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[597.56 --> 599.26] He's forgiven us for all we've done. |
[599.46 --> 602.26] We can do whatever we want. |
[602.96 --> 603.54] We're free. |
[604.16 --> 608.08] And Jude is saying if that's freedom, you've misunderstood freedom. |
[609.60 --> 613.04] Secondly, he then goes to say they have reduced the significance of Jesus. |
[613.14 --> 614.52] Now this is a big deal, right? |
[614.80 --> 618.84] Christianity hangs on whether Jesus is who he says he is or he isn't. |
[619.06 --> 622.38] And he's like these people are reducing the significance of Jesus. |
[622.38 --> 626.82] And I want to suggest to you there's three different ways that they could be saying this. |
[626.90 --> 630.28] And I'll give you all three and then my opinion on which of them I think it is. |
[630.42 --> 632.24] Because you can deny Jesus in different ways. |
[632.90 --> 634.00] So the first is this. |
[634.40 --> 638.56] They deny Jesus in his significance, his uniqueness. |
[638.84 --> 640.18] They're denying the uniqueness of Jesus. |
[640.28 --> 643.66] That is to say Jesus is one religious option among many. |
[644.14 --> 645.68] There's many sources of salvation. |
[645.88 --> 648.16] There's many gods that people worshipped in the first century. |
[648.16 --> 650.44] Jesus is not that big of a deal. |
[651.48 --> 655.28] Secondly, they could be denying the humanity of Jesus. |
[656.08 --> 657.78] I mentioned this a couple weeks ago. |
[657.94 --> 661.78] But first century people often thought that the body was made up of two things. |
[662.26 --> 664.06] There's the soul which mattered a lot. |
[664.18 --> 665.88] Sort of the thing inside of you that's eternal. |
[666.20 --> 668.66] And then there's the flesh which didn't matter. |
[668.76 --> 671.72] Sort of the shell that was evil and material and didn't matter. |
[672.14 --> 673.90] And there's a good chance that these leaders were saying, |
[674.02 --> 676.10] Hey, the body doesn't matter that much. |
[676.10 --> 678.18] Jesus wasn't actually fully human. |
[678.34 --> 680.56] He was just kind of a God represented in a body. |
[680.94 --> 684.42] And that's a pretty big deal because if Jesus wasn't fully human, |
[684.62 --> 689.16] then the salvation we have through the cross wasn't for us as fully human. |
[690.04 --> 695.46] And then the third option is simply that Jesus or these false teachers were denying Jesus authority. |
[696.12 --> 696.44] Right? |
[696.88 --> 699.50] If there's a disciple who says, Hey, I want to follow Jesus, |
[699.62 --> 701.76] but there's nothing in their lives that show evidence of that, |
[701.98 --> 704.38] then people can say, Well, are you really following the authority of Jesus? |
[704.38 --> 705.84] Is he really the Lord of your life? |
[705.84 --> 708.36] Because you're living this kind of way, there's an incongruence there. |
[709.08 --> 711.76] Now, I want to suggest that that third one is true no matter what. |
[711.94 --> 713.74] Like Jude says that elsewhere in his letter. |
[714.16 --> 716.02] And if I had to guess which of these was the case, |
[716.38 --> 719.44] it's probably that these teachers are saying Jesus was not fully human. |
[719.86 --> 721.74] He was sort of a God who might have been represented, |
[721.98 --> 723.28] but he's not a fully human person. |
[724.30 --> 728.66] And so Jude then says, This is how you as a church have to respond. |
[728.88 --> 732.38] You've got these corrupt leaders living a certain way, giving false teaching. |
[732.38 --> 734.08] This is what the church has to do. |
[734.20 --> 735.34] I'll read verse 3 again. |
[737.20 --> 741.58] He writes, I feel compelled to write and urge you to what? |
[742.88 --> 748.14] Contend for the faith that the Lord has once entrusted to all of us as people. |
[748.60 --> 749.80] That's what he says to the church. |
[750.58 --> 751.96] Contend for the faith. |
[752.70 --> 754.16] Now, if you had different translations, |
[754.88 --> 757.04] you'll notice maybe even when you go home and read it, |
[757.48 --> 759.22] that there's different ways that this is written. |
[759.22 --> 762.88] It could be contend, could be fight for the faith, |
[763.10 --> 766.14] could be defend the faith, stand up for the faith. |
[766.32 --> 769.42] The point is, there's some serious stuff going on in leadership. |
[770.28 --> 772.20] And there's a sense in which the church has to stand up |
[772.20 --> 774.70] and make sure it's known that that is not the way of Jesus. |
[775.32 --> 776.62] That's not the way of discipleship. |
[778.06 --> 779.96] And there's many ways I can tease it out, |
[779.98 --> 781.52] but let me read for us verse 20 and following, |
[781.62 --> 782.72] where I think Jude himself says, |
[782.80 --> 784.18] This is what it means to contend for the faith. |
[784.24 --> 785.32] I don't think it's really important. |
[785.32 --> 786.28] He writes, |
[786.74 --> 801.60] Can I highlight two things here? |
[802.78 --> 805.02] There's conflict in the church, right? |
[805.08 --> 806.28] There's division in this church. |
[806.82 --> 808.08] And what Jude says here, number one, |
[808.30 --> 812.88] is prayer is central to contending for the faith. |
[812.88 --> 815.04] I've been in the church for a little while, |
[815.10 --> 816.28] as many of you have as well. |
[816.78 --> 822.36] And you probably know that sometimes conflict can be so unrooted in prayer and love. |
[822.40 --> 824.98] And I'm convinced that the way that we go into difficult conversations, |
[825.56 --> 826.74] difficult confrontations, |
[826.86 --> 829.22] is first and foremost at the feet of Christ in prayer. |
[829.70 --> 831.62] That's where you gain a love for somebody. |
[832.04 --> 835.76] That's where you gain the compassion and the wisdom to speak truth in love, |
[835.80 --> 838.40] rather than in a way that's going to cause division and more discord. |
[838.40 --> 845.00] Secondly, the idea of keeping ourselves in God's love is living the way God designed us to live. |
[845.48 --> 847.24] He's really, in no short way of saying, |
[847.60 --> 850.70] You guys have to find out the way that Jesus has invited you to live |
[850.70 --> 852.44] and stay there together, |
[852.96 --> 857.06] modeling the way he has called you to live as a way of confronting this false teaching. |
[857.14 --> 859.58] I think that stuff is so key and so critical. |
[859.58 --> 865.26] I mentioned the scholar at the beginning who summarizes the book of Jude. |
[865.36 --> 866.60] I'm struck by how he says, |
[867.02 --> 871.16] His way of understanding Jude is to be gentle with those who are sorting out the faith, |
[871.74 --> 874.88] who are doubting and sort of making sense of what Jesus is all about, |
[875.16 --> 879.00] but being very firm and firm on the teaching of Christ |
[879.00 --> 880.82] with those who are dividing the church, |
[881.16 --> 883.42] taking positions of authority and abusing it. |
[883.42 --> 888.70] So that's as far as I'm going to go in terms of overviewing the message of Jude |
[888.70 --> 890.44] because I know Pastor Sid is here, |
[890.56 --> 892.84] and he hates it when I steal his message from next week. |
[892.94 --> 894.84] So wherever you are, Sid, you're welcome. |
[895.64 --> 897.04] He does this to me all the time, by the way. |
[897.10 --> 900.40] When I preach after him, he steals my sermon and preaches right before me. |
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