1 00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:03,520 It's good to be here today. I'm very thankful that we are 2 00:00:03,520 --> 00:00:06,200 here. We're all healthy and happy, 3 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:09,360 especially our family. We're very thankful that Daisy's 4 00:00:09,360 --> 00:00:10,960 able to be here. Taylor's able to be here. 5 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:14,160 Thank you for your prayers. It's a very happy day for us and 6 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:17,280 and excited to share it all with with our family with with you. 7 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:20,960 You are our family in Christ and, and thank you for all you 8 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:24,840 mean to us and for praying for us because God answered prayers 9 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:28,280 and it's a good day. I'm excited to continue our 10 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:31,720 study together in the book of Jude and we are going to finish 11 00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:35,160 it, Lord willing, this lesson. I know I thought maybe one 12 00:00:35,160 --> 00:00:39,160 lesson on Jude, OK, maybe 2. But now we're on #4 and we will 13 00:00:39,160 --> 00:00:42,000 finish it up today. So I do want to do a quick lead 14 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:45,160 up because if we just took the last couple verses of Jude and I 15 00:00:45,160 --> 00:00:48,080 just thought on those, your mind might be trying to pull yourself 16 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:50,120 back to where we were in the flow of. 17 00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:52,160 So let's get a quick run through. 18 00:00:52,160 --> 00:00:56,880 I don't want to overdo it, but we started by addressing who 19 00:00:56,880 --> 00:00:59,800 wrote this letter. It was a man named Jude, very, 20 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:02,160 very likely the brother of Jesus. 21 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:06,440 And along with James, he writes the letter of James. 22 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:09,320 He writes this from a perspective of humility. 23 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:14,440 He writes this as a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and he writes 24 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:18,320 to the recipients of this letter, writing a letter he 25 00:01:18,320 --> 00:01:21,280 didn't want to write. He wanted to write a letter of 26 00:01:21,320 --> 00:01:24,840 encouragement, of positivity and sharing in their common 27 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:28,480 salvation. But instead he had to write a 28 00:01:28,960 --> 00:01:32,920 almost a battle cry, but not a battle cry against people, a 29 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:37,680 battle cry for the faith, not for my beliefs, not for what I 30 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:41,040 think is true, but but for the faith from what God has 31 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:44,960 established, from what God has delivered to the Saints once and 32 00:01:44,960 --> 00:01:47,080 for all. He goes on in verse 4 to talk 33 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:50,480 about why this letter is needed is because there are people who 34 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:55,400 are ungodly men who take this beautiful thing that he's he's 35 00:01:55,400 --> 00:01:58,800 referring to and they twist it and they turn it into something 36 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:01,640 that's all about them. It's all about their pleasure, 37 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:04,360 It's all about their feeling, It's all about their 38 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:07,640 satisfaction and they turn it into sensuality. 39 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:11,960 They doing so deny who God is and deny his authority over 40 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:16,640 them. And he turns to give comparisons 41 00:02:16,640 --> 00:02:18,040 of people who have done this before. 42 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:22,560 He says this is nothing new. These people, don't be surprised 43 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:26,320 when they are here, don't be surprised when they show up in a 44 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:29,240 group of believers because it's been happening the whole time, 45 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:31,240 he says. That happened to the people in 46 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:33,840 Egypt. Those were the God's people. 47 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:35,840 The Israelites were God's people. 48 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:39,560 He goes on and talks about not only from God's nation, he says, 49 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:44,360 also from the spiritual realm. He gives us every category that 50 00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:48,880 a human could live in or a being that God created can be in that 51 00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:53,240 being at some point has failed. He says nothing new. 52 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:55,760 The Israelites did it, the angels did it. 53 00:02:56,720 --> 00:02:59,280 Sodom, Gomorrah did it. Well, they're what category do 54 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:02,280 they fall under? Well, they're a non Israelite. 55 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:04,600 You have Israelite people who have fallen. 56 00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:07,440 You have angels, spiritual beings who have fallen. 57 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:10,640 You have people who are non Israelites out in the world. 58 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:13,280 It happens in every category of people. 59 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:17,680 And they, he said, will suffer the vengeance of eternal fire. 60 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:21,320 We talked about in Part 2 that these people, again, all about 61 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:25,120 themselves, they're relying, are driven by their dreams. 62 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:27,360 They're driven by what matters to them. 63 00:03:27,640 --> 00:03:30,920 They defile their flesh. They reject authority. 64 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:34,400 These people are all about what they want. 65 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:38,920 And he gave some more instruction to not be that way. 66 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:42,120 He says these people are following their own natural 67 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:45,800 brute instincts, like animals. Instead of being spiritually in 68 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:48,000 the image of God, they're like animals. 69 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:52,400 He places a woe upon them. And then he's given us every 70 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:56,880 category of how humans and spiritual beings can exist and 71 00:03:56,880 --> 00:03:59,360 even compares it to natural things, things that aren't even 72 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:02,120 animate, things that are inanimate, things that don't 73 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:04,920 have thought. He compares them to hidden 74 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:10,440 reefs, to empty clouds, to trees without fruit. 75 00:04:11,240 --> 00:04:14,120 He's making an analogy that just basically says these people are 76 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:19,600 nothing new. And last time we talked about 77 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:24,600 some of the close to home applications, they grumble. 78 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:26,600 Why do they grumble? Because they're selfish. 79 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:31,240 They think about themselves. They lift other people up. 80 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:33,680 Why? To be to be kind and be building 81 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:35,200 up others? No, because they want something 82 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:38,480 for themselves. These people are all about self 83 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:41,200 and God said this is going to happen. 84 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:46,200 They are sensual or sensually driven people and what is the 85 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:48,120 result? They cause divisions. 86 00:04:48,640 --> 00:04:51,240 They do not have the Spirit of God in them. 87 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:54,760 OK, now we're up to verse 20 and this is part 4. 88 00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:58,760 This is the part where he says, now here is your response. 89 00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:00,560 We've talked about a lot of negatives so far. 90 00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:04,520 How do we respond to all this? How do we approach this besides 91 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:07,760 just not being the previous things he says? 92 00:05:07,760 --> 00:05:13,760 But you beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy 93 00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:16,920 faith, praying in the Holy Spirit. 94 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:20,160 OK, let's let's stop there. Let's take this piece by piece. 95 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:25,120 His first instruction is that they build themselves up. 96 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:31,560 There are ways to make this sound not positive, but I hope 97 00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:37,960 you only take this as a motivational, as a stand up, get 98 00:05:37,960 --> 00:05:41,600 yourself together moment because that's what his call is. 99 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:45,280 He's going to emphasize other parts of this picture that we 100 00:05:45,280 --> 00:05:49,000 need to realize, but the first thing he says is pick yourself 101 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:55,000 up, build yourself up. We have a sense of 102 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:58,840 responsibility to our own faith. I need to take responsibility 103 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:02,880 for my own faith. One man said God is sovereign or 104 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:06,880 all powerful, but he doesn't expect you to lean on a shovel 105 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:12,160 and pray for a whole. Our first piece of this 106 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:15,160 instruction is to build ourselves up. 107 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:20,960 There is a perfect correlation though these draws between our 108 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:23,080 own effort and our own initiative. 109 00:06:23,960 --> 00:06:27,000 Build yourself up and what we are to build ourselves on. 110 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:31,240 On your most holy faith on the right thing, if you just seek 111 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:34,440 out to build yourself up and I hear a lot of people all the 112 00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:36,240 time say, man, I'm just going to love myself. 113 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:38,200 I'm going to do me. I'm going to be all about myself 114 00:06:38,200 --> 00:06:39,720 and it's going to be all me, me, me. 115 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:42,160 I'm just that's the common mantra. 116 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:46,800 Love yourself, treat yourself because if you're the best, no, 117 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:52,080 build yourself up on your faith. Isn't it funny that he ties them 118 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:53,480 two together? Because sometimes we think of 119 00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:56,280 faith like it's just this belief. 120 00:06:56,280 --> 00:06:58,920 It's this idea that floats around and has no application. 121 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:02,280 No, you build yourself up in your faith. 122 00:07:02,880 --> 00:07:05,520 There is the perfect combination of your own initiative in action 123 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:09,600 and your heart and your your faith toward God. 124 00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:12,640 God, I'm going to do whatever you want me to do and I'm here 125 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:14,640 to serve you and to take it into action. 126 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:21,040 It's not enough, Jesus says, to say, Lord, Lord, to have it in 127 00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:24,360 your heart. It has to meet the rubber, has 128 00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:28,520 to meet the road. So we build ourselves up but on 129 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:33,320 the right thing, not on ourselves to get the glory or 130 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:36,720 that we are strong enough to do this on our own, but that we 131 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:39,160 build ourselves up on the most holy faith. 132 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:47,080 The rest of that sentence he says, praying in the Holy 133 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:49,200 Spirit. I think this is the perfect 134 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:54,600 picture as we attempt to take ourselves that are weak and 135 00:07:54,600 --> 00:08:00,560 lowly and sometimes all over the place humans and to build 136 00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:03,240 ourselves up and to tie ourselves to our faith and to 137 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:05,960 grow our faith. We need strength and we need 138 00:08:05,960 --> 00:08:09,600 strength through God himself. And so we draw from God. 139 00:08:10,120 --> 00:08:12,960 We get strength from God. It is not all about us. 140 00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:17,080 We draw from God himself and he says praying in the Holy Spirit. 141 00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:21,120 So as we draw from God, should we take any special notice of 142 00:08:21,120 --> 00:08:28,440 how he said that in the Spirit? I believe what he's getting at 143 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:33,880 is that we need to pray with a true and deep connection to God. 144 00:08:36,039 --> 00:08:38,240 If we are going to build ourselves up, we are going to 145 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:41,000 need to connect our spirit to His. 146 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:47,680 Because if we're praying just to say things that sound good and 147 00:08:47,680 --> 00:08:51,120 we are not intentionally connecting our spirit to God's 148 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:55,480 Spirit, that is maybe a more surface level form of 149 00:08:55,480 --> 00:08:58,600 communication. But when we talk to Him and we 150 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:02,640 pray in the Spirit to him, we are attempting to connect to God 151 00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:07,920 in a way that is real and it is emotional and it is spiritual 152 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:11,440 and it is beyond a surface level connection. 153 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:15,080 We connect our Spirit to His and we're to pray like a child to a 154 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:17,160 father as we read in several places. 155 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:20,840 But in Galatians 4 verse 6 says that we cry out to him, ABBA 156 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:25,240 Father, when we pray in the Holy Spirit. 157 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:27,840 I believe it means all these things and, and some people want 158 00:09:27,840 --> 00:09:31,120 to want to focus on the fact that the Holy Spirit taught 159 00:09:31,120 --> 00:09:32,680 truth. And so we're supposed to pray in 160 00:09:32,680 --> 00:09:34,160 truth. That's absolutely true. 161 00:09:34,680 --> 00:09:38,120 But I think it goes beyond that. It goes beyond how we connect to 162 00:09:38,120 --> 00:09:41,520 God in our prayers because if we are going to build ourselves up, 163 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:45,200 it's going to take a connection to the divine that that is deep. 164 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:48,520 Here's how Roman 8 verse 25 says this. 165 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:51,120 I believe specifically in relation to the Spirit. 166 00:09:52,560 --> 00:09:55,720 It says there, but if we hope for what we do not see, we wait 167 00:09:55,720 --> 00:10:00,120 for it with patience. Likewise, the Spirit helps in 168 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:04,840 our weakness, for we do not know what to pray for as we ought. 169 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:08,120 We're kind of like kids asking for something. 170 00:10:08,120 --> 00:10:10,000 We don't always know what's best for ourselves. 171 00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:12,000 We don't always know how to pray as we ought. 172 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:17,000 But the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings 173 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:20,560 too deep for words. I believe this is the ESP and he 174 00:10:20,560 --> 00:10:25,200 who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, 175 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:29,040 because the Spirit intercedes for the Saints according to the 176 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:35,280 will of God. As we approach prayer, let's 177 00:10:35,280 --> 00:10:41,120 keep that in mind that God is actively searching our heart. 178 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:46,480 Sometimes it feels like we are allowing God in when we address 179 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:48,200 him. It's like now I've established a 180 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:50,920 line of communication. God, now you can see me because 181 00:10:50,920 --> 00:10:53,560 now I'm talking to you. And so go ahead, you see me. 182 00:10:53,560 --> 00:10:55,400 Look at me. Now here I am. 183 00:10:56,600 --> 00:11:00,160 But that's not how it is. The whole time the Spirit 184 00:11:02,120 --> 00:11:06,080 searches our heart, the Spirit is searching your heart. 185 00:11:06,080 --> 00:11:09,880 Right now the Spirit is searching my heart. 186 00:11:11,160 --> 00:11:14,120 And when we cry out to God, the Spirit was there. 187 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:19,080 The Spirit does see then and it sees all the time so that when 188 00:11:19,080 --> 00:11:24,120 we talk to him, we can be at peace and we can have confidence 189 00:11:24,280 --> 00:11:26,080 and we can have a deeper connection with him. 190 00:11:26,320 --> 00:11:30,280 And that's the source of a prayer that will help us build 191 00:11:30,280 --> 00:11:32,520 ourselves up in our in our faith. 192 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:38,160 That's a prayer that will draw us near to him and he will draw 193 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:40,960 near to us. And maybe the most simple 194 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:42,480 application is don't pray to yourself. 195 00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:45,560 Sometimes I catch myself just talking to myself. 196 00:11:45,560 --> 00:11:48,160 It feels like I have to remember I'm talking to the God of the 197 00:11:48,160 --> 00:11:51,720 universe. We are to pray to God in the 198 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:55,520 Holy Spirit. Some considerations for our 199 00:11:55,520 --> 00:11:59,520 prayer just kind of in passing. If we only pray in the peaceful 200 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:03,520 moments, we will not tap into the real and present help. 201 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:07,000 Maybe your prayer life is difficult sometimes because you 202 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:08,480 feel like everything is hectic all the time. 203 00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:11,200 Maybe you feel like you're too busy and you have too many 204 00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:13,840 things going on and you have too much to do. 205 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:21,160 But if you only pray when things are not hectic, you're not going 206 00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:26,320 to get the real and present in the help that is always there 207 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:29,320 for you. But on the other hand, if we 208 00:12:29,320 --> 00:12:33,080 only pray in the hectic moments and we don't take concerted time 209 00:12:33,080 --> 00:12:37,640 with God to stop and slow down and take time alone with God, we 210 00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:40,240 will start to associate Him with the stress itself. 211 00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:44,400 Maybe you, you pray all the time when you're stressed and 212 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:46,640 stressed and stressed is the point that you never take time 213 00:12:46,640 --> 00:12:50,600 to go be alone with God and take peace in him so that you think, 214 00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:52,320 man, it's time to pray, it's time to be stressed. 215 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:53,920 And your body can react like that. 216 00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:58,720 Your mind can turn into God is just there for stress, but he 217 00:12:58,720 --> 00:13:02,520 wants you and the peace and the hectic and everyone in between 218 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:05,600 so that our spirit can truly connect to him. 219 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:09,120 In prayer, we draw from God himself. 220 00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:12,480 OK, I want to hit on one idea that I think we've talked about, 221 00:13:12,480 --> 00:13:18,920 but I want to bring together as we consider our responsibility 222 00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:22,840 to build ourselves up here, sometimes we get that confused, 223 00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:26,400 like it's all about God. Well, no, you have action, so 224 00:13:26,400 --> 00:13:27,720 it's all about you. No, it's not. 225 00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:30,800 Works and faiths should never contradict. 226 00:13:31,680 --> 00:13:36,520 And do not let anybody ever corner you into thinking or 227 00:13:36,520 --> 00:13:40,760 talking like your works and your faith go against each other. 228 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:46,440 Your works should be of faith. Your faith should be meeting 229 00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:50,320 application in your works. The Jews had a problem because 230 00:13:50,320 --> 00:13:52,680 they were leaning on the Old Law and making it all about their 231 00:13:52,680 --> 00:13:55,560 works, and they were trying to pull the Old Law back into the 232 00:13:55,560 --> 00:13:59,920 New Testament. But if but if we do not have an 233 00:13:59,920 --> 00:14:03,360 application, as James says, faith without works is dead. 234 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:04,880 He says it word for word like that. 235 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:09,840 Don't let people tell you your faith and works are contrary to 236 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:12,440 one another. They are if you make them be, 237 00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:16,320 but our goal is that they work perfectly in unison. 238 00:14:17,560 --> 00:14:20,320 But on the other hand, after saying faith without works is 239 00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:24,480 dead, Jesus basically claims works without faith is dead. 240 00:14:25,240 --> 00:14:28,320 And here's how He says it. He says woe to you scribes and 241 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:30,600 Pharisees. Matthew 23, verse 27. 242 00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:34,720 Hypocrites, for you are like whitewashed tombs, which indeed 243 00:14:34,720 --> 00:14:38,400 appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's 244 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:42,680 bones and all uncleanness. You see that either side of the 245 00:14:42,680 --> 00:14:45,920 equation, you get deadness, you get lifelessness. 246 00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:50,400 Now their problem was that they were hypocrites. 247 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:52,640 You might say the problem. How do you know the problem was 248 00:14:52,640 --> 00:14:55,200 their faith? Well, if you're a hypocrite, 249 00:14:55,280 --> 00:14:59,240 it's not inward. If you're a hypocrite, you don't 250 00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:03,240 have true faith. You're not developing inwardly, 251 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:05,520 you are just developing outwardly. 252 00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:08,680 Or maybe not even that at all. Maybe they're just not even 253 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:10,840 doing anything outward that looks right. 254 00:15:12,560 --> 00:15:16,800 But we cannot let faith in works become contrary to one another. 255 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:19,520 Galatians 5 verse 6 says very concisely. 256 00:15:20,360 --> 00:15:23,880 For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision 257 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:27,840 avails anything but faith working through love. 258 00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:30,560 Like what is what he's talking about circumcision. 259 00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:33,480 He's talking about the old law, the Old Testament law. 260 00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:38,040 He said that that's that's doesn't change anything. 261 00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:41,880 Your faith working through love. That's it. 262 00:15:43,240 --> 00:15:45,600 What a beautiful balance the Scripture provides. 263 00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:51,520 Verse 21, he goes on to say, so after praying in the Holy Spirit 264 00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:57,440 Spirit building yourself up, he says keep yourselves in the love 265 00:15:57,440 --> 00:16:02,400 of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus unto eternal 266 00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:05,800 life. I believe this phrase keep 267 00:16:05,800 --> 00:16:09,280 yourselves in the love of God is intentionally a little bit 268 00:16:09,280 --> 00:16:11,840 vague. Like what does it mean to keep 269 00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:15,200 yourself in the love of God? It doesn't have a a very 270 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:18,240 specific application where you can nail down exactly what he's 271 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:19,600 saying. And I think that's I think 272 00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:21,880 that's a good thing. So what does it mean? 273 00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:25,560 Does it mean that I sit and I soak in the love of God? 274 00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:30,120 Doesn't mean that I talk to Him with love toward Him. 275 00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:33,520 Doesn't mean that I talk to Him knowing He loves me? 276 00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:36,960 Doesn't mean that I live with His peace in my heart guarding 277 00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:38,640 me. Doesn't mean that I live with 278 00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:42,440 His love going toward others. Then I take that love of God and 279 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:44,880 I give it to others. Does it mean that doesn't mean 280 00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:46,840 that I live with His words in me? 281 00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:50,280 His love in the form of His words doesn't mean that I live 282 00:16:50,280 --> 00:16:52,960 with His attitude in me. What does it mean to keep 283 00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:57,280 yourself in the love of God? I think the answer is yes. 284 00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:02,800 I think if you are not doing any of the any one of these things, 285 00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:05,400 you are going to miss out on a piece of the. 286 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:10,359 I mean a piece of the puzzle to stay and abide in the love of 287 00:17:10,359 --> 00:17:13,640 God. If the action is not there, you 288 00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:16,760 can't be in the love of God. But if you're not taking time to 289 00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:22,680 enjoy and accept and be at peace in the love of God, there's no 290 00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:25,760 way you can be. And I find personally, when I 291 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:31,400 and not doing this part, staying in the love of God, it's going 292 00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:33,120 to manifest itself in one of these ways. 293 00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:37,520 Why do I say that? Because it's not just an action 294 00:17:38,760 --> 00:17:44,040 and it's not just a feeling. It is a place you stay. 295 00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:49,920 It's a place in your mind. It's a place you abide in. 296 00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:55,120 It's a, it's a location of the spirit that you stay in. 297 00:17:55,840 --> 00:17:57,720 Then I'm going to stay in the love of God. 298 00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:02,320 I'm going to abide in this place in which all these things will 299 00:18:02,320 --> 00:18:06,560 happen at some point and which all these things are part of my 300 00:18:06,560 --> 00:18:10,720 life. And when I don't keep myself in 301 00:18:10,720 --> 00:18:18,120 a place of love of God's love, I find maybe I lack in this area 302 00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:21,920 or maybe in this one, but at some point there will be a hole 303 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:25,120 in that. And so may we keep ourselves in 304 00:18:25,120 --> 00:18:30,400 the love of God. Notice again, he keeps going 305 00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:33,720 back to the source of whatever we're trying to do. 306 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:37,000 If the if we were trying to build ourselves up, the source 307 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:39,040 was our faith and in the Holy Spirit. 308 00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:42,440 If we're trying to keep ourselves somewhere, where does 309 00:18:42,440 --> 00:18:44,640 the source of the strength? It's in the love of God. 310 00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:46,920 The source is always back to him. 311 00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:49,840 Now again, you might ask, is that putting too much emphasis 312 00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:52,360 on us? Let's think about this fire. 313 00:18:54,040 --> 00:19:01,400 It is possible for me to be cold away from a fire, and it'd be my 314 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:07,840 fault. If I if I were to stand far away 315 00:19:07,840 --> 00:19:12,840 from this fire and say it's the fire's fault, then I'm not warm. 316 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:17,480 That'll be ridiculous. We all admit that, but at the 317 00:19:17,480 --> 00:19:20,280 same time, if I were to stand close to this fire, I wouldn't 318 00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:24,360 say I get the credit because I'm standing so close to the fire. 319 00:19:24,360 --> 00:19:27,000 Look at how good I am at keeping myself close to the fire. 320 00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:29,840 No, you'd say I'm warm because look at this fire. 321 00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:35,040 The fire kept me warm. In the same way, we are intended 322 00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:38,880 to keep ourselves in God's love, and it's not to our glory that 323 00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:41,840 we keep ourselves there. We don't praise ourselves and 324 00:19:41,840 --> 00:19:45,120 say that I'm strong because I stay close to the fire. 325 00:19:45,680 --> 00:19:47,960 My right standing was so to my glory. 326 00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:52,400 No, the source of the warmth, the source of the love gets all 327 00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:55,400 the glory. It is just our responsibility to 328 00:19:55,400 --> 00:20:00,360 stay there. And as we do that, we are 329 00:20:00,360 --> 00:20:04,000 looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal 330 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:07,400 life. So as we keep ourselves close to 331 00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:09,880 the fire, we're looking for credit for how great we were, 332 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:11,000 right? No. 333 00:20:12,440 --> 00:20:18,160 As much as we may try to stay in His love, and as much as we may 334 00:20:18,160 --> 00:20:23,960 try to build ourselves up in Him and our holy faith, all we still 335 00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:26,840 have yet to say is I still need mercy. 336 00:20:28,360 --> 00:20:30,600 I don't need credit. I don't need. 337 00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:33,120 I don't deserve glory for any good thing. 338 00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:40,640 We still look for mercy despite anything we ever do, despite any 339 00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:44,720 right standing or how built up we might be at the time. 340 00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:54,400 We still look for and we rely on mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ 341 00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:57,960 unto eternal life. Who is the source here? 342 00:20:58,320 --> 00:21:02,640 It's our King Jesus, our high and humble Lord, who is the 343 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:11,400 source of our mercy. OK, so that's what he says about 344 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:14,480 how we are to respond. He says that we are to build 345 00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:17,560 ourselves up and we are to abide in the love of God. 346 00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:20,640 But what about others? That's what he goes on to talk 347 00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:23,280 about next. The application of all these 348 00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:26,480 things leads into something he says to do with other people. 349 00:21:27,120 --> 00:21:32,760 Verse 22 and have mercy on those who doubt, save others by 350 00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:36,760 snatching them out of the fire. And to others show mercy with 351 00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:41,200 fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. 352 00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:43,920 I use the ESV here because I think it's more clear with the 353 00:21:43,920 --> 00:21:48,480 meaning. When I read through this, the 354 00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:52,000 general idea I get is I'm supposed to have a personalized 355 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:55,560 support. The support I provide for people 356 00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:57,840 should be different depending on the person. 357 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:02,600 And sometimes you might, you know, like me might tend to 358 00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:06,680 think, man, that means I'm supposed to give everyone 359 00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:09,280 different treatment. How can I possibly do that? 360 00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:15,040 How can I possibly handle everyone with a unique and a 361 00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:19,560 specialized approach? That's what he calls us to do. 362 00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:22,480 He calls us to handle everybody in a very specific way. 363 00:22:23,120 --> 00:22:27,360 How is that possible? Well, I think first of all, we 364 00:22:27,360 --> 00:22:30,640 need to kind of knock off a couple things we need to get out 365 00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:33,880 of our head. It's not going to be quick if we 366 00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:36,960 are going to respond to this letter in a way that allows us 367 00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:40,680 to support people who are brethren in the right way. 368 00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:42,480 It's not going to be quick. It's not going to be easy. 369 00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:45,720 It's not going to be efficient. If you, if you need a quick way 370 00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:47,480 to bounce through every way, knock everybody out. 371 00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:49,040 Boom. I, I got my spreadsheet and 372 00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:51,240 everybody's taken care of. It's not going to be efficient 373 00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:54,080 and it's not always going to be clean. 374 00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:59,520 Maybe it's going to be a messy process and part of the most 375 00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:03,200 difficult part with, with us as people, as we present in ways 376 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:07,080 that aren't always the way that we really think or feel. 377 00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:09,400 Sometimes we are angry, but we're really hurt. 378 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:14,920 Sometimes we're sad, but we're really, I don't know, our, our 379 00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:16,960 things don't always present the same way. 380 00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:20,800 It's not always clear. We are complicated sometimes. 381 00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:26,720 So I think #1 we have to approach with understanding. 382 00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:33,280 And I think this is a wonderful passage to help us illustrate 383 00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:36,960 the mindset that we should go into whenever we reach a point 384 00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:38,400 where we're trying to do God's will. 385 00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:40,840 And we say, man, how do I do this? 386 00:23:41,360 --> 00:23:45,280 Here's what Solomon said. He prayed in First Kings 3, 387 00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:47,560 verse 9. He says, therefore, give to your 388 00:23:47,560 --> 00:23:51,080 servant an understanding heart, literally a heart that 389 00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:56,200 understands to judge your people that I may discern between good 390 00:23:56,200 --> 00:23:58,720 and evil. For who is able to judge this 391 00:23:58,720 --> 00:24:02,200 great people of yours? Now Solomon is taking this as a 392 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:06,040 leader of a, of a, of a Kingdom. So his phrasing might be a 393 00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:07,680 little bit different than than we might say. 394 00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:10,520 We're not just here to judge between right and wrong because 395 00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:12,920 we don't, we're not responsible for the courts of people. 396 00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:16,880 But the principle is the same that we need a heart that 397 00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:20,880 understands the responsibility is great. 398 00:24:21,800 --> 00:24:28,160 The need is great. We need to ask God for a heart 399 00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:31,000 that understands and and just look at how God responds. 400 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:35,960 Verse 10, the speech, please, the Lord that Solomon had asked 401 00:24:35,960 --> 00:24:39,000 this thing. Then God said to him, because 402 00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:41,720 you have asked this thing and he goes on to say, I will give you 403 00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:45,720 everything you didn't ask for. You didn't ask for riches. 404 00:24:45,720 --> 00:24:48,240 I'll give them to you. You didn't ask for all these 405 00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:50,080 things in your Kingdom. I'm going to give out all to 406 00:24:50,080 --> 00:24:52,360 you. And yes, absolutely I will give 407 00:24:52,360 --> 00:24:55,440 you the wisdom you seek. Darren prayed this morning. 408 00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:59,960 I appreciate it for wisdom because as we seek God's will, 409 00:24:59,960 --> 00:25:03,680 we are flawed not just in understanding, but our ability 410 00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:05,800 to take it from understanding to application. 411 00:25:07,560 --> 00:25:10,360 And in the context of dealing with one another that is even 412 00:25:10,360 --> 00:25:13,560 more so. It can be complicated. 413 00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:17,640 May we seek understanding the way Solomon sought it with 414 00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:20,240 prayerfulness. And this is an interesting 415 00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:22,640 situation because Solomon was a mixed bag. 416 00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:25,360 He was not a perfect guy. A lot of times we pick put him 417 00:25:25,360 --> 00:25:28,240 as the picture of wisdom. Yeah, but he also messed up a 418 00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:30,720 lot. And even in this scenario, right 419 00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:32,920 before this, he was doing things that were not good. 420 00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:35,320 There was worship going on that was not good. 421 00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:41,560 But he hit a sweet spot, a gold mine of God's pleasure when he 422 00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:45,440 asked for this thing in the midst of whatever ever wrong he 423 00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:49,120 was in the middle of. He saw God in a way that was 424 00:25:49,120 --> 00:25:52,200 pleasing to him by asking for wisdom to do what was right. 425 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:57,680 That should be encouraging to us, that even if you think you 426 00:25:57,680 --> 00:25:59,960 know what, how can I ask for God for wisdom right now? 427 00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:01,880 I'm not perfect. I haven't figured it all out. 428 00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:03,280 He's probably not going to hear me. 429 00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:14,520 Seek Him and you will find him. Knock and God will honour a 430 00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:17,960 request that is made from a sincere heart with the right 431 00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:22,120 approach. So let's break down he he gave 432 00:26:22,120 --> 00:26:25,720 us all these ways to respond. Let's take them piece by piece 433 00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:27,520 and we're going to spend more time on the first one. 434 00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:29,960 So if you think, you know we're running out of time here we are. 435 00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:32,680 We're not going to spend a whole lot of time on these, but we're 436 00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:35,360 taking going to take each of these different people piece by 437 00:26:35,360 --> 00:26:38,080 piece. So he said the first group of 438 00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:41,440 people and and and Jude verse 22. 439 00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:45,080 He says on some having compassion, make a distinction. 440 00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:47,440 If you're in the new King James, that's what he says, make a 441 00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:48,720 distinction. What does that mean? 442 00:26:48,920 --> 00:26:51,600 Well, I think that's why the ESV is more helpful. 443 00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:53,680 It says have mercy on those who doubt. 444 00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:56,320 We're talking about people who are doubting. 445 00:26:57,120 --> 00:27:00,120 We're talking about, I don't want to say doubters as their 446 00:27:00,120 --> 00:27:02,200 way of life, but maybe it's a position they're in. 447 00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:07,520 They're having doubt. And the first thing I think we 448 00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:12,600 should acknowledge is we are here for nothing if we are not 449 00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:16,760 here for people in their difficult times, if we are here 450 00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:20,000 for each other only when things are easy, what are we even 451 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:23,240 doing? Is that bearing one another's 452 00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:25,320 burdens? Absolutely not. 453 00:27:25,760 --> 00:27:29,640 So as we approach people, this is our responsibility to bear 454 00:27:29,640 --> 00:27:30,920 their burden. Jesus says. 455 00:27:31,120 --> 00:27:37,080 So as we approach those who doubt, that's what we're here 456 00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:39,480 for. But what is doubt? 457 00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:44,040 And I think first and foremost, doubt comes when you are 458 00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:47,840 concerned about a matter. So as we approach people and 459 00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:52,520 ourselves even who are dealing with doubt, maybe it's good to 460 00:27:52,520 --> 00:27:54,640 start with the fact that, hey, this person cares. 461 00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:58,640 They could not care at all. And if I treat them the wrong 462 00:27:58,640 --> 00:28:00,200 way, maybe I can make them not care. 463 00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:06,280 And that's a big danger. These people care and they care 464 00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:11,400 enough to be concerned and maybe maybe feeling some kind of 465 00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:15,760 mental anguish about an issue or maybe it's about their faith or 466 00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:20,920 whatever it might be. So in my experience, here's what 467 00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:23,200 doubt is. It's kind of represented by one 468 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:27,600 of these two pictures. Doubt is either coming from a 469 00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:31,760 place of I'm trying to hold on and my grip is weakening on 470 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:33,560 whatever I'm trying to hold on to. 471 00:28:34,560 --> 00:28:37,600 That emphasis there being my grip, my strength, and my 472 00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:41,240 ability to hold on to something that I know is solid, I'm 473 00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:46,280 slipping. Or maybe it's on the other hand 474 00:28:46,280 --> 00:28:49,400 is maybe I'm holding on to something and I'm starting to 475 00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:52,160 doubt the structural integrity of whatever I'm holding on to. 476 00:28:53,840 --> 00:28:56,560 And these are both ways in which doubt can creep in. 477 00:28:56,800 --> 00:29:00,080 One is a weakening of the connection to something, and 478 00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:05,560 another one is a weakening or a a perception that the supporting 479 00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:09,080 material, what I'm holding onto, is not strong enough. 480 00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:13,400 That doesn't mean that God's word is not strong. 481 00:29:14,360 --> 00:29:18,800 That means that in people's minds, in my mind, I can have 482 00:29:19,320 --> 00:29:23,120 something that is not strongly built enough to where it's not 483 00:29:23,120 --> 00:29:28,200 holding me anymore. That thing that once held my my 484 00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:32,440 small spiritual weight, I'm heavier spiritually now. 485 00:29:32,440 --> 00:29:34,160 I'm requiring more responsibility. 486 00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:37,320 There's more burdens now and I need a thicker, a more 487 00:29:37,320 --> 00:29:42,360 substantial thing to hold onto. And doubt can come in that form. 488 00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:45,320 And if we do not acknowledge that and provide people the 489 00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:50,080 support that is in the Scripture, that is in their life 490 00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:55,200 of faith to be provided, they might let go the thing that 491 00:29:55,200 --> 00:30:00,080 they're holding onto. A deeper commitment requires a 492 00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:04,520 deeper dig. So doubts are often a natural 493 00:30:04,520 --> 00:30:09,000 part of the process that makes someone seek out and reach for a 494 00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:15,320 deeper connection. The reason doubt is complicated, 495 00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:17,320 as I believe, because of many factors, but here's just a 496 00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:20,160 couple #1 the time factor of faith. 497 00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:25,360 Our faith requires so much time to develop, so many things that 498 00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:28,000 just you don't see in certain seasons of life. 499 00:30:28,600 --> 00:30:33,240 There are things that I know now at 27, almost 28, that you 500 00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:38,160 couldn't tell me at age 1718. It just took time. 501 00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:41,040 And you older folks in here are like, yeah, you think you've, 502 00:30:41,040 --> 00:30:42,320 you think you've learned a couple of things. 503 00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:47,040 You got to get ready. Time is required for certain 504 00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:50,760 things to happen in your faith and in your life to develop 505 00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:54,080 beyond certain doubts or certain dilemmas. 506 00:30:54,600 --> 00:30:57,960 So time is a big factor and we need to acknowledge this and 507 00:30:57,960 --> 00:31:00,880 always just going to be an answer that makes people click. 508 00:31:01,560 --> 00:31:05,480 What about suffering? People can doubt because of 509 00:31:05,480 --> 00:31:07,760 suffering. Maybe there's something they've 510 00:31:07,760 --> 00:31:09,640 been through or something they're going through that has 511 00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:11,320 caused them to rethink everything. 512 00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:14,080 You have that moment. I think it's described of as 513 00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:17,240 disillusionment where someone starts to question everything 514 00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:20,880 that's going on because something in their life snapped 515 00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:24,600 and that can have a trickle effect on their faith. 516 00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:26,920 What about a confusing experience that goes along with 517 00:31:26,920 --> 00:31:31,280 this very same thing? Or maybe it's it's just like the 518 00:31:31,280 --> 00:31:33,000 reality got twisted a little bit. 519 00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:36,360 Someone they thought was who they were not is not who they 520 00:31:36,360 --> 00:31:39,520 thought they were. Maybe something got turned up 521 00:31:39,520 --> 00:31:43,960 and upside down in their life. Maybe it's information 522 00:31:44,360 --> 00:31:47,120 deficiency. Maybe that there's just so much 523 00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:49,720 the mind can handle it once and they're lacking information. 524 00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:51,920 There's so many factors that go into doubt. 525 00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:56,800 That's why it's important for us to have mercy on those who 526 00:31:56,800 --> 00:31:58,000 doubt. That's what he says the 527 00:31:58,400 --> 00:32:00,680 instruction is have mercy on them. 528 00:32:01,840 --> 00:32:06,640 It's not fix them. It's not give them the answer 529 00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:10,760 today so they stop doubting. It's have mercy, have mercy. 530 00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:12,920 Here's what Jesus did, Matthew 11 verse 2. 531 00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:16,480 And when John had heard in prison about the works of 532 00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:20,760 Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to him, are 533 00:32:20,760 --> 00:32:22,880 you the coming one or do we look for another? 534 00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:26,880 John at this point may have been in prison up to two years. 535 00:32:28,360 --> 00:32:30,280 He was preparing the way for the Messiah. 536 00:32:30,760 --> 00:32:33,320 He was ready to be involved in the work and he gets shut into 537 00:32:33,320 --> 00:32:38,520 prison and eventually he starts to doubt, Are you the coming 538 00:32:38,520 --> 00:32:48,300 one? And Jesus answered and said to 539 00:32:48,300 --> 00:32:52,020 them, Go and tell John the things which you hear and see. 540 00:32:53,060 --> 00:32:57,560 The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the 541 00:32:57,560 --> 00:33:02,920 deaf hear, the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel 542 00:33:02,920 --> 00:33:05,760 preached to them. And blessed is he who is not 543 00:33:05,760 --> 00:33:08,720 offended because of me. Jesus sends a message to him. 544 00:33:08,880 --> 00:33:12,600 Now rebuke. Not a condemnation, not a 545 00:33:12,600 --> 00:33:16,160 frustration which just says take some information back to him. 546 00:33:16,800 --> 00:33:18,840 Maybe it's just he needs some more information to help support 547 00:33:18,840 --> 00:33:22,320 his faith. Give him this news. 548 00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:28,240 That's how Jesus responded, with mercy and with information to 549 00:33:28,240 --> 00:33:32,240 support him. How many of these things do you 550 00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:33,520 think John was facing at the time? 551 00:33:33,680 --> 00:33:35,280 How about the time factor of faith? 552 00:33:35,440 --> 00:33:38,840 How about how much time it took John to be in prison and and sit 553 00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:42,360 with his own thoughts in a cold prison cell day after day? 554 00:33:42,360 --> 00:33:45,480 The time that acquired to that his faith was enduring. 555 00:33:45,600 --> 00:33:47,360 What about the suffering he was experienced? 556 00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:50,520 What about the confusion of what's going on? 557 00:33:51,640 --> 00:33:54,360 The mind starts to play tricks when you're going through 558 00:33:54,360 --> 00:33:55,920 suffering. What about the disillusionment 559 00:33:55,920 --> 00:33:59,600 that he was facing? John had a lot going on that was 560 00:33:59,600 --> 00:34:04,480 causing his doubt. We need to be careful with how 561 00:34:04,480 --> 00:34:09,679 we handle those who doubt because they might think things 562 00:34:09,679 --> 00:34:12,360 like this. If I don't have mercy on them, 563 00:34:12,360 --> 00:34:15,280 maybe they're going to think. Rethinking things is not OK. 564 00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:19,600 And what we want people to consider all around us is 565 00:34:19,600 --> 00:34:25,080 rethink where you're at. It doesn't mean that you like 566 00:34:25,679 --> 00:34:29,120 doubtfully question everything, but it's it's OK to rethink, to 567 00:34:29,120 --> 00:34:30,920 go back and study through. Is this what I believe? 568 00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:32,000 Is this right? OK, cool. 569 00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:34,560 I believe that it's great. Scripture says that. 570 00:34:35,280 --> 00:34:38,199 And we encourage rethinking in a positive, healthy way. 571 00:34:38,600 --> 00:34:41,920 And if we tell people you're doubting that's not OK, that's 572 00:34:41,920 --> 00:34:44,679 not going to help them. We might make them feel that 573 00:34:44,679 --> 00:34:47,360 there's no compassion for me. I don't know about you, but the 574 00:34:47,360 --> 00:34:51,880 times that that I have felt the most kind of concerned in my 575 00:34:51,880 --> 00:34:59,040 life or the most alone was when I thought I had a a doubt that 576 00:34:59,040 --> 00:35:01,280 was going to make other people think, oh, he's not solid or 577 00:35:01,280 --> 00:35:06,040 he's he's unsteady or it wasn't going to be handled well. 578 00:35:07,880 --> 00:35:09,680 Those are the times that I felt my weakest. 579 00:35:10,560 --> 00:35:12,840 And it wasn't anybody's fault necessarily. 580 00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:17,000 Nobody did that. But those fears are real in 581 00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:21,080 people who are having doubts or working through something new, 582 00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:23,960 and they may feel an overwhelming pressure. 583 00:35:23,960 --> 00:35:27,360 If we don't have mercy on them, the pressure can cause them to 584 00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:32,280 break doubt. One person described it as like 585 00:35:32,280 --> 00:35:35,560 a foot that is poised. When you're doubt, it's like 586 00:35:35,560 --> 00:35:37,680 your feet are ready to go somewhere. 587 00:35:38,320 --> 00:35:40,560 If you're in a crouched possession ready to move, you're 588 00:35:40,720 --> 00:35:42,800 either going to move here or you're going to move there. 589 00:35:43,240 --> 00:35:46,400 And doubt can be a place where you launch into your future in a 590 00:35:46,400 --> 00:35:49,800 positive way spiritually, or doubt can be a position in which 591 00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:52,600 you launch into the opposite direction and say, this is not 592 00:35:52,600 --> 00:35:55,120 good. I I need to get away from here. 593 00:35:55,720 --> 00:35:58,640 We need to be careful how doubt is handled because it can propel 594 00:35:58,640 --> 00:36:03,640 people in a positive way that their previous plateau did not 595 00:36:03,640 --> 00:36:07,360 allow. Change is coming. 596 00:36:07,360 --> 00:36:09,080 Where is the change going to take them? 597 00:36:09,720 --> 00:36:12,560 Here's how Jesus, the second example handled this in Matthew 598 00:36:12,560 --> 00:36:15,240 14 verse 25. Now in the 4th watch of the 599 00:36:15,240 --> 00:36:19,160 night, late into the night Jesus went to them walking on the sea. 600 00:36:19,360 --> 00:36:21,800 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were 601 00:36:21,800 --> 00:36:25,480 troubled, saying It is a ghost. And they cried out for fear. 602 00:36:25,640 --> 00:36:28,240 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, Be of good cheer, 603 00:36:28,240 --> 00:36:31,200 it is, I do not be afraid. And Peter answered him and said, 604 00:36:31,400 --> 00:36:34,920 Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water. 605 00:36:35,080 --> 00:36:37,800 So he said, come. And when Peter had come down out 606 00:36:37,800 --> 00:36:40,480 of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 607 00:36:40,840 --> 00:36:44,760 But when he saw the wind was boisterous, he was afraid and 608 00:36:44,760 --> 00:36:47,120 began to sink. He cried out, saying, Lord, save 609 00:36:47,120 --> 00:36:49,440 me. And immediately Jesus stretched 610 00:36:49,440 --> 00:36:53,520 out his hand and caught him and said to him, Oh, you have a 611 00:36:53,520 --> 00:36:56,240 little faith. Why did you doubt? 612 00:36:57,840 --> 00:37:00,080 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 613 00:37:01,520 --> 00:37:04,160 I'm confident that God orchestrated this situation. 614 00:37:04,840 --> 00:37:09,240 And this, I believe, is a great attempt to strengthen his faith 615 00:37:09,280 --> 00:37:12,080 and their faith from the doubt that might have been existing, 616 00:37:12,080 --> 00:37:16,200 that they didn't even realize. And so Jesus walked on water, 617 00:37:16,200 --> 00:37:19,360 calmed a storm, and rescued a drowning man to address and 618 00:37:19,360 --> 00:37:23,120 alleviate doubt, doubt from Peter's end and doubt from the 619 00:37:23,120 --> 00:37:27,120 people around him. It takes mercy, it takes time. 620 00:37:28,080 --> 00:37:32,280 May we learn mercy too, the second group of people. 621 00:37:32,280 --> 00:37:34,320 And we're going to move through these other ones pretty quickly 622 00:37:34,960 --> 00:37:36,520 because it's not a lot said about it. 623 00:37:36,520 --> 00:37:41,320 And I don't want to overstate. He says save others by snatching 624 00:37:41,320 --> 00:37:45,800 them out of the fire. I've never had to snatch a 625 00:37:45,800 --> 00:37:49,800 person per SE out of the fire. But typically you get this 626 00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:52,320 reaction when you're around kids who are by the fire. 627 00:37:52,960 --> 00:37:56,480 Like I never had to snatch an adult, but when you were to 628 00:37:56,480 --> 00:37:58,920 snatch a child, it's because they don't realize what they're 629 00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:01,240 doing and you need to catch them quick. 630 00:38:01,720 --> 00:38:04,840 Your reaction, you're reacting to what the situation they're 631 00:38:04,840 --> 00:38:07,480 in. It's not it's not a it's not a 632 00:38:07,480 --> 00:38:10,400 I'll intent thing. It's you're snatching for safety 633 00:38:11,120 --> 00:38:13,400 and sometimes people are in the position they just need somebody 634 00:38:13,400 --> 00:38:16,920 to catch them and show them, hey, watch out, you didn't know 635 00:38:16,920 --> 00:38:18,840 this maybe before, but there's a fire in your way. 636 00:38:18,840 --> 00:38:22,080 You were going toward that. Sometimes that's the recipe. 637 00:38:23,800 --> 00:38:27,160 Maybe that's the First Corinthians scandal where they 638 00:38:27,160 --> 00:38:29,120 needed to be snapped up real quick. 639 00:38:31,600 --> 00:38:34,080 Maybe think about who would benefit from this. 640 00:38:35,480 --> 00:38:38,800 Don't just handle anybody with this approach because it might 641 00:38:38,800 --> 00:38:42,600 not work for somebody who's in a different position. 642 00:38:42,680 --> 00:38:47,600 But maybe think about who is this person I'm about to snatch 643 00:38:47,840 --> 00:38:49,360 out of the fire? Is it? 644 00:38:49,360 --> 00:38:52,600 Will they benefit from that? This isn't the recipe for 645 00:38:52,600 --> 00:38:55,120 everyone, but there are people who need to be snatched out of 646 00:38:55,120 --> 00:38:58,240 the fire to save them from what they don't even see coming to 647 00:38:58,240 --> 00:39:00,880 others. Show mercy with fear. 648 00:39:04,680 --> 00:39:08,400 Thinking merciful things is not always enough. 649 00:39:09,320 --> 00:39:11,360 I don't know about you, but I can have sometimes in my mind 650 00:39:11,360 --> 00:39:14,880 like I'm trying to have a disposition towards someone, I'm 651 00:39:14,880 --> 00:39:17,640 trying to think about them in a positive way that show that has 652 00:39:17,640 --> 00:39:20,280 like merciful, but it's not always enough just to have that 653 00:39:20,280 --> 00:39:25,240 in your head. He says show them mercy somehow. 654 00:39:25,680 --> 00:39:29,160 Approach them with the right guidance from God and words. 655 00:39:29,320 --> 00:39:33,800 Pray and ask guidance from other people for wisdom to use words 656 00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:38,280 that will show them mercy somehow, not always show them 657 00:39:38,280 --> 00:39:44,680 the wrong, show their mercy. I think we're good at showing 658 00:39:44,680 --> 00:39:48,080 people they're wrong. I think it's really hard to show 659 00:39:48,080 --> 00:39:50,640 people mercy actively because it's like, well, what do you 660 00:39:50,640 --> 00:39:56,520 say? There's no issue to address when 661 00:39:56,520 --> 00:40:00,760 you're trying to show mercy, but it's a disposition and it takes 662 00:40:00,760 --> 00:40:03,320 guidance and wisdom from God himself, I believe, to use the 663 00:40:03,320 --> 00:40:08,800 right approach to somehow get mercy to come out. 664 00:40:10,040 --> 00:40:11,720 And that's, that's general, I don't know. 665 00:40:12,120 --> 00:40:17,320 I don't have a clear situation to give you, but may I remember 666 00:40:17,320 --> 00:40:21,160 to act intentionally and show mercy beyond just having a 667 00:40:21,160 --> 00:40:26,240 thought in my head? How do we do this with anger 668 00:40:26,240 --> 00:40:28,000 toward them because of their sin? 669 00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:33,320 No, he says with fear. That word is translated terror. 670 00:40:35,360 --> 00:40:38,240 Are we doing it angry at them, or are we doing it that we are 671 00:40:38,240 --> 00:40:43,040 afraid for them? That we are concerned about them 672 00:40:44,080 --> 00:40:47,680 in a way that is has nothing to do with anger or us being right 673 00:40:48,520 --> 00:40:51,600 and then being wrong? We need terror for them, not 674 00:40:51,600 --> 00:40:55,360 anger out of them. And we are to hate even the 675 00:40:55,360 --> 00:41:00,160 garments stained by the flesh. I like how he addresses this 676 00:41:00,160 --> 00:41:02,040 like it's something that they can take off. 677 00:41:03,160 --> 00:41:06,560 When people feel stuck in sin, that's the last thing they feel 678 00:41:06,560 --> 00:41:09,640 is like they have a way out. They feel like it defines them. 679 00:41:09,640 --> 00:41:11,080 They feel like it's part of them. 680 00:41:12,600 --> 00:41:17,720 But it can be taken off. It can be laid down and walked 681 00:41:17,720 --> 00:41:24,320 away from and wait, may we talk to them in a way that shows them 682 00:41:24,320 --> 00:41:27,960 the way out? Take that garment off, friend. 683 00:41:29,440 --> 00:41:32,800 You have value. You don't need to be defined by 684 00:41:32,800 --> 00:41:36,040 your sin anymore. You don't need to be defined by 685 00:41:36,040 --> 00:41:40,520 that relationship you're in, by the habits you've been doing for 686 00:41:40,520 --> 00:41:42,480 the last six years in a row. Now. 687 00:41:44,040 --> 00:41:45,720 That doesn't have to be who you are anymore. 688 00:41:45,720 --> 00:41:47,280 And the devil wants to accuse you. 689 00:41:47,280 --> 00:41:49,000 He's called the accuser of the brethren. 690 00:41:50,440 --> 00:41:53,120 You can take that off. That doesn't need to be you. 691 00:41:53,160 --> 00:41:57,360 You are a person created in the image of God, and you were just 692 00:41:57,360 --> 00:42:01,160 being covered by a garment of sinfulness that can be taken off 693 00:42:01,160 --> 00:42:07,360 today, stained by the flesh and his closing statements. 694 00:42:08,720 --> 00:42:14,920 Now to him again, every time we go back to the source of all 695 00:42:14,920 --> 00:42:18,560 this strength. Now to Him who is able to keep 696 00:42:18,560 --> 00:42:23,520 you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the 697 00:42:23,520 --> 00:42:25,840 presence of His glory with exceeding joy. 698 00:42:26,440 --> 00:42:28,600 He is the one who gets the glory for this. 699 00:42:28,760 --> 00:42:32,560 He said keep yourself. Now he's saying now he's keeping 700 00:42:32,560 --> 00:42:33,880 you. Who's doing the keeping? 701 00:42:33,960 --> 00:42:37,080 It's both. We keep ourselves the love of 702 00:42:37,080 --> 00:42:38,840 God. He has a keeping power. 703 00:42:38,840 --> 00:42:40,960 They work together. It doesn't have to be 1 or the 704 00:42:40,960 --> 00:42:44,360 other. It's both to Him who is able to 705 00:42:44,360 --> 00:42:50,120 keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the 706 00:42:50,120 --> 00:42:52,240 presence of His glory with exceeding joy. 707 00:42:54,600 --> 00:43:00,160 I love this image. Jesus is able to and wants to 708 00:43:00,400 --> 00:43:04,280 present you to the Father with exceeding joy. 709 00:43:04,280 --> 00:43:08,600 He is so excited. Jesus is so excited to bring you 710 00:43:08,600 --> 00:43:12,320 to the Father, to present you to him, and he's going to be so 711 00:43:12,320 --> 00:43:17,360 happy about it. He wants to be so excited to 712 00:43:17,360 --> 00:43:22,320 show you to the Father. It's like showing people my new 713 00:43:22,320 --> 00:43:23,920 baby. I'm so excited to see this 714 00:43:23,920 --> 00:43:29,840 perfect, faultless new baby. Jesus is able to present you 715 00:43:30,120 --> 00:43:35,240 perfect and flawless, brand new, and He's so excited to do it. 716 00:43:37,080 --> 00:43:39,760 That's who we're addressing to Him who's able to do that? 717 00:43:40,160 --> 00:43:44,760 To God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, 718 00:43:45,440 --> 00:43:48,520 dominion and power, both now and forever. 719 00:43:48,560 --> 00:43:54,560 Amen. We don't close a thought without 720 00:43:54,560 --> 00:43:57,240 bringing it back to where all the glory belongs. 721 00:43:57,400 --> 00:43:59,120 There are people who's caused problems. 722 00:43:59,640 --> 00:44:04,840 They're nothing new. We need to be doing the 723 00:44:04,840 --> 00:44:08,680 instruction for ourselves and for other people around us. 724 00:44:08,800 --> 00:44:12,720 But it all goes back to Him at the end of every thought, at the 725 00:44:12,720 --> 00:44:17,000 end of every work, at the end of every misery, every suffering, 726 00:44:17,000 --> 00:44:20,360 at the end of every concern over people who are wrong. 727 00:44:20,800 --> 00:44:27,400 The thought always goes back to bring glory to God, majesty and 728 00:44:27,400 --> 00:44:31,840 glory, dominion and power that He would have, dominion that He 729 00:44:31,840 --> 00:44:37,880 would have control in our lives both now and forever. 730 00:44:38,040 --> 00:44:40,880 Amen. And so Jude closes his letter. 731 00:44:43,480 --> 00:44:47,600 And if you have not started this walk today to become a pure and 732 00:44:47,600 --> 00:44:50,400 faultless child of God that He is ready to present to the 733 00:44:50,400 --> 00:44:53,880 Father, like if you today are not ready to be presented to the 734 00:44:53,880 --> 00:45:01,760 Father, you can today, if you haven't started that walk, you 735 00:45:01,760 --> 00:45:04,280 have to 1st hear the Word and you've heard the word in song 736 00:45:04,280 --> 00:45:08,320 and in prayer that you need to come in faith that comes by 737 00:45:08,320 --> 00:45:11,360 hearing the word of God that produces belief that Jesus 738 00:45:11,360 --> 00:45:15,080 Christ is the Son of God. There's no salvation any other. 739 00:45:15,800 --> 00:45:18,440 And you can repent of your past life, as we've talked about 740 00:45:18,440 --> 00:45:23,040 here, making change that will be godly, that will show true 741 00:45:23,040 --> 00:45:26,680 faith. You can make a change and repent 742 00:45:26,880 --> 00:45:31,760 and confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the source of 743 00:45:31,760 --> 00:45:34,240 our life. You can do that today. 744 00:45:34,240 --> 00:45:37,280 And you can be baptized for the remission of your sins according 745 00:45:37,280 --> 00:45:41,000 to Acts 238, be added to the Kingdom, and to have your sins 746 00:45:41,000 --> 00:45:42,520 washed away. You can do that today. 747 00:45:43,240 --> 00:45:46,520 But if you've already done that and you feel a slip, you feel 748 00:45:47,240 --> 00:45:50,160 like you maybe need to come back to God, we can take care of 749 00:45:50,160 --> 00:45:51,960 that. If you need the prayers of the 750 00:45:51,960 --> 00:45:54,040 brethren, maybe for some of the things we've even talked about 751 00:45:54,040 --> 00:45:56,840 today, we're happy to pray with you and for you while we stand 752 00:45:56,840 --> 00:45:57,120 and see.