All right, if you'll open up your Bibles, the book of Jude. Be careful, don't blink, you'll pass it up like a small town in Georgia. Jude, you go to Revelation and turn back. It's the first, it's the last book right before Revelation. And we're not gonna preach the whole thing today, but we're gonna kinda jump off from here. Y'all know what a caricature is? Most people do, right? I remember growing up, I remember going to Astroworld and they'd have the artists there. There's always an artist on the street or someone, Savannah, wherever you go, there's always somebody that can do it. But you sit down, you can't see a thing they're doing. It's kind of like allowing yourself to be roasted. Because if you got a slightly big nose, it's going to come out huge when they're done. They get, it's an exaggerated picture of your features. If your ears are a little big, they're gonna be huge. If they're a little little, they're gonna be almost non-existent. But they'll emphasize all kinds of things. And you know, when people look at Christians and Christianity, they often see a caricature of what a Christian is. And, A lot of those pictures are probably deserved down through history. There's been different points in time. You've been in the church, you've been in the church where you've got the, how would I say? You've got the matriarch that's been there for so many years and everything that's going on in the church is her business and everything that's going on in somebody's family is their business. So people look at Christians, they see a busy body. You got the person that goes out on Saturday night and they have a big party or they go out to the bar or whatever on Saturday night and then you see them show up in church on Sunday morning, they're the deacon or whatever. So the church is full of hypocrites. So there's caricature, the nose gets bigger. You've got the street preacher that'll go out there and he'll preach on hell, or you got the preacher in the pulpit that'll preach on hellfire and damnation. Get to shouting. And I have enjoyed some shouting preaching, and I like when the preaching gets good. But somebody from the outside, they see it, they don't understand. And all they hear is somebody yelling. I've even seen Mark Lowry. You know who Mark Lowry is? Mark Lowry is a comedian. He hung out with the Gaithers a lot. Mark Lowry came from an independent Baptist church. I think his father was a preacher. And he would make fun of the independent Baptist. He would say, he would do a preacher, he would say, and if you sin, God's gonna send you into hell. But I'm happy to be a Christian. You know, it just turned it up. I'll never forget a sermon I heard. You know, you could record them off the radio back then. I don't know how easy it is now, but you had tapes from different radio stations and stuff. And I remember a preacher and he would say, oh my Lord, my God, these Christians, we don't have an upper room. We have a supper room. We too busy feasting when we ought to be fasting. They got all their bunny rabbits and their Santa Claus's. Oh my Lord and my God, but I love you. And it gets a little exciting to hear it. But somebody on the outside, they draw a caricature of what a Christian is. I've seen a street preacher and thanks to YouTube, you can see a lot of them now. There's a whole new generation of street preachers. They just go out there and give the word. And they don't even argue with people, they just tell them. They tell them with love. But I've also seen other Christians that just pull back from it too much. I've seen them ashamed to even be a Christian, ashamed to even tell anyone that there is a hell that they're going to. They take the whole other tact and they say, well, God loves you. God loves you right where you are. God loves you no matter what you're doing. God loves you, God loves you, God, and that's their whole thing. The problem is, Both of them get out of balance. Now, the preaching was good, but I'm talking about the ones that'll sit there and point out everybody, you're going to hell, you're going to hell, you're going to hell. That's out of balance. Because what does the Bible say? The Bible says that God's the one that judges, right? But there's a balance in everything. Over in John chapter seven, you know, that one verse that everybody knows whether they ever been in church or not. Judge not, lest you be judged. Judge not, lest you be judged. That used to drive me nuts. And for whatsoever judgment you judge, you shall be judged. I know I'm messing up the scripture right now because I wasn't ready for it. But it gets out of balance. because we're to have discernment also. It doesn't mean just because, judge not lest you be judged, you're gonna be judged with the same stick. It doesn't mean that you throw all judgment out the window. It doesn't mean, and that switches over to discernment. And that's, discernment is understanding what God wants for us as Christians. And discernment is doctrine, understanding your doctrine, understanding what God says about salvation. When someone starts talking about working their way to heaven, discernment says, no. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. When someone talks about their good outweighing the bad, discernment says, no, the Bible says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There is none righteous, no, not one. So discernment looks at the Bible and says, no, this is what the Bible really says. And people might get offended by it, but there's a balance within all of that. Y'all follow me on this? When we look at Jude, and we're not gonna look at the whole thing, but Jude is writing this, let me read it. Let me read from it. It says, 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. He says, mercy unto you, and you may stand if you'd like. Mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied. He said, verse number three, so there's your love. Verse number three, he 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. Now remember that verse. He said earnestly contend for the faith. That's standing up for the word of God. That's standing up for the gospel. to earnestly stand up. Now see that other side that says, I don't want to be a caricature of what the world thinks of me. The side that recoils from the world looking at you and saying, oh, you're part of the, oh no, I'm not part of that crowd. I'm part of the, God is love and God loves you. And they get out of balance with that side of it without knowing or without telling about God's judgment against sin. because there is a judgment against sin, which makes God's love so much better. All right, he said, verse number three. 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 to the saints. And he gives a reason, verse number four. 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. I will therefore put you in remembrance, though you once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people," and he goes on, and I don't want to get caught up in all of it, but so he's laid the groundwork that there's men that have crept in underwear When you look at, go to verse 17. And those verses in the middle, he's describing them, he's describing the problem with false teachings in the church. And in verse 17, he says, but beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now some think that the book of Jude might have been written after the apostles had passed on, and this is a reminder to look back to what the apostles said. He said, these be they who separate themselves. I'm sorry, verse 18, how that they told you there should be mockers in the last time who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. That comes from 2 Peter. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the spirit. But listen to what he says, but ye, beloved. All that's there, all that's gonna happen, but this is what you need to do, beloved. He says, but you, beloved, verse number 20, but you, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost. There's three things there, building up yourselves on the most, on your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Ghost. In verse 21, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And in verse 22, and this is what we're gonna be looking at today, the difference. What is the balance? So verse 22, and of some have compassion making a difference. And he's talking about these false teachers. He's talking about people that are outside the faith. He says of some have compassion making a difference. So telling them that God loves them, that's not out of line. And then verse 23, and others, save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. And there's the other side of the coin. There's some, you just, you need to tell them about hell. They need to understand that they don't have to do anything to go to hell. They're already on the way. The skids are greased. Verse 22, verse 24, now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior be glory, majesty, dominion, power both now and forever, amen. You may be seated. So verse 20 and 21 are kind of like an inoculation against the false teachings. You heard it said that when you're looking for a counterfeit, you learn all about the original. When you look for counterfeit doctrine, you have to at first learn all about the doctrine that you hold, that the Bible teaches. That inoculates you from the false teaching. You ever been listening to some preacher or something and he'll start to say something and then he'll go off the road and you'll be like, that's not quite right. Something funny about that. Has that ever happened to y'all? If it hadn't, I need to teach Bible better around here. It'll start to tell you all about how God wants you to be rich and God wants this and that for you. I've heard, well, I'll name a name. I heard Joyce Meyer one time, and she's talking all about why you should give and the verses that she gives. It's like, that's just not right. That doesn't make sense. God does bless you. God loves a cheerful giver. It doesn't matter, any preacher that starts to take the scripture and I get so worried about it, I'll give you the context. Remember when I preached for an hour and a half the other week? It's our inoculation to it, verses 20 and 21. But you, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith. And that's building yourself up on the faith. That's discipleship. That's learning more. That's growing stronger in your faith. That's relying on God. That's trusting God. It's building yourself up on the most holy faith. And verse 21, keep yourselves in the love of God. And that's walking in the spirit. That's walking in God's ways. That's staying out of the flesh. That's staying away from the flesh. That's staying in. the Spirit. And he says, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And that's keeping your eyes forward on what God has for us. Keeping your eyes forward on the goal. I call it keeping the main thing the main thing. Although that feels like a sports term. It doesn't feel right to say that, but that's keeping Jesus Christ in your focus. There's false doctrine, there's false teachings all around us. And there's people that get caught up in that as much as they get caught up in prophecy and things like that. You can get so caught up in different things that you can lose sight of what God really has for your own life. And it's fun to get caught up in that. It's fun to get out the bulletin board and the index cards and the red string and the push pins and link everything together, it's fun. It can be tedious, and it's good to learn about God's word, but don't ever forget why you're learning about God's word, because it points to Jesus Christ. So back to our verses, verse 23, verse 22 and 23, it says, of some, and this, I told you this was the balance, and of some have compassion, making a difference, and others, save with fear, pulling them out of the fire. So as you build up a, As you build up in the faith, and as you witness and contend for the faith, remember over in verse number two, he said, verse number three, beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you the common salvation, he says, and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints. Contending for, defending the faith. So how do we keep from getting out of balance, and how do we keep this balance? Some say with compassion, some have compassion making a difference, and others say with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment spotted by the fledge. Look over in Acts chapter number 17. And we're gonna see some examples of witnessing from the Bible. Acts chapter 17, we'll look at verse number 16. Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. Paul looks around in Athens and he sees all the Greek gods and statues and the idols that are put up. And it says, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry, therefore he disputed in the synagogue with the Jews and with the devout persons and in the market daily with them that met with him. And then certain philosophers of the Epicureans and the Stoics encountered him. And some said, what shall this babbler say? Others, some, he seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods, because he preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection. Paul was always there to give them the gospel. You remember over in 1 Corinthians, he said, I came, I didn't, I'm gonna paraphrase it. He said, I didn't come to you with flowery words. I didn't come to you like a wise, I didn't come to you under my own power, but I came to you in the power of God. He says, verse 19, and they took him and brought him unto the ear of Pegas, saying, may we know what this new doctrine whereof thou speakest is? without bringing certain strange things to our ears. We would therefore know, we would know therefore, I'm having trouble reading today so bad. We would know therefore what these things mean. For all the Athenians and strangers were there, spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing. And here's a group of people that they're looking, they're always looking for some new thing. They like to get up and they like to talk philosophy and they like to have their ears tickled with some new thing. And Paul's talking to them and he's telling them about Jesus Christ and this is something that's so foreign to them. They have a God for everything. They have Zeus, the God of thunder. They have all these different gods that they worship. They have all the stories behind their gods. And Paul's talking about a one true God. Now, when we talk about that balance, some say with compassion, others say with fear. Paul used discernment in how he addressed things. If you only have a hammer, everything looks like a nail, right? If you're only preaching love, you see that as the solution to everything. Paul looks here, and he has the love of Christ, but first they need to know about the God. And Paul is standing in the Aeropagus, and there's kind of an auditorium, an outdoor auditorium. It's still over there, pieces of it, but... It surrounded and the acoustics would go out, you could stand in the middle and talk to everybody at one time. So they put Paul in the middle and they say, we wanna hear about this, this is new, we wanna hear about this. So verse 22, then Paul stood in the midst of Mars Hill and said, you men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you're too superstitious. He's straight up with them. He said, for as I passed by and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription. Now he's speaking to them from their level, what they know. He said, to the unknown God, whom therefore you ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. Paul passes by a statue and they had idols and statues for everything. And they wanted their bases covered. And so they've made a statue and it's like, in case we're forgetting one of you gods, this is it, this is the one to cover you. Kind of like the tomb of the unknown soldier for us. We don't worship him, but the unknown soldier represents those soldiers that are missing in action, those soldiers that we don't have with us. And so we honor that grave in their absence. So he points to this statue and he says, The unknown God that you ignorantly worship, let me tell you about this unknown God. He said, God, verse 24, God that made the world and all things therein. Remember, they've got a God for everything. Now he's telling them there's a God that made everything. seeing that he is lord of heaven and earth dwelleth not in temples made with hands neither is worship with men's hands as though he needed anything seeing he give it to all life and breath and all things and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth and hath determined the times before appointed and the bounds of their habitation that they should seek the Lord, if happily they might feel after him and find him, though he be not far from every one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being, as certain also of your own poets have said." And here he's speaking again to their head. Paul was learned in all the ways. Paul sat at the feet of Gamaliel, but he was learned in philosophy. He was learned about, he was educated. And he's pointing them to things. He points them to their own poet. He says, as one of your own poets have said, for we are also his offspring. For as much then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold or silver or stone, graven by art and man's device. He's speaking to them where they are, but what's he not doing? He's not trying to make God one of their statues. He's not trying to make God fit into their way of thinking. He's simply showing them how God is a part. He's telling them the truth about God. In the times of this ignorance, let's see, graven by art and man's devices, in the times of this ignorance, God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent, because he hath appointed a day. What? But God is love. He hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, and that he hath raised him from the dead. And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked and others said, we will hear this again of this matter. So Paul departed from among them, how be it certain men clave unto him and believed among the witch, and then it goes on to name them. But we see Paul, preaching about God, understanding God, understanding the Bible, and he's pointing them to God, reaching them right where they are. But what's he not doing? He's not compromising. You know, the world tells us you gotta market to a certain people. You gotta get your marketing out there and you wanna reach a certain people. And there's books that'll tell you that you wanna find out the felt needs of your congregation. You wanna figure out what they feel like they need. And I'm gonna reach in and tickle you there. And I'm gonna preach it. You feel like you need counseling in marriage, we'll preach on marriage counseling. You feel like you need preaching on gaining wealth, we'll preach on that. What does my congregation feel like they need? Jesus. Amen. You know me better than that. And it's God's word. It's just like Paul said. That's all he knows to give is God's word. To give the gospel. And the gospel is the entire. It's the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It's the judgment of God. It's salvation from sin. But Paul stands in front of them and he appeals. He still tells them about God, but he tells them in a way that they can understand. He appeals to their minds. In Romans 1.16, a lot of times people will pull back. They don't want to be a character of a Christian. They've seen people repelled. by the message of the gospel. And there's a tendency to wanna pull back. And it's like, well, I'll just live my life in order that they can see Jesus and I'll just do this and I'll do that. But a lot of times it involves everything except for just telling somebody plainly the message of Jesus Christ. I remember being at work one time and I remember a fella asked me about what it means to be saved and all that. And I remember just giving him the gospel. And it's like when I was done, although you have a tendency to wanna ask, you know, would you like to accept Jesus? It's just like the Lord told me, all right, go do your logs. And right in the middle, it just, and I walked out. Ended up like three or four months later, he got saved. It was at another church, but the groundwork was laid. But just given the straight up gospel. We think that we have to add so much to things. We think that we have to offer so much. If we can get them in with this, then we can tell them about the gospel. I know this sounds like an excuse, you know, because we're looking at empty pews and stuff. But that's the way the gospel's meant to be given out. Just give it in plain language. Tell them, Jesus died for your sins. Well, I'm not a sinner. Show them the Ten Commandments. But you speak to them where they're at. In Romans chapter one, verse 16, we're not gonna go through the whole chapter, because that'd be a whole nother sermon. But verse 16, Paul says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the just shall live by faith. So he says, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation. And that's the understanding. We get our feelings hurt when we tell someone about Jesus Christ. And it hurts when they reject him. But it's not on you for the results. It's just on us to obey God. Now, it's on you if you're destroying your testimony at the same time. You're selling them something that's broke or something like that, you tell them about Jesus, you're not exactly doing a good testimony. But when you tell people or give the message, we want to add so much to it, we want to cushion it, we want to soften it up or something. But when you look in the Bible, it's just plain. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. If you're gonna hold up the Bible, if you're gonna hold up Christian beliefs, Jesus is a part of that. It's not my pastor, my preacher. It's not this and that. It's not, well, you know, it just makes your life better. And that's where we get caught. I want you to know how wonderful my life has been since I've been saved. I want you to know how good every day is, and the smile on my face is because I'm saved. And there is joy in knowing the Lord. There is peace in knowing Jesus Christ. But that peace comes from knowing that God is in control, and knowing that we have eternal life, we have a destination in heaven, that no matter what happens to us, no matter what man can do to us, it doesn't make your life better, but it's an understanding that God is in control, and no matter what happens to you, that you will be with Jesus Christ. What does Paul say? It just came to me. He said, I hate when that happens. But he said, to be with you is, I'm really gonna butcher this. He says, to be with you is good, but to be with Christ is far better. You take me, I walk out there on the street and a car takes me out, I just get to go home, I really get to go. There was a preacher we used to do at revival meetings, Brother Luther Spivey, all through the sermon, I really get to go. That's a part of me, it's like, my last words, if I'm dying and somebody that doesn't even know me is hovering over me, tell my family I really get to go. We have a home in heaven, no matter what goes on in this life. And the power behind the gospel is Jesus Christ. The power behind the gospel is the spirit of God. Look how Jesus, when he was here, John chapter three. John chapter three, it'd be hard not to get carried away on this one, because he's talking to Nicodemus. Bible says, there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Now Jesus is talking to a Pharisee and he's meeting him on his level. And he's showing him, you know all these things. Look what he says later as Nicodemus has trouble. Verse number eight, he says, he's talking about the Holy Spirit. He says, the wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell from whence it cometh, and whither it goeth? So is everyone that is born in the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, how can these things be? He's having trouble understanding what Jesus is saying, and Jesus is hitting him on his level. Verse number nine. Verse number 10, Jesus answered and said unto him, art thou a master of Israel and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, we speak that we do know and testify that we have seen and you receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things and you believe not, how shall you believe if I tell you of heavenly things? Jesus didn't get on him, Jesus didn't chastise him, he just spoke to him where he was and speak in truth for him. And here we see Jesus contending for the faith, Jesus telling him the gospel. But look at Matthew chapter number 23. Remember I talked about balance. Some save with fear. God is a God of love. God does love us, John 3, 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. God loved us enough to send his only son down to be abused, to be mistreated, but Jesus came in the flesh to let the world know that God was sending him as the sacrifice for our sins. whether many people understood him and followed him, but many others fought against him. Many others had it set in their mind that's not how it's gonna be, and they didn't listen. In Matthew chapter 23, you got the eight woes. And this is how the loving God spoke to him. Verse number 13. He says, but woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees and hypocrites, for you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men, for you neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. It's not that, it's getting so lopsided that everything's about God's love that you let anything go, including sliding on doctrine and things like that. You want to contend for the faith, you want to understand your doctrine and be willing to stand on that. and be willing to show people, no, this isn't right. This is what's in the Bible. It's not about fighting. It's not about getting in somebody's faith. It's about contending for the faith. It's about standing on the word of God. And Jesus was harshest to those he knew weren't gonna listen to him. They were blind. He told a blind, he told, when he healed the blind man and he was talking to the Pharisees, they said, are we blind also? He said, If you were blind, you would have an excuse. But you can see, but you refuse to see, so your sin remains. He says, but woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees and hypocrites, for you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men, for you neither go in yourselves, neither suffer you them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, scribes, Pharisees, and hypocrites, for you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayer. Therefore you shall receive the greater damnation. Verse 15. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. Verse 16, woe unto you, you blind guides, which say, whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing, but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor. You fools and blind, whether it's gray or the gold of the temple that sanctified the gold. Verse 23, woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees and hypocrites, for you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin. and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith. These ought you to have done and not to leave the other undone. You blind guys, which strain at a net and swallow a camel." He was right there with the truth. Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you may clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Verse 27, woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees and hypocrites, for you are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones and of uncleanness, all uncleanness. Even so, you also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. And then it goes on. So we see Jesus contending for the faith, And there's a balance in it all. Look at 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy, chapter number 2. We'll look at 20. We'll start at 23. He says, but foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. He says, and the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient. in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves, if God, peradventure, will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. It's having a gentle spirit, it's telling them about it, it's relying on the gospel. And if you look in Proverbs 26, we don't have to go there, but in one verse it says, do not answer a fool according to his folly, and in the next verse it says to answer a fool according to his folly. It's according to what's going on at the time. It's not just having a hammer for all the nails. So the question is, I don't know whether it's your question or not, but the question is, how do you give the gospel without being the caricature of a Christian? I heard a girl, and you're starting to see more of it, it seems like, but I heard a girl saying, to those that tell me, Don't shove your religion off on me. And you've heard people say that, right? You're shoving your religion down my throat. She said, imagine that a house is burning, and I come and knock on your door, and it's burning at another part, there's flames, there's smoke, there's fire, and people have already evacuated. And I come to your door, and you're on the other side of the building, and I tell you, look, the building's on fire. The fire's coming this way. The firemen aren't on the way. You gotta get out of here. You gotta get out of your apartment. And you say, well, I don't smell any smoke. I don't feel any heat. Everything's just like it was the day before. Quit trying to shove your judgment on me. Quit trying to shove your ideas down my throat. And if I just let you go, then I really don't care about you. If I let you just get caught up in that fire, I really don't care about you. I don't care if that takes your life. It's not shoving religion down someone's throat. It's offering them the gospel. It's telling them about that fire. A pen. A pen and teller, you know, the Magician Act. I showed it one time in Sunday school, but he's a devout atheist. And he said, you know, if I was a Christian and I really believed that there was a hell, I would be doing everything that I could do to tell people about it and to warn them from going there. We see Jesus as the shepherd, right? The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. Jesus said, I am the shepherd. And the shepherd carried a staff. There was one end of it. It was on the ground. There was another end. It was like a shepherd's crook. For the lambs within that flock, that shepherd's crook, was salvation. If the lamb had fallen into a crevice, or if if a lamb was getting over toward the cliff and that shepherd's hook would come over and it could hook him around the neck and bring him back in. And the shepherd would gently lead him over and he would guide him, tell him where to be. There was another end of that staff. When the wolves came up, they got the other end of it. So how do you contend for the faith? That's your balance. It's understanding that one is there to destroy and the other could be a sheep. I should have written that down before I said it. But there are those that tear up doctrine, they tear up the church, and Peter talked about it, and Jude talked about it, the apostles warned against it. You have to be in your Bible in order to understand it, in order to contend for the faith, and to give the gospel of Jesus Christ as it's given. without trying to water it down, without trying to wrap meat around it or cheese like you would a cat, you know, to feed them. You give it in love. You give it to them where they are, you're not beating them up with it. No matter what somebody says, if you're telling somebody about Jesus Christ, understand your responsibility to tell them. It's on God to save them. but we want to do all that we can for God to use us in leading others to Christ or leading them back into the fold or whatever it may be. All right.