This is living. Waters of Grace, the teaching
ministry of Lewis Harold, assistant pastor of Calvary
Chapel of Westmoreland County in Greensburg, PA.
Now here's Pastor Lewis as he continues teaching through God's
Word. Is this in line with what the
apostles of Jesus Christ taught? That was their test and it
should be our test. When we open the Scriptures, we
should know what the apostles are teaching.
So when someone comes in our company and they want to teach
something or try to get you to consider something that is
contrary to what the Word of God says, we should know what the
apostles talk. What do the apostles teach?
How does it line up with that? That should be our test as well.
Have you ever read a passage from the Bible with a friend or
a family member and noticed that you both interpreted it
differently? In today's message, Pastor Lewis
encourages you to study the Bible diligently, but also to
learn about the apostles who wrote the passages under the
guidance of the Holy Spirit. While spending time with God in
the Bible is essential, it is equally important to know
doctrine, to understand the intended message and the
audience for whom it was written.
Now here's Pastor Lewis in the book of Jude chapter 1 as he
begins his message Building up yourselves and Others.
So we're looking at verse 16 and I'm just going to read through
and then we're going to go back and we will comment and it just
says this. These are grumblers,
complainers, walking according to their own lusts, and they
mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain
advantage. And we'll stop there.
So one of the things that was really laid heavy upon my heart
as I was preparing for this is I just sensed that there is a need
for unity in the church. Unity, not unity in Word, but
unity indeed, that we truly, truly love each other in these
times. Because this is the time when
the enemy is roaring the most. This is the time that he's
attacking the most. This is the time that the enemy
is the most active. Because I believe he knows his
time is short. And one of the ways, the only
real hope of this world is Jesus Christ and his church.
And if he's going to destroy any hope of righteousness, it would
have to be him trying to destroy the church.
So I believe he's attacking the unity of the church.
And I believe that he's doing that in a number of ways, but
he's attacking the small areas. Remember we talked last week
about how the, the boats would go over these hidden reefs and
it, and, and, and it would get destroyed not by what they see
on top of the water, but what they can't see under the water.
It would be destroyed by these hidden reefs, these hidden rocks
that tear up a boat from beneath, underneath.
And there are things that can happen in the church that can
cause a church to become divided from within the church.
And Jude talks about that here in this verse when he mentions
these are grumblers, complainers walking according to their own
lusts. Now he's talking about the false
teachers is what he's talking about.
But this also applies to false Christians, you know, those
tears that grow up with us and sit with us and we think that
they believe what we believe because they profess that they
believe it, but in truth do not. And these false teachers that
he's talking about here, he says that they, they, they, you know,
they're grumblers and they're complainers.
And that is one of the first ways that the enemy would try to
come in and cause a divide is to get people grumbling and
complaining. If the Lord can get us grumbling
and complaining instead of praying and praising that he can
tear this place apart. But because we understand that
it's it's these things that can cause these small holes to to
take place in the undercurrent or the under body of our church,
we want to be aware of it. And Judas said, I want the
church to be aware of the grumbling and complainers.
Even way back when the children of Israel first came out of
Egypt, one of the first things that Moses had to deal with was
the murmuring and complaining of the people.
The Bible says back in Numbers 11 one that they were just out
of they were just out of Egypt three days when they started
complaining. The Lord showed his hand many
times against Pharaoh caused them to be able to be let go
after the after all of the the the miracles that he did there
and he calls them to be let go. They came through the Red Sea
that divided. They watched this Red Sea
divide. They came through it on dry
land. Three days later they're
complaining and grumbling and murmuring.
And that can also happen with the church.
We can start complaining, we can start murmuring.
All after all the things that God has done for us, rather
individually or corporately. We can get to a point where the
devil can put a light on something we don't like or
something that goes against our flesh, because it is the flesh
that does the murmuring and complaining.
That's not of the Spirit that is the flesh calls us not to like
something and we just start complaining.
And unfortunately, when the people start complaining, just
like these grumblers, they don't just complain amongst
themselves. They go and complain to other
people. It's not like they find these
things that they don't like and they go to the source or go to
the leader or go to the person that they have this issue with.
But what they end up doing is complaining to other people and
to try to get them complaining and murmuring and grumbling and
it's all out of flesh. So we know back in #16 that Cora
complained that he grumbled and he and he and he murmured
against Moses. Moses, who are you that you
should be the one to to make the call?
God doesn't only talk to you. He talked to other people too.
Who are you that you should be the ministry leader?
You know, God talks to other people too.
He can give me direction to run that ministry too.
Why are you the pastor? God can speak to any of us.
This is what the enemy would do. And he did that back in the book
of Numbers and he and, and it caused the people to, to, to
grumble and to and to complain. And Moses dropped to his knees
and said, look, tomorrow we're going to settle this.
The Lord is going to tell who is going to who he called for this
position. And unfortunately, many of them
lost their lives because they continue to murmur and complain
and to rebel against the authority that the Lord put in
place. Jude is telling us here, Mump,
these grumblers and, and, and complainers, these false
teachers, they complain against the, the, the pastors who were
teaching the truth. They complain against the, the
teachers who were teaching the apostles doctrine.
And they're trying to get people to question it.
They're trying to get people to doubt it.
And he's already told him that because of that, God bless you.
And he already told him that because of that they are going
to be judged. Philippians tells us that we're
not to do anything but complaining and grumbling or
murmuring anything. Peter tells us that your
hospitality, when we offer hospitality, we're to do it
without grumbling. We do it without grumbling.
So then he says, these grummers and complainers, they're walking
according to their own lust. That is what motivates the
complaining and the murmuring is because they're looking at,
they're being driven by their lust.
They want things to be done and whether they want to do it, not
according to the word of God, but according to the way that
they want to do what fits them, what will benefit them.
And if the decision that's made doesn't benefit, then then they
grumble when they complain about it because it's out of their
flesh that these false teachers are complaining out of their
flesh. So they're, they're, they're
living according to the desires of their own flesh.
And the thing about a complainer and a grumbler, they're never
satisfied. So even if they did complain and
grumble, and if you did address that, there would be something
else that they would complain and grumble about because
they're never satisfied, never satisfied.
And, and, and it's because it's out of their own.
It's out of selfishness, wrong motives and, and, and, and wrong
way of dealing with things. It's evil they're just doing
with their evil instincts or their flesh prompts them to do.
And then the Bible says over here in the the bottom of verse
16, it says in they mouth, great swelling words, flattering to
gain advantage. Now these great swelling words,
these are just like, you know, the, the, these men who will
stand up and and and speak these long these vocabularies.
You know, they have this great vocabulary and they can stand up
and, and just dazzle the people, you know, with their vocabulary
and their long, their big words. And you know, these words that
sound so impressive and sound, you know, so convincing, but yet
there's no substance. There's no substance.
You still leave and and we're hungry, we're thirsty for what,
what did I learn? What was I taught?
What did I get from that? Because it's just like great
swelling words but nothing of substance.
And he said they flatter the people.
And we know that the flattering of of the people, it is
something that is also, excuse me, selfish.
And it's of the flesh flattering speech.
Again, that's due to manipulation for the purpose of
manipulation to manipulate people to do what they want them
to do. They pay compliments and, you
know, in order to try to get advantage.
And it's not even compliments that they're planning that are
that they're not even being truthful about it.
They're just speaking in order to try to gain advantage.
But it's deceitful. It's deceitful speech.
Now, don't get me wrong. Genuine encouragement is a value
in the church. We need to have genuine
encouragement and that's one of the reasons why I really love
what I see in this body of believers often because I'm
always hearing people encourage other people, regardless of what
it is that they're doing. It's not just, you know, Clark
and myself or people that are that are teaching the word, but
but they also encourage the AV. They courage, praise and
worship. They courage, you know,
encourage the the announcements or encourage the people who are
who are teaching youth or teaching the kids.
You know, there's always people encouraging one another and
helping one another and speaking life to one another and not
tearing them down. This is what we are to be about,
that unified church. And this is what the enemy
doesn't like, which is why he tries to get people to grumble
instead of build people up, complain instead of praise and
encouraging people. And this is what he's saying
about these, these these false teachers.
He said they use flattery to try to gain advantage.
Look, it's good to exhort one another in ministry, to build
one another up, to affirm one another.
Good to affirm one another in ministry, to let people know
that, listen, the Lord is working through you.
I can see the Lord working through you.
And sometimes in ministry and in our own Christian walks, it just
helps for somebody to just affirm what God is doing in our
lives. It just helps, but it's with
sincerity that that the affirmation and or that that
encouragement, it has to be with sincerity and not just out of
flattery, speaking in a deceitful manner, but insincere
praise, like the flattery, insincere praise is only used to
the to deceive and to the snare ensnare.
Rather, you know, people who are unaware, people who are just
unsuspecting, and it's not of the Lord.
Proverbs 29 and five says a man who flatters his neighbor
spreads a net for his feet. You know, he's literally trying
to trap someone with a purpose or by means of flattery.
Proverbs 27 and six says faithful are the wounds of a
friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
But sometimes flattery can feel like kisses, but it's actually
knives going in the back. It's deceitful.
There's a couple things on me
because Paul talks about flattery as well and and he
talks about how when he came to teach and he came to preach the
gospel, he didn't use flattering words.
He was just used the words of the Lord Romans 16, starting at
verse 17, he says, Now I urge you, brethren, note those who
cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which
you learned, and avoid them. For those who are such do not
serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly.
And by smooth words here we go. And by smooth words and
flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple, by smooth
words and flattering speech, swelling up, you know, words
that swell people up, swell themselves up, bragging about
themselves, but flattering you, they deceive the people.
And then over in Second Thessalonians chapter 2, he also
speaks about it as well when he was ministering to the that
young church over in Thessalonica.
And he ministered to them. And he said this to them over in
First Thessalonica, chapter 2, verses four and five, he says
this. But as we have been approved by
God to be entrusted with the gospel, Even so we speak not as
pleasing men, but God who test our hearts.
For neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you
know, nor a cloak for covetousness.
God is our witness. We didn't use flattering words
when we came to preach the gospel.
When we go to minister to somebody, we don't use
flattering words. We use the truth of the gospel.
We use the word of God. We have to, we don't want to.
We don't want to entice people by flattering people.
That has a deceitful purpose. The word of God draws the word
of God is withdraws. So then also he goes on in verse
17 and now he starts to move from talking about these these
false teachers so much and he now wants to talk to the body of
believers. So he says, But you, they
grumble, they complain, they murmur, they walk according to
their own lusts, they mouth great smelling words, and they
flatter with their tongues. But you, he said, beloved, he
speaks to them like children. Beloved, you who I love, he
says, remember the words which were spoken before by the
apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Remember the words. Remember we talked about that,
being reminded how the Bible was always the gospel was always
talking about being reminded of the things that God talks about,
the things that God says, being reminded of the word of God,
being reminded. We come here every Sunday to be
reminded you guys read the word all the time, but you come here
because you're being reminded of things that like we said, you
maybe have not read in a long time.
God reminds you of these things. So he tells them.
He says, you know, be remember the words which were spoken by
the apostles. So remember what?
Remember the word of God and remember who spoke it.
Remember who spoke it, the apostles, the apostles who were
the eyewitnesses of Jesus Christ ministry.
Remember who spoke these words? Who gave you this warning ahead
of time? It was the apostles of Jesus
Christ. It was Jesus who taught the
apostles, who now teaches you and then now sends you out to
teach. Same thing where it happens in
the church, right? We are learning from the
apostles as we go through His word.
We're learning through the apostles, the apostles doctrine
and he teaches us the Holy Spirit comes into our spirit and
teaches us these things and reveals the truth of, of what's
going on and what God is teaching us, warning us about in
his word. And then we build each other up
by sharing it and reminding one another of the word of God.
What a blessing that is. What a blessing that is.
He uses us all. So he says, remember the words
which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus
Christ, how they told you. Now He's going to tell them what
they need to remember and what they said to him.
How they told you that there would be mockers in the last
time who would walk according to their own ungodly lust.
He told them that this was going to happen just like he's telling
us it's going to happen. So we got to be aware of people
that we sit down with when we talk about the Word of God.
We got to make sure that we're seeing out of eye, that it's not
somebody that's preaching one thing and we're believing
something different. We got to make sure that we're
seeing eye to eye, that it correlates with the teaching of
the apostles. When I was studying this, I've
learned that when, you know, back in the times that they were
having these people who would come to their cities and they
want to, you know, sit before the OR stand before the people
and teach the word in order for them to find out or to make sure
that that word is true and that it is the word of God.
The one question that they have, their test that they have is, is
this what the apostles taught? Is this in line with what the
apostles of Jesus Christ taught? That was their test and it
should be our test. When we open the Scriptures, we
should know what the apostles are teaching.
So when someone comes in our company and they want to teach
something or try to get you to consider something that is
contrary to what the Word of God says, we should know what the
apostles talk. What do the apostles teach?
How does it line up with that? That should be our test as well.
Glory to God. So then he goes on and he says
here how they told you that there would be mockers who were
coming according to their own ungodly lust.
He told us that there's going to be mockers.
These people are going to come and they're going to mock what
you believe. They're going to make you doubt
what you believe. They want to make you turn from
what you believe, turn away from God and turn toward them, their
Antichrist. And as we said, Antichrist,
meaning they want you to follow them instead of Jesus Christ.
But you were told that you were told that in many places that
there would be mockers who would come and that would talk about
things that were other than Jesus Christ.
You know, I just want to go back here real quick.
The second Peter 2, second Peter 2.
And this is what Peter spoke. And it's just kind of gives you
that, that correlation between what the apostles teach.
They, you know, they're they're all teaching from the same
thing. They're teaching the word of
God. And this is what Peter says back
in second Peter chapter 2 verse 1, he says, but there were also
false prophets among the people, even as there will be false
teachers among you who will secretly bring in destructive
heresies and even denying the Lord who brought them, denying
Jesus Christ, denying him. This is what they're teaching.
And then just go over 1 chapter over to chapter 3, same book,
second Peter over in chapter 3 verse 3 says this, knowing this
first, that scoffers will come in the last days.
Scoffers, mockers, same thing people who will come and they're
going to make you doubt the word of God.
They want to try to convince you to turn away from your faith
that Jude is now telling you to contend for.
He said they're going to come in the last days walking how
according to their own lusts. I'll even read the next verse.
It says insane. Where is the promise of his
coming for since the fathers fell asleep.
All these things continue as they were from the beginning of
creation, something to make them doubt.
So we got to be strong in what we believe.
And first of all, know what we believe, Be strong in it, strong
in what we believe. And then I want to go down here
to verse 19. I'm, you know, because verse 19
is very important in reference to everything we just talked
about because it gives you the sum, total balance of who these
men are. And he says this.
These are sensual persons. These are spiritual people.
They're sensual people. That means they're soulish, that
means they're worldly, that means they're carnal, no spirit,
no spirit. They're not teaching by the
spirit, they're teaching according to their flesh.
So these are sensual persons who cause the visions.
And that's one of the things that will cause the visions
whenever someone begins to speak or teach or do anything out of
their flesh, it will cause divisions.
It will go against what the Word of God teaches, and it will
cause divisions among the people.
And then the last four words says this, not having the
Spirit. And that's what tells us these
people aren't saved. This has been Living Waters of
Grace, a ministry of Calvary Chapel Westmoreland in
Greensburg, PA Pastor Lewis Harrell has been teaching
through the book of Jude. This is a book of warning as the
audience that Jude was writing to was coming under attack from
false teachers. Even in the early days of the
church, there were teachers who claimed to have a unique
revelation from God that superseded Scripture.
Pastor Lewis wants you to be sure to be on your guard against
those teachers today, as they will try to distract you from
following the way of Jesus. By focusing on what God's Word
says, you can call out false teachers for what they are and
stay on the good path. Do you want to hear more
teaching from Living Waters of Grace?
You can do so by visiting our website at
calvarychapelonline.com. There you will find an archive
of past teachings from Pastor Lewis and Pastor Clark, find a
link to our mobile app, or even give to support the ministry of
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community who are in need of the presence of God in their lives.
If you're in Westmoreland County, we'd love to invite you
to one of our Sunday services. We meet at 10:30 AM at 207
Hudson St. in Greensburg. It'd be a privilege to get to
meet you in person and learn how we can be praying for you and
helping you grow in your walk with Jesus.
And if you're in Greensburg, be sure to listen to us on the news
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