Ron Dunn Podcast - Defenses Of The Christian Life

Episode Date: March 24, 2021

Ron Dunn continues his sermon series "Fighting For Faith"

How about if you'd open your Bibles again this evening to the little book of Jude. And praise the Lord for that song. That's what I was talking about this morning. There wasn't anything irreverent about that song. The little letter of Jude. And I think we'll begin reading with verse 14. We read through verse 13 this morning, and I think we'll just pick it up at verse 14 and read through the end of the one chapter of Jude.

It's the next to the last book in the Bible, right before Revelation. In these first 13 verses, the writer is informing believers of the dangers that face the Christian life. And he's writing with urgency because there have been certain persons who have slipped in the fellowship of believers

who are not true believers but have come in pretending to be something that they are not. And their purpose is to be irreverent. Their purpose is to turn the grace of God into license for sin and to deny the lordship of Jesus Christ. We'll be reading some of the other verses in those first 13, but I want us to begin with the 14th verse and read through verse 25. And about these also Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying,

Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of his holy ones to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts. They speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage. But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they were saying to you, In the last time there shall be mockers

following after their own ungodly lusts. These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ

to eternal life. And have mercy on some who are doubting. Save others, snatching them out of the fire. And on some, have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, blameless with great joy,

to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forever. Amen. I think I like the Bible because it always ends on a note of victory. Anyone who believes in the Word

is an incurable optimist. And it doesn't matter how pessimistic the situation may be or how dark the circumstances may appear, the Word of God always ends on a note of victory. The Bible has this viewpoint that there is no situation in which you cannot have victory. Regardless of how godless it is, or how terrible, or how desperate it is, there is no situation in which the Christian cannot have victory.

And I think it's illustrated beautifully in this little letter of Jude. It's a letter that starts out on a gloomy note. Really, if you will search the Scriptures, I think you could not find a more severe condemnation of evil and sin than you find in Jude. He is merciless in his attack upon these men who have crept in unawares. And he paints a very dark picture. Actually, if all you had to read was just the first 13 verses, it would be a very depressing

little book. And that's why I said this morning, I don't enjoy preaching those kind of messages because they're just all negative. But the interesting thing is, the beautiful thing is that as he starts out on that note of gloom and warning and desperate urgency, he ends up with a doxology. And every believer, no matter where he starts, if he knows the Word of God, he'll end up on doxology. And Judas say, even though the situation is as it is, even though these people have come in, even though they are turning the grace of God into licentiousness, even though they are hidden reefs endangering your fellowship, even in this situation, you can have victory.

And so the twofold purpose of this little letter is, first of all, to inform us of the dangers that face the Christian life. The second purpose is to instruct us as to the defenses of the Christian life. And that's what we're going to deal with tonight. Now let me just back up for a moment and remind you of the danger. The danger was that these believers, and it is a danger that is ever present with us, that as we live in the midst of the world, there is the danger of the world squeezing us into its mold, as Phillips translates Romans 12 and 2, where the King James says, be not conformed

to this world. Phillips reads like this, don't let the world around you squeeze you into its mold. I like that translation because it brings out the idea of the pressure that the world is constantly exerting on believers to be conformed, to be shaped like the world. And so there is always this possibility. You see, if the world can destroy our distinctiveness, they will neutralize our effectiveness. The effectiveness of the Christian and of the church is in the fact that it is different, in the fact that it is distinctive, it is unique. And the world tries to neutralize the effectiveness of the church

and of the Christian by exerting pressure on them to conform to the world's standard, to be like everybody else. Now, the emphasis in this little letter of Jude is that the trouble we're facing doesn't always come from without. The trouble, the danger, as he is relating it,

comes from within. You see, we need to understand that the devil really isn't too worried about the world. He has that pretty well sewed up. The greatest strategy of the devil is leveled inside the church, against the church, against the body of believers. His main line of attack

is directed against those of us who have separated ourselves from the world and are living a distinctive and different life. And so he says in verse 4 that certain people have slipped in unnoticed and they are like hidden reefs in a water. And as the ship comes along, it doesn't see the reef because it's hidden and it causes its destruction. He said there are

men and women in the church posing as believers. They're one of you. They're part of the fellowship. And what they want to do is to subtly and gradually exert influence to make the church lower its standards of morality, to gradually compromise its convictions. And I think he makes it very clear that it's not false teachers coming in just blatantly saying the Bible is untrue and that there's no such thing as a God, but it is infiltrating in the church people who look like Christians

and who profess to be Christians but are not Christians, and they begin to exert influence, move into positions of leadership, and gradually they exert such influence they cause us to compromise our convictions, and after a while we lose our distinctiveness. Now, folks, that is exactly what has happened in the major portion of denominations in America tonight. You don't have to say that the book of Jude is not relevant or timely. It is, because that's exactly where we are tonight. You say, but this is good old MacArthur Boulevard Baptist Church oh we may have one or two

that well he's saying here there's just a few men he said certain men are literally a few some have come in you see it's the advance warning that is important and the one thing that I know the devil would

love to do in this fellowship as in any fellowship is to a little leaven leavens the whole lump. And there is this constant pressure not only from within but often from within for us to, well, let's not get so excited over sin. Don't get over a lot over this. And be a little bit more tolerant.

And after all, if you're going to reach the world, you've got to use the world's methods. If you're going to save this world from its lostness, you have to understand this world and you have to meet them on their level. You have to identify with them. And that necessarily means that we're going to have to compromise

some of our convictions. After all, we're living in the 20th century. And so this is the danger. And the first 16 verses deals with the dangers. And then in verse 17, he turns now to these believers and begins to instruct them on how they can defend against this type of situation.

You'll notice in verse 17, he says, but you, beloved, and he has the same phrase in verse 20, but you, beloved, that is an emphatic phrase contrasting the believers with the offenders

that are inside the fellowship of the church. Now he's coming, and he's going to say, now you are different, and there is a way of victory. It is possible for a Christian Now he's coming and he's going to say, now you are different and there is a way of victory. It is possible for a Christian to live in the world. It is possible for even the church to be infiltrated with the unsaved, with apostates.

And it is possible for you to constantly feel this pressure of the world to get you to compromise and to lose your distinctiveness. But he says there is a way that you can always be victorious. And you can walk right through the midst of a godless world, never compromising your likeness

to the Lord Jesus Christ. And so I want us to look at these verses and see what are the defenses of the Christian life. There are three or four, and we'll just have time, I'm certain tonight, to deal with three of them. And I can sum it up in three words.

Remember, recognize, and remain. Remember, recognize, and remain. As the writer turns from the dangers to begin talking about the defense, how you and I can stay pure in the midst of an impure world, the very first thing he mentions is this in verse 17,

But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now look back over to the fifth verse. Now I desire to remind you, now notice that next phrase, though you know all things once for all. That's kind of an exaggerated statement, isn't it?

He says, now I want to remind you, though you already know everything and you've been told once and that's enough, you know all things and you know it once for all. You know what he's doing? He's rebuking these believers. Because he's not telling them anything they don't know. That is true. Did you know that most preaching is simply reminding you of something you've already heard

but haven't done anything about. And I'm impressed by the great amount of importance that God puts on remembering. You can go back to the Old Testament, Moses as he instructs his people, Joshua as he instructs his people, all the way over to the New Testament, and again and again and again

you'll find those admonitions to remember, to remember, to remember, as if there were some natural tendency on our part to forget spiritual matters. I think that's a part of our fallen nature. It's amazing to me that a fellow can remember a dirty joke he heard 20 years ago, but he couldn't recall the verse he memorized yesterday. There is something about our fallen nature that seems to reject spiritual information. And so you'll constantly find

these admonitions to remember, to remember. And he is giving a touch of rebuke to these believers. He says, now I want to remind you, though you already know all things, once and for all, why was he rebuking them? They weren't taking it seriously.

They weren't taking the warning seriously. They knew that the Scriptures had prophesied that such a thing would come to pass. They could look back into the past and they could see how there had always been apostasy in the midst of God's people, but they weren't taking the warnings seriously. There was no alertness. There was no watchfulness. And I want to tell you, the first step in your falling in your Christian life is for you not to take this business that we're speaking of tonight seriously. And so the first step in our defense is to remember.

Now, there are two things, he says, that we're to remember. Number one, we are to remember the warnings from the past. In verses 5 through 6, he uses three illustrations. I desire to remind you that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. A powerful reminder. He said, now you believers aren't taking this seriously.

But he said, I want to remind you of the kind of God you're serving. He is the kind of God who will deliver an entire nation out of Egypt, but if they believe not, he'll destroy them. In other words, past blessings and high privilege does not grant us an immunity from the judgment of God. And then he says verse 6 and angels who did not keep their own domain

but abandoned their proper abode he has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of that great day he says listen not only will privilege not give you an immunity but position dignity

he said even the angels well you think he might excuse the angels, dignity. He said even the angels, well, you think he might excuse the angels, he might make an allowance for the angels, but he said even the angels, when they sinned, he cast them out and they're reserved in the darkness. He said you'd better take this matter seriously. Apostasy is a fact and God does judge.

And then I had a difficult time figuring out why he used this third illustration. I may not have figured it out yet, but I think I have. Notice verse 7, just as Sodom and Gomorrah. That's his third illustration. Now, I want you to see the inconsistency, apparent inconsistency. First of all, he uses Israel, a holy people. He uses the angels, a holy order. And then he throws in Sodom and Gomorrah. They don't belong in that class. You can't compare Israel and the angels to Sodom and Gomorrah Sodom and Gomorrah

was the most hideous and devious and perverted cities the world has ever known their sin was so great that God destroyed them and they are to be an example that God punishes evil doing

well how in the world could you put Israelites, God's holy people, and the angels, God's holy orders, in the same class as Sodomites? You know what I think

God is saying? I think God is saying, I'm no respecter of persons. An unbelieving Israelite is just as heinous in the sight of God as a Sodomite. And God will judge an unbelieving Israel just as quickly as he will judge a perverted Sodom. You see, what the writer is trying to do is to wake us up and to get us to take this matter seriously. That there is a danger,

and you'd better remember that it has happened before. All right, the second thing that we're to remember, not only the warnings of history, but also the warnings of prophecy. Look over in verse 17. He says, But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand

by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. The second thing you will remember is that this is to be expected. Don't be surprised when this happens. Don't be surprised when this happens. Listen, this is extremely important because I know a number of people whose faith has been almost wrecked when they discovered apostates in the church. They discovered an inconsistent church member. They discovered a hypocritical church member, and it almost wrecked their faith. Now what he's saying is,

listen, don't let this wreck your faith. It ought to strengthen your faith because it simply means God's Word is true. He prophesied this was going to happen. Expect it. Look for it. Don't let it discourage you. Let it encourage you because it means simply that God knows what's going on.

He has all things under control. And so he says, you remember that this was prophesied. It's nothing unusual. Don't let it take you off guard. Don't let it shock you. Don't all things under control. And so he says, you remember that this was prophesied. It's nothing unusual. Don't let it take you off guard. Don't let it shock you. Don't let it surprise you. It hasn't surprised God. You just simply remember that it happens and it's going to happen and you'll be ready for it. You'll be prepared for it. So the first thing in defense is to remember. The second thing is to recognize, Recognize those who are offenders. Now, he goes on to say in verse 19,

These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit. Now, I want us to stop here for just a moment. Jude was very thoughtful. It is useless to remind us of danger if you do not identify the danger and tell us how we can know it. I seem to be bombarded lately with advertisements and letters in the mail about my blood pressure, my heart,

and getting a cancer checkup. It's almost making me a hypochondriac. You can hardly pick up a Reader's Digest, but they don't have some test in there to find out if you've got some dread disease. You watch television very much, and after a while, they'll come on with a commercial about high blood pressure. And they'll give symptoms of high blood pressure and give symptoms of heart disease. If it hurts over here, it's not heart disease. You ate too much. If it hurts here, that's bad.

You better go get it checked on. You see, it is one thing to be aware that there's a danger, but it is another thing to be aware that there's a danger, but it is another thing to be able to recognize that danger when it's there. How can we tell within the fellowship of any church, within the fellowship of anyone who professes to be saved, how can we tell whether or not they're part of the enemy? Well, he describes them, and he wants us to be able to recognize them. And he gives three very brief and concise descriptions of these folks.

Verse 19, these are the ones who, first of all, cause divisions. Cause divisions. He said these people in the church that are always promoting strife. The word cause divisions literally means to draw a line as if you draw a boundary. And it's a picture of a fellow taking a church fellowship and drawing a line down the middle of it and say, all right, you are on that side, and we're on this side, and we're on opposite sides. There are those within the church who cause divisions. Who cause divisions. They're not peacemakers, as Jesus spoke of in Matthew 5. They're troublemakers.

And wherever they go, they always cause trouble. And there is something about the way they say hello that just creates a division. Well, how do they create divisions? Look back up in verse 16. He says, these are grumblers. I believe the King James has murmurers. These are grumblers. The first way they cause divisions within the fellowship of the church is by grumbling. Now, the word grumbling means to always be complaining, always be complaining. And as I studied this word, it was interesting to see that this word was used of the cooing of a dove. Have you ever heard a dove? You see, remember that this is a subtle danger. In other words, he's saying these fellows that cause divisions,

these ones that you really need to watch out for, these ones that you need not to allow any influence over you, they don't come up in a loud voice and shout angry words. He said they just very quietly and suddenly murmur, murmur. They're not going around making a big fuss, not going around demanding the floor on business meeting night and saying, I don't like this and I don't like that. But they speak in a soft voice.

And you probably couldn't hear them unless you were standing close by. But they're always complaining, always grumbling about everything that goes on. Nothing ever satisfies them. And they do it in a dove-like voice. I did a little study on this murmuring. You know where murmuring first really came into its own was back in Numbers when the people of Israel

were going through the wilderness. You know where the murmuring started? The murmuring started in the tents. The murmuring started at home, around the family. I thought that was interesting. That here's a family that gets in the tent at night and gathers in the home.

Maybe they have another couple over. And while they're having a nice little visit with their friends they begin to just ever so casually and subtly begin to complain and murmur that's how they cause divisions he says watch out for them so he's quiet now the next thing he says is they find fault. These are grumblers finding

fault. That word finding fault means really blaming others for everything bad that happens. Do you know anybody like that? Do you know anybody like that? Do you know anybody like that who's, not only do they complain, but they're always blaming their lot on somebody else. It's always somebody else's fault, never their fault. And they're constantly accusing

and blaming others. All right, so the first thing is this. They cause divisions and recognizing them, they cause divisions. Notice the first thing is this. They cause divisions in recognizing them. They cause divisions. Notice the second thing he says about them in verse 19. They are worldly-minded, or as the King James says, they are sensual.

Sensual, worldly-minded. The word simply means natural. It refers to animal existence, animal life. These people, I want to say this just right, these people are limited in their thinking, in their acting, in their living. They're limited to the natural. There's nothing at all spiritual about them. They're not able to communicate on a spiritual plane.

When I was a little boy growing up in a Baptist church, I'd always heard it preached and said that the church, you know, had a lot of lost people in it, and that is true. I always assumed that the lost church members were those who were drunkards, openly wicked men that never came to church. But when I became a pastor, I began to see something, and the years have only confirmed that conviction. The ones that I'm really concerned about

in MacArthur Boulevard Baptist Church, and I don't mean to say I'm not concerned about those that never come and live an openly wicked life, but I tell you the ones that I'm really concerned about are those who are always here and are relatively faithful, but they cannot communicate on a spiritual plane. They are one-dimensional people. They are natural people. They are one-dimensional people. They are natural people.

They are worldly-minded. They always act like the world. They think like the world. They react like the world. If you try to tell them of spiritual things, if you try to communicate to them about the lordship of Christ or living by faith

or anything spiritual. They just can't take it in. They can't comprehend. They're natural. They're natural. They have no spiritual appetite. Their appetite is limited to this world,

to this earth. They have no spiritual appetite. Have a prayer meeting, they'll never show up. They may read the Bible just to count their daily Bible readings, but it never speaks to them. And as you visit with them and talk with them, there is no sense, there is no witness there of any spiritual life.

And then the third description, of course, gives the explanation for the whole thing. They are devoid of the Spirit. They are devoid of the Spirit. They are devoid of the Spirit. That simply means they are just not saved. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. All right. Those are the first two.

I want us to come now to the last one, which is really the most important. And this is the one, really, that Jude has been building up to. And if you had to just take one line of defense, this would be it. If you're going to live a holy life in the midst of unholy situations,

you must remain, abide, keep yourselves in the love of God. Look at verses 20 and 21. But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, now comes the direct command, keep yourselves in the love of God. You see, verse 17, he said, but you, and then he gave defense. Verse 20, he says,

but you, and then he gave another defense. And in verse 20, this is the climax of it all. But you, beloved, keep yourselves in the love of God. And when all is said and done, it won't do any good to remember. It won't do any good to be able to recognize the enemy unless you keep yourselves in the love of God. Now, let's talk about that for just a minute. First of all, I want to talk about what it does not mean. You know, just reading that phrase,

keep yourself in the love of God, would seem to indicate that you and I might get to a position where God no longer loves us. Now, that's not what it means. The love of God is not conditional, and a person is never able to get into any kind of situation or corrupt himself to such an extent that God never loves him. Nor does it mean that you and I can make ourselves more lovable. It doesn't mean that we can cause God to love us more.

That's not at all what it means. When he says, keep yourselves in the love of God, he's saying, God loves you. And because God loves you, he wants to bless you. He wants you to experience that love. Now, he says, you stay in a position where the love of God can do everything it wants to do for you. Illustration. When the prodigal son left home and found himself out yonder in a pig pen. Did his father still love him? Yes. But that boy had not kept himself in the love of God. That fortress of his father's love

that shielded him and protected him and ministered to him and met every need, he got out from under that. As long as he was under that shield, as long as he was in the circle of his father's love, he was safe. But the as he was under that shield, as long as he was in the circle of his father's love, he was safe.

But the moment he got outside that love, he became vulnerable to all the evils of the world. And there he was, over yonder in a far country. His father loved him no less, but it didn't make any difference. His love was not being beneficial

to the boy. The boy was still in a mess. He was still going hungry. His life was still torn up. The father's love didn't make one bit of difference. It is possible for you and for me

to so disregard the law of God and so live a life contrary to grieve the Holy Spirit that we can put ourselves in a position where God cannot bless us, where the love of God is unreal, where the love of God is unexperienced.

The sun's always shining, but you may not be in it. And God always loves, but you have to keep yourself in the love of God. That simply means you keep yourself in a position where God's love can always do for you all that it wants to do. I think about that prodigal son out on the far country. Don't you know that father wanted to do for him? Don't you know that father's heart reached out to him,

wanted to minister to him, wanted to make available to him all that the father had, but he couldn't. Why? The boy had taken himself out from under his father's love. But when the boy comes back and gets under that shield of the father's love, the first thing the father does is that he says to his servants, I want you to invite your friends. I want you to kill the fatted calf.

I want you to bring a robe and shoes and a ring on his finger. I want you to share with him all that he has. The very moment he got himself under the love of God, then that love of that Father began to bless him and minister to him. If you stay in that love, you're safe. It's a shield.

It's a fortress. But if through unconfessed sin, if through practice and conduct that is contrary to the will of God, you put yourself outside that love, you expose yourself to all the dangers, to all the dangers. A man can walk right through hell, and if he keeps himself in the love of God, he'll come out without the smell of smoke on his garments. This is the most important thing.

And this is what I want to ask you as we close. Are you tonight in the circle of God's love? I'm not asking you, does God love you or do you love God? That's immaterial. I'm asking you, are you in such a position? Is the quality of your life tonight such that you can receive all that that love

wants to give you and do for you? Nobody had to tell me when I wasn't under my father's love. I could walk into the house when I was a little boy, see my mother, see my dad, I knew immediately if I was in their love or out of it. A lot of the time I was out of it.

Nobody had to announce it. I just knew. There was a spirit. There was a mood. There was an emptiness. And I knew when I was out of my mother's and my father's love. And I'm convinced that every believer who will be honest with himself knows

when because of neglect or unfaithfulness or unconfessed sin, he's out of the Father's love. The Ron Dunn Podcast is available only for personal edification, not to be duplicated, uploaded to the web, or resold without prior written consent. It is managed and operated by Sherwood Baptist Church. If you would

like to listen to additional Ron Dunn messages, visit sherwoodbaptist.net slash bookstore and search Ron Dunn. For more Ron Dunn materials, including sermon outlines, devotions, and scan pages from a study Bible, please visit rondunn.com.