The Faith
Recently a School Board in North Dakota voted to stop reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Their vice president said, "The statement that we are 'one nation under God,'...is simply an untrue statement. We are one nation under many or no gods..." "...the text is clearly referring to the Judeo-Christian God, and therefore, it does not include any other faiths such as Islam, Buddhism, (or) Hinduism..."
Of course that decision got many local parents pretty upset. I've used the term 'post-Christian' before, and this is an example of that. It means that we were founded as a Christian nation, based on basic Christian principles and values - but as a society many have rejected God's authority and have moved on and now embrace a secular worldview with no higher authority than themselves.
I'm disappointed, but not surprised that a secular school board would believe that all faiths should be seen as equal. The current standard today is, 'every faith is valid and if you make any judgment or distinction - you're mean or hateful and closed minded'. But truth is truth, even if it's rejected. Just because a person believes in many gods doesn't make it true - and saying that isn't mean. Is it okay to hold up one faith as superior to others? According to God's Word...
I. Not all faiths are equal
This isn't about winning an argument - but about us being Biblical and then living as if we personally believe that Jesus is Lord, that He is superior to everything and everyone! He is the only One in history to have conquered death! I'd call that superior... This is about how this belief affects all aspects of our life and commitment to Him!
This morning, I want to look at the book of Jude. It has only one chapter and 25 verses. So let's start by looking at the first 7 verses...
Jude 1:1-7 (NIV)
Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ: (2) Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance. (3) Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. (4) For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you.
They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. (5) Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. (6) And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home - these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.
(7) In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
The author, Jude refers to himself as "a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James". And his brother James just happened to be the brother of Jesus. So that would make Jude the brother of Jesus as well - but he humbly preferred the title of Jesus' servant. This gives you a little insight into who Jude was and his motivation for writing this letter.
His purpose was to protect the faith. He'd heard men teaching what they believed rather than what the Bible actually taught. One of the first things Jude addressed was those who denied that Jesus was "our only Sovereign and Lord." There are plenty today who'll tell you that all religions are equal and valid paths to God. And you kind of expect that from those in the world, but not in God's Church. While it may sound gracious and even loving - it's wrong. The Bible says...
A. Jesus is The way
And some would say, 'Who are you to tell them they're wrong?' I'm not trying to arrogantly condemn other beliefs, but I wasn't the first to make that claim. Jesus Himself made that claim.
John 14:5-6 (NIV)
Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" (6) Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
Jesus claimed to be The way to God - not one of many options, but The way. In today's culture that celebrates diversity and tolerance, that claim will make many people angry.
I read an article from a denominational minister who wrote, "Though I self-identify as a Christian... I believe that Jesus may have been an historical figure, but most of what we know about him is in the form of legend. God is a symbol of myth-making and not credible as a supernatural being or force... I invite people to "bring their own God" - or none at all. While the symbol "God" is part of our cultural tradition, you can take it or leave it or redefine it to your liking."
That's from an ordained minister - someone who calls himself 'Christian'. At the risk of sounding judgmental - that ain't 'Christian'. That's the exact kind of worldly, godless man that Jude, the brother of Jesus, was condemning. Christians follow Jesus - and Jesus said He is The way. If you don't believe that - don't call yourself a follower of Jesus.
I know that might offend many in the world and may be seen as insensitive by not 'affirming', embracing or celebrating other's beliefs - but it's Biblical. And even if it runs the risk of hurting feelings, I have to teach what the Bible says. And I am so grateful that God did provide a way to Him through Jesus!
And there's another unpopular issue of the faith that Jude addressed in the first seven verses. He referenced 'the punishment of eternal fire'...
B. Hell is real
Constantly preaching 'fire and brimstone' may not be the best way to win people to Jesus - but denying its existence won't help anyone either.
In the same article I just referenced, another who wore the title 'Reverend' commented, 'My congregation would be stunned to hear a sermon on hell.' Her parishioners, she says, are 'upper middle class, well-educated critical thinkers' who view God as 'compassionate and loving, not someone who's going to push them into eternal damnation."
Heaven and Hell are real and God doesn't 'push' anyone into Hell. Jesus gave His life to keep you out of Hell! Your eternal destiny is determined by your acceptance or rejection of Jesus. And Jude knew his brother, Jesus, had said, in Matthew 13:40-42 (NIV)...
As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. (41) The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. (42) They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Hell is real. I have to preach the full Gospel message whether it's comfortable or not. And there's another strong warning from Jude that I want us to see...
II. Beware godless men
Jude didn't tip toe around this issue and wanted to be very clear in his warning. There will always be those in the world who will spread false teachings - but that cannot be allowed in God's Church. Let's look at Jude 1:8-19 (NIV)...
In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings. (9) But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" (10) Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals - these are the very things that destroy them.
(11) Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam's error; they have been destroyed in Korah's rebellion. (12) These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm - shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted - twice dead. (13) They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars,
for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever. (14) Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones (15) to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him." (16) These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires;
they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage. (17) But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. (18) They said to you, "In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires." (19) These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
Now, we know that as Christians, the Devil is our enemy - He is real and he is the one who wants to push people into Hell. But there are times when we have a tendency to see those outside of the Church as our enemies - but they're exactly the ones whom Jesus came to save. However, there are also those, who, by their false teaching and outright rejection of Jesus, place themselves in opposition to Jesus Christ and they make themselves the enemies of His Church...
That's another thing that's not popular to say. But there are people in this world who manipulate scripture, or completely reject Biblical teaching for their own gain, or power, or agenda, or simply personal preferences. And Jude had some very strong words for those individuals. And any religion that rejects Jesus as THE Son of God is Biblically called a false religion, idolatry. And I'm aware that saying that invites labels such as intolerant. I don't say such things to promote hate, but because they are true. God says they are true.
But before we continue, I want to make a clear distinction - there's a difference here, between those who are...
A. Godless or misled
Many of you are old enough to remember Jim Jones, the founder of the People's Temple. He was responsible for the death of over 900 members in Jonestown, Guyana. Jones was a man who twisted scripture and convinced his followers to commit suicide - men, women and children. Jim Jones was godless, evil. He was the kind of man that Jude described in his letter. I believe that most of his followers may not have been godless, but extremely misled by his false teaching.
In this world, there will be false teachers and preachers, leaders - just like those of whom Jude warned. Jesus insisted we must still pray for our enemies - but we need to guard against them and their teachings. But there are also those who are simply misled and need loving direction. How do you tell the difference? Jude says to look at whether they are trying to follow...
B. God's Spirit or self?
Let's look again at Jude 1:18-19 (NIV)...
They said to you, "In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires." (19) These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
When you see preachers, teachers or any leader - how do you determine if they're a 'false teacher' or not? Jude says to look at whether they follow God's Spirit or their own desires. Are they more interested in power, popularity, politics, or celebrity status and money over following God's Word? Do they demonstrate the 'fruit of the Spirit' in their lives - "Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control"? Do they accept Jesus and all of His teachings? If not - they are divisive and dangerous.
Of course Jude did not advocate hate or violence against these false teachers - that's not how followers of Jesus act. But he pointed out that they will be judged, but by God. So, what should be...
III. Our attitude
Jude finishes his letter with instructions for believers in Jude 1:20-25 (NIV)...
But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. (21) Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. (22) Be merciful to those who doubt; (23) snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear - hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
(24) To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy - (25) to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
Jude warns that we need to focus first on building up our own faith. Jude encouraged us to build up our faith and make sure that we are in line with God's Spirit. We need a solid foundation on God's truth and not on our own opinions. We need to strengthen our faith by studying God's Word and by spending time in prayer.
If we are not extremely familiar with what God has revealed in the Bible, how can we tell when someone teaches something contradictory? For instance, how many of you here knew that the book of Jude had only one chapter...? We need to thoroughly know the truth in order to stand for the truth.
Jude also reminded us to show mercy to those who have doubts; those who may be misled. Remember just how merciful God has been with you. All of us, at one time, were outside of God's grace and someone was merciful enough to 'snatch' us from the fire. To yet others, Jude calls for mercy, but with fear. In other words, be merciful towards them, but don't let them pull you in with their false teaching.
So What?
IF Jesus isn't THE way to Heaven - what would be the point of following Jesus? Why be a Christian? And this is not about 'us' being right and 'them' being wrong. This is about God's revealed truth! Jesus is The only way to Heaven, and many very good people will be lost if they don't know HIM!
We've been entrusted with this faith and Jude is asking us to contend for it; to fight for the truth. There are many Churches today who feel they need to change their teaching with the times. They feel that the truth needs to evolve and bend to accommodate modern people and their personal life choices.
When God's Word and man's opinion clash, it isn't God's Word that needs to change. The Church has changed its style of music many times over the last 2000 years. We've changed our attire, our buildings, our programs... Churches have updated their communication technologies with microphones and video projectors and live streams on Facebook - but we can never change the truth of God's Word. We are to contend for the faith!