The letter of Jude, verses three and four. Let's be attentive now to the reading of God's holy word. 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 lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. May God bless the reading of his word. Let's pray for his blessing on the preaching. Almighty and glorious God, we thank you for such an exhortation. That indeed, you do not deal with us according to our sins, but according to your son. But your word does address. The needs of our lives, it is the perfect rule of faith in life, and so teach us, Lord God, teach us what to believe, teach us more of the faith and the life that we are to have in Christ. Would you, through your word, stoke in us a greater desire and yearning to contend for the faith and to pass it on? to withstand the trials of this world. We ask that you would minister to us in your word by your Holy Spirit. Through Jesus Christ, we pray together. Amen. Judah continues and presents to us in this these two verses really the thesis or the sum of his letter. What is the occasion for this letter, he is calling the people of God to contend for the faith. That here is this church, or these churches, these Christians that are surrounded by ungodliness, are surrounded by an ungodly culture, but what is even more is that that ungodly culture, like Lakish in Israel, is starting to creep in to the people of God. And so Jude says, look, I was going to write to you about something else, but now I have to deal with this, this thing that's going on. And this is a pressing message to you, dear Christian, this day. And these are things that each and every one of you is here and needs to hear. This is God's word to you. Contend for the faith. And so we'll seek to understand this in three points. First, dealing with real problems in the beginning of verse three. Second, we'll look at what it means to contend for the faith. Contending for the faith, the end of verse three. And then third, Jude gives to us characteristics of evil intruders so that we may be on guard in verse four. So dealing with real problems, contending for the faith, and characteristics of evil intruders. First, dealing with real problems. Jude 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. The main point of this is Judas saying, I wanted to write to you about this, but instead I'm having to write to you about that. Jude wanted to write about, he says, I was very diligent. I was seeking to write to you about what our common salvation. That phrase common salvation was a very common phrase in the Greco Roman culture. It was a way of simply saying the safety of the state. Right, the peace of the Commonwealth. And so Jude is saying, I wanted to write to you about this. I wanted to write to you about our common salvation. He would have desired to speak to them about the gospel of Christ and all of its loveliness and excellencies. I want to talk to you about this salvation that we share. That is the peace of the church, the city of God on Earth, the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. Or the encouragement. I want to talk to you about this common salvation, the safety of the state. I want to encourage you that I see that you Christians are a healthy church. You love one another. And then the gospel is going out, that the kingdom is being advanced in the mission of the people of God. I would like to write to you about this, but I found it necessary. I was constrained. I was pressed up against by circumstances in Providence to say, I have to write to you about something else instead. There are particular problems, Jude knows those to whom he's writing. Jude is sometimes considered a Catholic epistle in the sense that it's written to the general church. But that's not what Jude seems to be doing here. He seems to be writing to people he knows who are in circumstances that he knows well about. And he's saying to this particular group, you have particular problems and I need to write to you that you should face those issues and you should be faithful through those issues. That's a very simple thing to notice from this text, but it's very important and it provides a lot of application for us just to consider even the application that Jude is is dealing with real problems, shows us that love knows what's going on in other people's lives. Because how does how does Jude start this? He says, beloved, I wanted to write to you about this, and instead I'm writing to you about that. Beloved, love knows what's going on. In the church together, we must eventually go beyond just the superficial, how are you doing? I'm doing fine. And just the superficial, because that's what love eventually does. Love among the saints knows one another's lives. is willing to say, because I love you, even though I would love to just sit with you, and I would love to talk about nothing else, and all these wonderful things, we need to deal with the real problems. Love knows what's going on, and love does not insist in its own way. Love says, you may, I wanna talk about this, but what we need to talk about is that. You may want to do this, but what is needed to do is what would be better is to do that. So love doesn't insist on its own way. Love means preferring others and seeking their good above your own desires. Love knows what's going on, and it doesn't insist. It doesn't just say, look, I know you have all these problems, but can't we just talk about nice things? Can we just talk about things that we all agree on? Can we just all get along? Can life just be all rainbows and unicorns? No, it cannot. It means that you that love lives in reality. You may want everything to be fine. You may want everything to be fine in your family. You may want everything to be fine in your marriage. You may want everything to be fine in the church. But love lives in reality. Love is not blind, like so many people say. They say love is not blind. No, love sees exactly what's going on. And it knows how to deal with it, has the courage to see things for what they really are, to deal with it, and to seek good through it. This shows us also, very simply, there's always going to be problems. One commentator writes it this way. He says, God's people have always had a struggle to follow in God's way. And at every turn, some have tried to pull them off the right track. This, in other words, is not something strange or outlandish. It doesn't mean you've taken a wrong turn somewhere. It merely means you are experiencing the typical struggle which God's people must learn to expect. There's always going to be problems. in the Christian life. One of the greatest explanations or illustrations of the Christian life is Pilgrim's Progress. And what do you see in the Pilgrim's Progress? Anytime Christian is on the right path, there are people trying to get him off the right path. Now, if Christian were to get off the right path and were to dwell in Vanity Fair or was to stay in the Slough of Despond or in Downing Castle, what would happen? He would be left alone. There wouldn't be any problems because he would have just given himself over. No, it's only when he's on the right path going to the Celestial City that there are problems. Right? You're only a good target if you're actually an enemy. The devil is not interested in friendly fire. And so there will always be problems in the life of the church, a church that's faithful to the Lord. What are issues that every Christian has to deal with? What are issues that every family or church congregation has to deal with? If you stay for any period longer than a couple of years or even just a couple of minutes, right? Because it's very easy. Many of us are new in this congregation and we think this is wonderful. This is this is heaven on earth. And it kind of is in many ways. The church is supposed to be a slice of heaven on earth. It's preparation for heaven to worship God, to be among God's people. That's preparation for heaven. And so it's supposed to be like that. But sometimes we get a little we think it's a little too grand. There are going to be problems. What are some of the problems that you had? The first problem is just very simply, someone at some point in time is going to say something offensive, stupid or sinful. At any point in time, you may have experienced that at lunch. I don't know. There will always be personality clashes. There will always be self-seeking or misunderstanding. There will always be at some given point in time in any generation within the church, doctrinal error and serious sin that has to be dealt with. through counseling, confrontation, and church discipline. Always, at least in the scope of generation, and if that's not happening, it's not because the sin's not there. It's because it's not being dealt with. Synods and Presbyteries are always gonna have to deal with some kind of church discipline issue within a generation, right? The Lord and judges says that I have left intentionally Nations around you so that you would learn how to war so that Israel wouldn't become complacent. The Lord says, I've left these things around you so that you have to deal with them and contend for the faith so you don't get lazy. There's always going to be something like authorities. Well, at some point in time, fail. That either in the family, husbands or parents, In the church sessions, presbyteries, and synods, at some point in time, a decision will be made that you think is unwise, and it may or may not be, or is outright wrong, and it may or may not be. But that there are problems, Jude is showing us, that there are problems is not the real problem, because there's always gonna be problems. The issue is, how do you respond? If you are the offender, do you respond with correction well? Do you confess your sin? Which is more than just saying you're sorry. Do you agree together about what God says about this sin? Do you confess that sin? Do you actually repent? Which again, repentance is different from confession. Do you actually turn? So if you're the offender, do you respond with humility? If you're the offended, are you able to forgive and over time move on? There will always be problems and problems have to be dealt with, right? Love, as Jude says to the beloved, love doesn't let a house remain ablaze. And you may instinctively say, but aren't we supposed to cover in love? Aren't we supposed to cover sins in love? Well, when should you cover sins in love? Well, very simply, whenever you can, for conscience sake. Whenever you can cover in love, that's a good thing to do. When you have to cover sins in love because you're not in a position to address it, maybe it's just somebody passing by and they offend you and there's no recourse to take. or when it would be more detrimental to address it than not to, or when it's just a matter of preference and not precept or principle, you're not covering a sin in love, you're just getting over your differences. So that's when you could and should cover sin in love, but what about when should we not let offenses pass by? Well, when the problem is clearly sinful, when it's not just about a principle, a general principle, or a particular preference. And when it's heinous and habitual, when when it's a serious, heinous sin, it leads to harm, it leads to devastation or or you see this is the start of an avalanche. Or when it's a habitual sin, when it's a pattern, when it's a serial sin, then you you address it. And how should you deal with these problems? How do we deal? How does Jude deal with the problems? He's straightforward and he's precise. He's not just general, but he's very precise. He uses biblical language. Jude is full of illustrations from the scriptures, and he seeks a resolution that honors God. And that, Jude addresses these problems, and as it unfolds in the rest of this particular letter, it really teaches us how to read the Bible. These two verses, as a thesis of Jude, are really instructive for how you should read the scriptures. God's word deals with actual problems, not just theoretical or hypothetical issues. And so when you read and meditate on the word of God, you are being equipped to contend for the faith. In fact, Jude's exegetical assertions in the following verses demonstrate this. He takes historical cases and then he applies it to the evil intruders of his day. He says Sodom and Gomorrah. That's what's going on right now. Look, look at all these things, Egypt or Israel coming out of Egypt, that's what's going on right now. Like all these ways in the scriptures, this is how you should see and understand. This is the lens that you view life from. Friend, God deals with real problems in our life in his word, and he does so because he loves you. He does so because he says to you, beloved, this is what I have to write to you. And so let us take it at his at his word. Second, contend for the faith. I found it necessary, Jude says, to write to you, exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith. Now a brief word to the structure of the letter of Jude. So verses five through 19 are a further explanation of verse four. This is what the wicked are like. Verses 20 through 23 double back to verse three. This is how you contend for the faith. And so he gives us this exhortation. He says, I'm writing to you I'm exhorting you, I'm calling you from alongside to contend for the faith. From whom do we need such an urgent injunction? Well, we need this word from God. From God, the Holy Spirit, who is the author of Scripture. We need to know that that we should contend for the faith and that that is a true thing, that is a good thing. And we need God through his word by the spirit to bring our own hearts conviction that this is what we should be doing. And only God can do that. God is the Lord of conscience. He can say to us and we have to respond. He says, contend. And we say, yes, we will contend. God has to do that. He has to speak to us. We need him to give us his word. And so he has. But we also need our pastors to call us to follow the word of God. That's what Jude is doing. He's writing as a minister of the gospel. He says, I'm writing to you, contend for the faith. We need pastors who will remind us of our duties, who will strengthen us in the reminder of God's promises. Men who are on your side, who desire your good and want to not only tell you, but to show you with their example how to follow the Lord. And so, brother and sister in Christ, Contend for the faith. That's what you need to do Why why do we need this remind why do we need this in command? Well, we need this command because first we are very forgetful we easily forget we forget our duty to contend for the faith and We kind of just get stuck in our routine and we go along and then something bumps up against us and we think, well, that's not how that was supposed to go. But let me just get back to what I was supposed to be doing. And we forget. We forget to contend for the faith. We forget our duty. We forget the glory of God. What is this all about? This is about the glory of God's name. But we forget that. We forget that our ultimate aim, our chief and highest end, our great pursuit, is to glorify the name of God in our lives. And to seek the glory of God in our neighbor's life. We forget that. And so that's why we need this call. That's why we need this counsel. But also because not only are we forgetful, we're fearful. Sheep are skittish. We're fearful of dealing with controversy. We don't want to upset others. We don't want to lose friends. We don't want to stir the pot. We don't want to not have peace. And so we fear. And in that moment of fear, friend, you need this reminder. God has told you, contend for the faith. And we need to be called to this because we are also easily discouraged and despairing. It's very easy for us to see what's going on in the world and to see and even to experience the assaults of the wicked day after day or week after week and to see what's going on or to experience it ourselves and begin to think what's the use? As if God's not going to change this person's heart Why keep going? You know, there's no immediate success. All hope is lost. Friend, you may lose many battles before the war is won. But the war is won. And so go, go light brigade, go in and charge and lose battles. But the war has been won by Jesus Christ. And he has called all of his soldiers enlisted in his army, an army terrible as banners, and his banner over us is love. And he has told us, contend for the faith. Don't be forgetful. Don't be fearful. Don't be discouraged. You must contend for the faith. This is what Jude says, I exhort you to contend earnestly for the faith, which was once for all delivered to the saints. Jude essentially says here, the best defense is a good offense. What does he mean, though, by the faith? Well, there's different ways that this word is used throughout the New Testament. And here with Jude, the phrase the faith does not mean here a particular body of doctrine like elsewhere in the New Testament. Rather, Jude's concern is primarily ethical, so that for him, the faith is synonymous with the life. Just like in James, right, where faith without works is dead. justification by faith alone in a forensic sense, justification by works in an evidence sense, where Paul is very clear, we're justified. The grounds of our justification, our salvation, is the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and the instrument of that is faith. And the outworking of that, the evidence of that, the declaration of that, is that we walk in the Lord. And this is exactly what Jude is getting at. We distinguish between the root and the fruit, but it's all a tree. And that's what Jude is saying here, like in Hebrews Hebrews 3, 8 through 18 through 19, when the author says to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who are disobedient? We see then that they were unable to enter because of their unbelief. The author of Hebrews is saying very clearly, why did they not? Why did Israel not enter into the rest in the promised land? He says, obviously, because they were not obedient. And so why did they not enter into the rest? Because they didn't believe. And why did they not enter? Because they were disobedient. He keeps going back and forth. Why? Because there's a difference. There's there's an understanding that that unbelief leads to disobedience. And so there is a way in which we can say as Christians that actions are contrary to the faith. Actions are contrary to the gospel. There are many times you may hear something like this. Well, such and such hasn't denied an article of the faith. They agree with the apostle's creed. But that's not the kind of denial of the faith that Jude is talking about. He's case in point. Jude is saying that to be irreverent towards God, or reverent towards his church. To remain stubborn in open sin and to be schismatic, dividing the flock, is just as much a rejection of the gospel as an outright denial of Christ. So we can look at someone and say, you are not in Christ. You are not walking in Christ. You have denied the faith and say, but I believe the articles of the faith. It doesn't matter. Your life has denied the faith. You can say whatever you want, but you have denied the faith. Christian, you are to contend for the faith. You are to contend for this righteousness, the obedience of the gospel, walking in faith towards Christ and repentance from sin. And so what does it mean to contend? This is a military term and also a term that was used in athletics in Jude's day to denote struggling against, striving over, And one of the things that is easily forgotten is that ancient cultures operated on terms of shame and honor. The whole point here, the heart of this word in our context is men who are irreverent to our captain and master, Jesus Christ. Here are men who have dishonored Christ. And so what do you do when Christ has been dishonored? You contest them. You challenge them in order to maintain the honor of our God and Savior, the Lord Christ. That's what it means to contend. This is, if you want to put it this way, a righteous duel for the glory of the husband and the purity of the bride. And so how do you contend for the faith? Well, first, you must have a conviction that the faith is worth contending for. That the gospel of Christ and the perfections of his law are non-negotiable and ultimately about the holiness of the name of Jehovah. That the commandments of God are not voluntary but are required for every creature and all are commanded to believe upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. You must have a conviction. If you want to contend for the faith, you need to see the faith worth contending for. Second, contend the faith and so assess the situation. You need to know what is the issue, who are the offenders, and who is being impacted. You have to actually contend against something. Then you need to assess the appropriate level of your involvement in the contention. You need to consider your vocation. Your general calling as a Christian, your belonging to the priesthood of believers, gives you a dog in the fight, gives you an interest in the matter. Nevertheless, your specific calling within the body of Christ may be indicative of whether or not you should be involved. So pastors and elders are to be the first to deal with these kinds of matters in the church. And we should let them do their work without interference as those not ordained. And we should stay in our lane. We should let them do that. They're the first line of defense. Don't rush out in front of them. Consider your station. Do you actually know what's going on? Do you have enough understanding of the faith in order to contend for it? Are you capable of dealing with error and sin in a calm and yet strong manner? Or are you prone to just fly off the handle and get very offended? Will you be persuaded by lies? Whether or not you're easily persuaded should say how much you go in the fight. Consider God's providence. Is this an appropriate time for me to contend? Do you have the time to commit to address this particular issue? These are all things that we need to think about, that you need to think about in contending for the faith. And so, have a conviction the faith is worth contending for, assess the situation, assess the appropriate level of your involvement in the contention, and then when you're there, you've entered the ring, appeal to authority. Now just a word about Difference between Paul and Jude. It's not a contrast. It's not it's not to say they're in disagreement But there's a comparison to be made here The Apostle Paul is most often associated with arguing from the authority of Scripture Although sometimes he appeals to tradition like he appeals three times to tradition in first Corinthians 11 or Ephesians 420 He says this isn't the way you've learned Christ but most often we think Paul Scripture argument Jude is different. Jude says here, contend for the faith once delivered to the saints. He appeals to tradition. That is to say, he says, you've already been taught. You've been taught what you believe and how to live. You don't need any innovation. So when someone comes to you and says, you should do opposite of what you've been told, you say, I don't know about that. I'm going to keep doing what I've been told. There's a different appeal to an authority here. There's a different authority being appealed to. And there are forms of contention. Again, like Paul and like Jude, there's argument. You know, the Apostle Paul argues line upon line, example upon example, proof text upon proof text. You see this, for instance, in the book of Romans, where he builds an argument. And then you get to this point and you say, well, if it's just by grace, then do we abolish the law? And then he says in the next line, well, if it's by grace, do we abolish the law by no means? You've read it correctly. How has he gotten you to that point? It's because he's built an argument. You have no choice but to ask this question. Jude is not like that. Jude is not argument. He's all assertion. In our text, there's no argument simply other than that's not what I've learned before. And while we want everyone to be mature in our understanding of the faith, your pastors and elders, we want everyone here to be able to pass the Systematics 1 exam at Presbyterian. To know the substance of the faith and why we believe what we believe. But the reality is, not everyone, not even the majority of Christians need to be master theologians. We all need to be maturing experts on godliness, Stalwart confessors of the things of most importance, but not everyone needs to be a doctor of doctrine. In other words, we need both kinds of people in the church. We need people who are really good at argument, and we need people who are really strong in assertion. We need men and women who are able to articulate from the scriptures what, how, and why. But we also need common-sense, gut-reaction Christians who know what they've been taught, who don't go against it, and who know the difference of when someone is trying to sell them something. So you need to understand what authority to appeal to, how to contend. And sometimes it's most appropriate to argue, to answer the fool according to his folly, to go back to the sermon from a few weeks ago. Sometimes it's most appropriate just to assert, to not answer the fool according to his folly. You also need, in order to contend for the faith, godly stubbornness. Godly stubbornness. Parents raising children, do you know that stubbornness can be a virtue? Or those who are older with grandchildren, stubbornness can be a virtue. You just have to put it in the right direction. We want Christians who never budge and who never compromise. For a single minute. That's stubbornness. And that's godly stubbornness. That's what we want. Not an obstinacy, not a hardness towards a truth or towards goodness. But we do want a holy obstinacy against sin and against lies. And then lastly, you want to contend for the faith. Live your life in quiet godliness. Quiet godliness is one of the greatest witnesses and effective tactics against the enemy. By quiet godliness, children were delivered from the murderous hands of Pharaoh. Ungodly husbands were won to the faith by their wives. The faith was passed from one generation to the next, and the world was turned upside down. History records moments of turmoil But how far greater were the years of peace when nothing was said except so-and-so judged Israel and the land had rest? That's what we want. Quiet faithfulness. Now, sometimes we don't get to live that. That's not up to us. But that's the goal. And that makes us ask then, is there a difference between contending and being contentious? Because that's something that we should ask ourselves. And the answer is certainly so. Paul says, the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome. And yet quarrels may be necessary when contending for the faith. So what is the difference between contending and contentious? Not the difference is not how nice you are. The difference is not how much contending is going on. Someone may not be very nice. but are contending, not contentious. It was the saying of Chesterton, that nine times out of 10, the crude word is what rebukes a wrong, and the soft word is what excuses it. So it's not how nice you are, and it's not how much contending is going on. You look at the missionary journeys of Paul, and here's a man who did a whole lot of contending. There was not much peace. So what is the difference then? What's the difference between being contentious and contending? Well, the question is, how does it start? You know, is this a person who's just out looking for a fight? Or does controversy come to him or to her? The biggest question is, who's right? Remember, sin is what causes division, not godliness. What is the motivation? Is the motivation the glory of God and the purity of the church? Is the goal peace through purity? How does it end? Is there a desire and an ability to have peace? You want to know what happened? The difference between someone who contends and someone who's contentious. At most, most ways, the simplest way is just observe them from outside. See, see them, see the person's family or their friends. or their congregation, and you'll know whether or not they're contentious, because the question is, do they love peace? Do they want peace? The person who fights but wants peace is not a contentious person, but a person contending for the good. So look at their family, look at their congregation, look at what's going on in that person's life outside of the contention. And the question then is also, how do we know this faith? So you're to contend for the faith. We understand now what it means to contend. We know what the faith means, but where do we get this faith? How do we know the faith? And Jude says, this is the faith once for all delivered to the saints. So there's two parts of that. There is once for all, hap haps. What is the nature of this particular kind of tradition, this passing down, this deliverance? It is once for all, not in a sense of numerical, taught only once, but in a conclusive sense, right? This is final and authoritative. There are things worth questioning. And then there are things that are not worth questioning. And we need to know the difference. Okay, there are things worth questioning. There are things not worth questioning. So it was once for all delivered to the Saints the transmission of this tradition. That's what he's saying You had this faith you received it by the word tradition means a passing down a passing down So you receive this by tradition by a passing down of the faith. How is tradition received and passed on? This is what you believe. This is what's right. It's received by explicit teaching you think about sermons you think about catechism in the home That's tradition. That's here's something we're passing it on. We're telling you So explicit teaching stories stories which extol virtue and shame vice is a good passing down of tradition one of the best catechisms is good stories and Systems of reward and punishment so not just reward right but reward and are not just punishment but reward and punishment Positive and negative reinforcement is it so often called today How else is it passed on it's passed on in your manner right more is caught than taught So you ask yourself is this a delight or only duty is? It significant or is it meaningless? Is it full of love or full of fear? And that is what you're passing on. And how else is it received and how else is the faith delivered? How is tradition received? It is done so by repetition. What makes something ingrained in your mind? Something is ingrained either because it was instantaneously traumatic, right? Where you saw this or this happened to you and you can never unsee it, you can never unlive it. instantaneously traumatic or else excessively repeated over and over and over again until it becomes a natural habit. That's how you pass on the faith. Where you have to just over and over and over again, we sing the same songs. And there's 150 of them, but we sing them, and they become ingrained in us. We have 10 commandments. that summarized two commandments, 10 commandments that summarize the whole of the scripture. We have one book and we go through it again and again and again in our homes and in our churches. And so that's how you pass on the faith. The faith is meant to be not done in a vacuum. It's meant to be passed on. Now, the question is, why is that so hard for us? Because we live in a time where tradition is particularly difficult. The idea of passing on the faith is particularly difficult for us. Why is it the case? Here's eight quick reasons. It is difficult because we crave innovation by our nature. We are never content with what we have. What we want, and this is becoming more and more evident, we want a cafeteria plan tradition. We want Build-A-Bear Church, where you get to take what you want, and change things around pretty regularly whenever you feel like it. We crave innovation by our nature, our sinful nature, and we prize innovation by our culture. We think modern means better. Sometimes that's true, and sometimes that's not. But we are disposed to think, oh, I've been handed down this thing, Therefore, I need to reject it because it's old. I need something new in its place. Third, there's a sense in which everything is being called into question in our society because of the proliferation of lies. And so the idea of being handed down something is very foreign to us, because this is a common phrase, right? If they lied about this, what else could they be lying about? Think about the news. If they lied about this for the last five years, what else have they been lying about? in public school system. If they've been lying about this for the last 50 years, what else could they be lying about? And so you now have the most ridiculous things being put out. Why? Because people just don't believe anything they've been told. And that's not how it should be. It's just like there are those in the church, there are those within Presbyterian churches, that they say, we want grassroots church movement. We want movement from the bottom up. That's not how gravity works. You want things to work top down. That's how gravity works. That's how things work well. But why don't we let things go top down? It's because either our authorities have abdicated, either they are untrustworthy or, sinfully, we don't trust them. And all that's wrong. Jude says you need to receive this faith. Someone needs to come to you and authoritatively tell you this is what you believe. This is what God's Word tells you. We struggle with that because another thing about our culture is we don't live in an honor culture. The idea of, for instance, family traditions. or cultural traditions are so foreign to us because we forget the reason you keep doing these things is because you're honoring those who came before you. And we think, well, we shouldn't honor anybody. We shouldn't honor anybody but God. But the command is honor your parents. You should honor those who come before you. It's not a sin. It's not it's not revering someone to honor them. God tells us to do that. And because we've forgotten to honor those who come before us, we're very easy to say, well, this is what my parents believed or this is what my pastors believe. And I'm just going to throw that away. I'm going to figure it out for myself. That's not how this is meant to work. Fifth, we're wary of tradition because we're Protestants. And that's good. Rome is bad. In case you didn't know. So much error in that tradition has been exposed. Matthew Henry and his commentary on Revelation says about the phrase 660 and six says, I don't know what this means. Perhaps it's the number of errors in the papacy, but I believe that's probably too. I believe that's too generous. And so we're wary of that, and that's good. But that doesn't mean we throw out everything. If you read through, for instance, the works of the Puritans, particularly early ones like William Perkins, he'll have sentences where, this is what has been handed down to us. I don't know whether this is true or not, so we'll just go with that. That's a godly tradition, that's a godly deference. Sixth, there's not a common culture anymore being passed down. And so tradition becomes very hard. You think about even our friends and our brothers and sisters here. Everybody likes different books. Everybody watches different shows. Everybody gets news from different outlets. Everybody lives in different towns and then commutes in. What happens? There's not a common culture. There's not a common tradition being handed down. And we've become so accustomed to commuter culture that we think when a church does have a common culture, that's a cult. And that's not true either. Seventh, we're wary of tradition. We trouble with the passing down, the deliverance of the faith, very simply because so few families and so few congregations have a multi-generational faith. We have lost the idea of a grandchild, parent, and grandparent sitting in the same pew together. And that that was meant to be that way. And so we struggle with that. And by God's grace, what do we have here? What do we have in other Reformed congregations throughout the country? We do have a lot of where there's multiple generations. We have we have a great representation of people from all ages, and we're able to pass down some of this tradition of the faith. But so many are coming in from the outside. And that's wonderful. But why are so many having to come in from the outside? Because Christian parents down the road forgot to pass on the faith. And eighth, the last reason we struggle to pass on, to deliver the faith, or to receive the faith for that matter, is the democratization of expertise. Why need tradition when you can take some classes, you can do your own research, you can become accredited as an expert yourself? Or if you don't want to do all that work, you can cherry pick an expert that agrees with you. Few places is this more seen than in what has become the capitalism of Christianity. where God is the product, you are the client, your pastor is the salesman, and the program is the gimmick to get you in the door. What should you do with all these difficulties? You should stop hating tradition and you should start receiving and passing it on. You should contend earnestly for the faith that was once delivered to the saints. Now, what are some characteristics of these evil intruders? Why are they having to contend for the faith in the first place? Well, Jude says in verse four, certain men have crept in unnoticed who long ago were marked out for this for this condemnation, ungodly men who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. So what are some characteristics of these evil intruders? Well, they are men who have a definite reputation He says they are certain men Whomever Jude was talking about the churches. He was writing to knew who he was talking about When Jude writes certain men and this letter is being read aloud everybody's eyes goes to those guys He's talking about you Again shows we need to speak frankly about false teachers in error The the apostles and we're not afraid to name names This guy's a heretic. He's shipwrecked the faith. He's leading other people astray He's abandoned me So these men have a definite care definite reputation they have a dubious origin they have crept in unnoticed and The story of Nehemiah reminds us that the church needs walls and gates. Walls keep out the bad, gates bring in the good in the right way. Presbyters serve in that function. Jesus warns in John 10, one through two, he says, truly I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs in another way, that man is a thief and a robber, but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. There's a gate you need to go in through the gate not over the wall But Jude says these men have crept in unnoticed now It could be that they're settled ministers and men or members in the congregation or in the church in the Presbytery who they're established They're established in ministry for some time, but they got caught up in tangents They go off on the deep end that happens, but more likely than not they've crept in unnoticed. These are traveling preachers who bring in From the outside, evil philosophies, evil teachings, evil life instruction applications. That's very common. You think of John, or 2 John, 3 John, about receiving with honor those who are faithful ministers into the house, into the church. Let them bring the word to you. And so what are these? These are traveling preachers who have brought in their heresies from the outside. And we think, well, that doesn't happen today. But we need far more discernment even than these guys did. Because the traveling teachers of today might not come into our physical building and preach, but they've come into the intimacy of your home. And they've come into the conferences, whether they're speakers, podcasters, bloggers, authors, influencers, newscasters of the day, whatever name they go by. These are the traveling preachers of today. And they've crept into the church. And so we need to guard against men of dubious origin. How do we do that? How do you guard against these kinds of things? The first thing is this place greater weight on appropriate degrees of loyalty. So that as a matter of deference, you trust those who care for you and minister to you, who share their lives with you more than the traveling preacher. Second, know your pastors and elders. Know what they are thinking about and reading, where they stand on this or that issue, and why. What their lives are like Monday through Saturday, not just on the Lord's day. Third, be in the word and test everything by the word. And remember that the ministry of the word and sacrament belongs to the Presbytery under the kingship of Jesus Christ, not just to individual men. The church existed before any given minister, and it will exist after any given minister. And so when it says in the scriptures that the shepherd was struck and the sheep scattered, you need to know that that's not about your pastors. That's about Christ. You don't need to scatter when your shepherd is struck, because Christ has already been struck, the sheep already scattered, and he's brought them back into one fold. These men have a definite reputation, a dubious origin, and thirdly, they have a determined end. They were long ago marked out for condemnation. They were long ago marked out for verdict and sentencing. And that's meant to be a comfort, not just to the church, but also to Jude. It's a comfort to the church because it reminds the church God is sovereign. But it's also a comfort in particular to Jude as a shepherd of the flock. In the Greek text, Jude says that he writes that they should contend for the faith. But then he goes to say that the destruction of these men have been pre-written. And this is a great encouragement, he says, I've written to you, but God has already written their end. I'm writing to you this letter. God has already written their story. And that's a great encouragement to remember that this is the grace of God, not just the determination of pastors that's going to sustain the people. And so we need to be faithful in our duties, whether as ministers or members of the church, as parents or as children, as spouses or as singles. But it's God's faithfulness that will ensure his glory. We're not Atlas with the world resting on our shoulders. Christ holds all things together in order to reconcile all things to himself. God has marked these men out by his eternal decree. He's shown it time and again. through Old Testament prophecies and types, and he warns them again through these New Testament prophecies. But we may wonder sometimes, well, why does God even permit these guys to come in? Why does he permit them to muddy the waters, to deceive some, to profane his name? But let us remember that the ways of God are inscrutable and irreproachable. It's not our place to ask that. But we know that all God does is for his glory, and he uses these times so that the truth would be more firmly confessed. The Lord permits an Arius so that you should get Nicaea. The Lord permits a Rome so that you can get Westminster. These are blessings the church is purified in her membership and in her profession and God is glorified even in the desolation of the wicked. So Jude gives three characteristics of these evil intruders, and he gives as he's writing this It's not as clear in our text, but but as he writes them He gives a common theme in the Greek text that makes it particularly clear because all of these characteristics are by negation they are you know a and then the rest of the word they're without a Whatever the word is. And so these men are are not something they are not reverent. They're not controlled and they're not confessing. So they're not reverent. They're ungodly men. Literally, they're without fear. They lack reverence. They make light of God's name, his attributes and his works. contrary to the third commandment in the first petition. They don't take seriously their office and their work. Right. The elders and deacons are to be respectable and dignified. First Timothy three. They don't give a thought to the judgment of God. They don't take the right thing seriously. Instead, they take all the wrong things seriously. They fear man. They love fame. They pursue lust and power. And this irreverence is the foundational sin upon which the other two are built and is central to Jude's letter. Irreverence is going to come up again in verses 6, 8, 10, 11, 15, 16 and 18. In case you missed it, these are men who don't fear God. They're not controlled. They turn grace into lewdness. They have changed and replaced grace with wantonness, with licentiousness, the presumed license to sin whenever you want. They do well to hear the warning of the Apostle Paul. Do then we overthrow the law by faith, by no means. On the contrary, we uphold the law. Yet how often we fall into this trap, excusing sins by the guise of grace, or that everybody does it, or God doesn't expect me to be perfect. They're not controlled. But how can you be controlled? First, you can fear God. Take seriously the warnings of God about presumption of those who fall away, of those who say, Lord, Lord, and he says, I didn't never knew you. God is as faithful to his threats as He is to His promises. Fear God and love God. What put our Savior on the cross? It was our sins. Would we, as it were, crucify Him afresh? Profane trample on the blood of the covenant? How much have you been forgiven? Would you offer offense again? How much are you loved? Would you not love back in kind? How glorious and magnificent is the thrice holy Jehovah! Would you not follow his commands? How sweet is our shepherd! Would you run to wolves or off cliffs rather than hear his voice? How remarkable is the work of the Spirit! Would you quench him with your sin? Love does not push us away from, but draws us closer to obedience to God. These men are not reverent, they are not controlled, and they do not confess and submit to Christ. They deny our only master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is master and Lord. And these want to deny that. As if we heard in this morning of the sermon, this controversy, which is also here, in our text, the idea that he can be your savior and not your Lord. We use the charitable word from this morning, error. Serious error. Jesus Christ is master and Lord. He is the master, this word here is despotain, where we get our word despot. He is the head of his household, the church, and he is the kingly commander of his army. And Jesus Christ is Lord in him, the fullness of the Godhead. And the treasures of wisdom are found. Jesus Christ is true and very God, true and very man. And as the God man, he rules over all things and commands obedience. He freely holds out the golden scepter that any who would come to him by faith are bid welcome indeed. But to those who do not obey, he will crush with his rod of iron. They are without fear, they are without control, and they are without confession of Christ. And against these, we must contend for the faith. What is the best way you personally, or we as a congregation, or our Presbytery, or even this upcoming week in the meeting of our Senate, what is the best way that you can contend for the faith against these irreverent, uncontrolled non-confessors? The best way you can contend for the faith is by believing on Jesus Christ for your salvation, by fearing the triune God. In other words, live in simple daily faithfulness to Christ. and know that he has overcome the world. May God bless his word to us. Let's pray. Lord, would you teach us and help us and arm us to contend for the faith that we should live for your glory and obedience to your word and in love for Christ. We pray that you would equip us through your word and spirit as we have considered these things in Christ's name. Amen.