Hello and welcome to our broadcast of Call It Plain and Simple. We're going to continue in our series on understanding the days in which we are living. Stay tuned for our broadcast. Well, yesterday on our broadcast we were looking at the fact that pastors have an awesome responsibility because we are not dealing with programs, we are dealing with people. 1 Timothy 4, 16 warns the pastor to take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine continuing them for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself And them that hear thee, save thyself." Well, is the preacher not saved? No, he's talking about saving himself and saving his congregation from the apostasy that was coming in like a flood then, and it is coming in like a flood today. 1 Thessalonians 2, 4, all warns, but as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God which drieth our hearts. They didn't have to go home and wonder what Paul said after he preached a sermon. He knew exactly what he said. Paul understood that he was put in trust with the gospel, and so he preached not as pleasing men, but God which drieth our hearts. Today we're living in an age of a comfortable pew, even amongst our fundamental independent Baptist churches. Pastors know that most professed Christians are going to find a church where they feel comfortable. As a result, many pastors are offering them a comfortable pew. Ninety percent of the people in most of our fundamental independent Baptist churches feel very comfortable sitting in church week after week doing nothing for the cause of Christ. They show up for church, some of them even three times a week, and they do nothing for the cause of Christ. When a congregation becomes accustomed to the peace and harmony of generic preaching, they will become unprepared people, they will become uninterested in putting on the armor of God, they will become uninterested in fighting the battles. When Christians refuse to fight the battles, the enemies take over and apostasy comes in like a flood. Well, of course, it's going to come in like a flood. Well, 90 percent of our people sit there and allow it to happen. The pastor's responsibility, it was to the pastor in Revelation 315 that Jesus said, Thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. Oh, we love to preach that to our people. He wasn't talking to the people, he was talking to the pastor. Read it again. Every one of those seven letters was addressed to the pastor. And to the pastor he said, so you think you're rich and increased with goods and don't have any need of anything? You are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked with your big crowd there and you don't even know it. It was to the pastor that Christ said, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. Yeah, behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me. Revelation 3.20. It is a fact. We will not be deceived if we are in fellowship with Christ. The pastor at the Church of Laodicea was busy for Christ. He had a crowd to preach to. However, he was not in fellowship with the Lord. Apostasy prevails when pastors are too busy working for the Lord to spend time with the Lord. When Jeremiah was preaching, he preached for 42 years in an age of apostasy. He faced apostasy for 42 years. And Jeremiah said, but they hearken not, nor incline their ear, but walked in the counsel and in the imagination of their evil heart. and went backward and not forward, Jeremiah 7, 24. Well, that's a little bit discouraging. How did Jeremiah respond? In spite of that, we read that Jeremiah continued. He didn't quit. It wasn't a surface result that kept him going. It was his love for the word of God that compelled him. Jeremiah said, his word was in my heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, Jeremiah 29. Jeremiah said, Thy words were found, and I did eat them, and Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. Let me read it again. Jeremiah said, Thy words were found, and I did eat them, and Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. The word joy is found seven times in the book of Jeremiah. No, we read about the weeping prophet. No, in the middle of all of this apostasy, Jeremiah said, the word of God was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. Jeremiah 15, verse number 16. In Jeremiah 2 and 8, God said, they that handled the law knew me not. Knew me not. They that handled the law. That's the leadership. He went on to say, the pastors transgressed against me. Jeremiah 2 and 8. They handled the law and they knew me not. That word knew has been translated acknowledged six times. They handled the law, but they acknowledged me not. To transgress against God is to go beyond the bonds of His established behavior for us as leaders. Like Jeremiah, let us focus on being faithful as God's remnant. Jeremiah said, Pray for us, even for all the remnant, for we are left but a few. Jeremiah 42. We are a small remnant, but we are but a few. They were small in number, however, Jeremiah also said in Jeremiah 50, verse number two, declare ye among the nations and publish and set up a standard, publish and conceal not. This is not a time to be quiet about what we believe. It's a time to raise the standard as the enemy comes in like a flood and stand up and let everybody know exactly where we stand. Well, we have a book called June, an interesting little book, and in verse number three of chapter one it says, 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 vey which was once delivered unto the saints. Now we've got two things mentioned here, the common salvation and contending for the vey. Now it is very important to understand that Jude did not change his mind. It will be a great day for the cause of Christ when we put away our commentaries and compare Scripture with Scripture rather than comparing Scripture with commentaries. Every commentary I have read concerning this verse says that Jude changed his mind about what he's going to write about. This is simply not correct. The Greek word translated common in this verse Number three is koinos. The word was used by Jews concerning something that was unallowed, profane, and unclean. In Mark chapter 7 and 2, it is translated defiled. In Romans 14, 14, it is translated unclean three times. In Hebrews 10 and 29 it's translated unholy thing. Now there's two types of salvation that are referred to in the Bible. Hebrews 2, 3 talks about a great salvation. Jude 1 and 3 talks about a common salvation, a salvation that is defiled, unclean, and unholy. In Jude's day, like today's day, the apostasy had turned God's great salvation into a common salvation. Jude was referring to a salvation plan that was defiled, unclean, and unholy. Therefore, Jude said, it was needful for me to write unto you and to exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints, verse number three. He's talking about the fact that the plan of salvation in his day had become an unholy thing. How did that happen? Well, Jude continued, for there crept in, notice the word for, it connects it to what he just said, for there are certain men crept in unaware 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. Certain men crept in. I call them Bible creeps. There are several things that are mentioned in these verses. First of all, it says Jude gave all diligence to write and to warn them about the fact that the plan of salvation had been made common. It had been made common. He did not give diligence to write. He gave all diligence to write. The Greek word has been translated with haste in other places. It was needful for Jude to exhort them that they should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints because this common unholy plan of salvation had crept in. The Greek word needful has been translated distress three times. When a doctor's patient goes into distress, that person is in trouble. Jude was very concerned about the common salvation that had replaced the faith that was once delivered unto the saints. The apostasy promoters had crept in unawares, that is, they moved slowly and carefully in order to avoid being noticed. The apostasy promoters were ordained to this condemnation, translated judgment 13 times. They were ordained to judgment for their actions. They were not ordained to creep into the churches. They were ordained, ordained, that word is translated set forth in Galatians 3, 1. They were set forth for judgment. They were ungodly men, it says. And verse 15 tells us these ungodly men were among them. And verse 12 says they feast with you. They were turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness. They were denying the Lord. Now, the conclusion is obvious. Pastors had promoted a common salvation, allowing people to simply pray a prayer and join the church. Don't worry about repentance. Just pray a prayer and join the church. Now, there's two types of apostasy promoters. It is obvious that the promoters of apostasy that Jude was talking about were unsaved. However, Peter warned us about believers who were apostate promoters. The phrase among you is found three times in 1 and 2 Peter, all of which refers to Christians. 1 Peter 5, 1 says the elders which are among you, 1 Peter 5, 2 the flock of God which is among you, and 2 Peter 2, 1 there shall be false teachers among you. We know Peter refers to Christian Paul's teachers because he said they were denying the Lord that bought them, 2 Peter 2.1. The Greek word bought is translated redeemed three times in the New Testament. To deny the Lord is to refuse him access, Revelation 3.20, we see that. Many Christian leaders today, under the banner of fundamentalism, are bringing in the damnable heresy that you do not need to repent. It is an unholy common plan of salvation, and it is a heresy, a damnable heresy. A damnable heresy is a heresy that will damn you. It will send you to hell for eternity. In recent days, fundamentalism has become flooded with leaders Christians who are promoting apostasy by promoting this new common salvation that was introduced some years ago by Dr. Jack Isles who brought it in and said that repentance is the enemy of soul winning. Well, Jesus plainly warned us in Luke 13 and 3, I tell you nay, but except you repent, ye shall all likewise perish. We have many in our ranks of fundamentalists who are promoting the damnable heresy that repentance is not necessary for salvation. A damnable heresy, as I said, will damn a person to hell. eternity. Over a hundred years ago Gypsy Smith warned us about this new present-day common salvation. In his message, Repent Ye, he said, I am afraid that in our zeal to get people into the kingdom or the church we have lowered the standard. I am afraid that in our zeal to get people into what we call the church we have been more anxious about heads than hearts. In order to capture we have compromised and lost. We have been more concerned about filling our church registers than about filling the kingdom. That's where we are today with our common salvation. It is time to get back to preaching the Word of God and the old-fashioned plan of salvation. Well, we're out of time again. Be sure and tune in tomorrow. We'll continue this broadcast. We'll try to make it plain and simple. You.