that somebody gives you, have discernment. Test all things. Now there are two passages that I want to mention that are found in Hebrews. The first one is Hebrews chapter 3 and verse 12. He tells us there in verse 12, "'Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God.'" Beware. You attach your life to Christ, beware lest you depart from Christ. And can I just equally say too that a true believer will not apostatize? In Hebrews chapter 10, It says in v. 37, "...for yet a little while, and he who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith, but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who draw back to perdition or destruction, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul." We are not those who draw back. Go with me to Revelation 3. In Revelation 3 and v. 10, Jesus says this to the church at Philadelphia, Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth. Behold, I come quickly. Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. And I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem which comes down out of heaven from My God, and I will write on him My new name." He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. God has a reward for your persevering. And folks, there is a perseverance in the Scriptures. Go with me to 1 Corinthians. Go to 1 Corinthians 15. Paul talks about there in chapter 15 about the Gospel that he preached to them. Even the Gospel that they received, the Gospel in which they stand. In verse 2 he says, "...by which also you are saved." And then he uses this phrase, "...if you hold fast to that which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain." You have to hold fast to that Gospel. You have to contend earnestly for that faith. Paul says something again about that to the Colossians. Go to Colossians 1. It says there in verse 23, let's back up. He says in verse 19, "...that it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself. By Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross, and you who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable in His sight." And then you hear this, "...if indeed you continue in the faith." There is a persevering here. Grounded and steadfast and are not moved away from the hope of the Gospel which you heard which was preached to every creature under heaven in which I, Paul, became a minister. You have to contend earnestly for the faith. Are you fighting for the faith? Are you persevering in the faith? Are you heeding the words of the writer of Hebrews There dare not be in you an evil heart in departing from the living God. How do you contend for the faith? Let me give you some ways to do that. Well, first of all, we must study and obey the Word of God for ourselves. That's basic. Unless we know the truth, we will not be able to detect error. Unless we obey the truth, we will not have the moral courage to stand against false teaching and apostasy. You have to study. and obey what you study. You have to read the Word. You have to study the Word. You have to obey the Word. You have to be doers of the Word and not hearers only. Second way you contend for the faith, we must give an unflinching and unhesitating witness to the truth of God's Word. In other words, the Bible's under attack. Are you defending the faith? Are you defending that from which it's being attacked? We must not only speak up in its defense, but you know, we must also proclaim its message of salvation through faith in Christ. Are you proclaiming that message? A third way that you contend for the faith is that you support and you encourage faithful pastors and teachers who honor the Word of God without compromise. That they are standing for the truth. They are not just speaking it, but they're living it. There are many people today that will speak it but not live it. Spurgeon said one time of a man that when he went into the pulpit he was like one who should never come out, but the way his life was, it was like he should have never went into the pulpit. He didn't live the truth of God in his life. I believe the fourth way you do this is found in 2 Timothy chapter 2. You need to train more people in order to teach others to do the same. Let's just say there in 2 Timothy 2, verse 2, "...and the things that you've heard from Me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." There are some people that will attach themselves to you and they're like a gnat, if you will, and they just kind of hang around for what they can pick up, but when you call them to commitment, they fly off. They had no commitment. That there at the same time, there are those that are around soaking in every bit of the Word. Commit to them. Teach them. Well, Jude tells us his purpose in writing, first of all, was to talk about this common salvation, that he had a compulsion to warn the believers to contend earnestly for the faith because of these apostates. We're going to pick up verse 5 next time. And as we do, I want to encourage you to read through this, and I want you to see that the judgment of old is a judgment that will come in the future against those who walk away from the truth. You say, well, that sounds pretty harsh. No, it's a warning of Scripture. And praise God for warnings. You're thankful for warnings in this life, aren't you? You walk up to an electric fence and it says, electric fence, so you stay off of it, right? You see a sign in somebody's yard and it says, beware of dog. I guarantee you're looking for it. You like warnings. You know, you get on the highway and it says, do not enter. You're going the wrong way if you go that way. That's what the Bible's doing. If you don't embrace the truth and you walk away from it, you've went the wrong way. And if I could just close with this passage right here in Matthew 7. Folks, there are two roads presented in the Scripture. There is a narrow road and a wide road. And as you look around today and if you're judging the success of a church by its numbers, it says here in Matthew 7 that there are few that are on the narrow road, and many on the broad road. Not only are there apostate preachers and teachers, folks, there are also apostate congregations. And you get apostate congregations because you have apostate teaching. And I know that there is a people today that are yearning for the deep things of God. They want the depth of Scripture. They don't want, as some teachers are, they're like a birdbath, a mile long and an inch deep, right? You want depth to the Word. Look what he says in Matthew 7. And he starts out in verse 13, "...Enter by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, there are few who find it." And I read that pretty fast. Did you hear the words? Notice what he says about the narrow gate. He says it's difficult. It is confined. And it says it leads to life. But there are few that find it. Few. And then he says, beware of false prophets. Because the false prophets, they're offering entrance to the wide gate. Which gate have you entered? The wide or the narrow? Let's pray together. Thank You, Jesus, for tonight and for the study of Your Word. Jesus, we just pray that You open our hearts now as Your Spirit does His work on our heart. Lord, I pray that there's not anyone in here that has an evil heart of unbelief and they have departed from the living God. I pray, Lord, that there are not apostates in our midst. I pray, Lord, that there are true born-again believers in our midst, that everyone in here is born again. God, help us not to get lost in all of the teaching that we forget about our purpose and our message to present Jesus Christ to a lost world. I pray, God, as we go out into the marketplace, as we leave here, Father, that we will take the Word of God to the streets. God, we will preach. the gospel of salvation through Christ. That God, we will talk about the bad news as well as the good news. Father, that we'll do everything we can to not make those who are converts of an easy believism, that God will tell them about how hard it is to believe. Jesus, do that work in us right now. Cause us to examine ourselves. Cause us to look at our hearts. Do that work that only You can do. We thank You for Your Word, in Jesus' name, Amen.