Hello again and welcome to the program. We're here with a little strength for today. We've been looking at how to study the Bible. We're in the book of Jude. We'll be starting in verse number two. Have your Bible ready. By way of outline of this little book, the introduction is in verse 1 and 2. In verse 3 through 4, we have his purpose for writing. In verses 5 through 7, we have examples of previous apostates. Verse 8 to 16, these apostates are described. and a very important part of this little book, verse 17 to 25, our God-given responsibility. I'm reading in verse 1 and 2, Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ and called, verse 2, mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied. I want to focus here on this word love for a minute. Jude begins this little book with the subject of love. He ends it in verse 21 saying, keep yourselves in the love of God. We have here a love sandwich. We have the verse in number two that says, love be multiplied. Then we have the meat, then we have the bottom part of the sandwich which says, keep yourselves in the love of God. Jude's love letter includes pointing out the filthy dreamers in verse 8, the way of Cain in verse 11, the error of Balaam, and the gainsaying of Korah in verse 11. He says there's spots in your feasts of love, verse 12, He talks about murmurers and complainers in verse 16. He says they're walking after their own lust, verse 16. They have great swelling words taking advantage of you, also in verse 16. He calls them mockers at the end of the age that we will have, verse 18. And he talks about them being sensual, not having the spirit, in verse 19. Love includes protecting the people we love. We need to protect the ones we love from danger. We need to protect the truth. We need to have a love for Christ, a love for Christians, a love for the cause of Christ, and a desire for what is best for the people we say we love. One of the biggest problems we have today is a lack of preaching both sides, not only what the Bible says about love, but what it says about defending the truth from error. And so in verse three, Jude said, Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. He said, Beloved, I gave all diligence, not a little bit of diligence, all diligence. Diligence is constant and earnest effort to accomplish what is being undertaken. He gave all diligence. He said in verse three, I am writing unto you. This message is for all Christians. Some books are written just to an individual like first and second Timothy and Titus. Those books were written to the pastor of the church. The seven letters that we find at the beginning of the revelation were also addressed to the pastor. Now we have applications in all of those for all Christians, but they were addressed to the pastor. This letter is addressed to you and it's addressed to me. And what's he writing to us about? He says, I write unto you about the common salvation. This word common in Mark 7 and 2 has been translated defiled. In Romans 14, 14, it's been translated unclean three times. In Hebrews 10 and 28, it's translated an unholy thing. He said, I am writing to you about the common salvation, this defiled, unclean, unholy type of salvation that was prevalent at his time, and it's prevalent today. Some years ago, some fundamental independent Baptist leaders, so-called, came out with the idea that we don't need to repent in order to be saved. That is a defiled, unclean, uncommon, an unholy thing. That's not what the Bible says. Jesus said, except you repent you shall all likewise perish. and I think we better trust Jesus rather than these people who are trying to fill their churches with numbers of people, many of whom never been born again. They certainly haven't been born again if they have just voted for Jesus and they haven't repented. Jude goes on to say in verse number three, I gave all diligence to write unto you of this common salvation, and it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that ye should contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. To contend is to state a belief confidently and forcefully. In verse 4 he said, For there are certain men, crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. It says they crept in unaware. Jesus explained how that happened in Matthew 13, 25. He said, but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. It's common to see pictures of this verse with a fellow in the field throwing seeds into the field. That's not what it says. It says, while men slept. He's sleeping there under the tree. He's got his bag of wheat there, and the enemy comes in. He throws his chairs in among the wheat. Finally, the fella under the tree wakes up. He goes out in the field, and he does the work for the devil. He's throwing the stuff in there because he didn't know what was going on. And when you're asleep, you don't know what's going on, and that's why the Bible says it's high time to awake. In verse 5, Jude said, I will therefore put you in remembrance, though you once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt afterward, destroyed them that believed not. Yeah, there was a mixed multitude that came out of Egypt, but everybody was genuine. And eventually God took care of them. The ground opened up and swallowed all of them. And eventually he will take care of the apostates of our day as well, as we will see. And we continue on through the study. Be sure and be with us for our next program.