Persevering Through the Influence of False Teaching

Once again, good evening.

It is so nice to see all of you here tonight. We've been going through the book of Jude. We started that last Sunday morning and we heard from Pastor Piers this Sunday morning. It is clear that the book of Jude is addressing the issue of false teachers and their ungodly influences on the first century. Now Jude wanted to write about our excellent salvation, the amazing grace and mercy that we have in Jesus Christ, but he looked at the church and he saw something that was going on in the church that he was compelled to write against false teachers and encourage believers to persevere. Pastor Rob Reeves reminded us last Sunday that such false teachers are present in today's church as well who pervert God's grace into a license for sensuality. We were challenged not only to reject the false gospel, but we ourselves should not presume on the grace of God. And this morning Pastor Piers walking us through the scathing description of Jude for false teachers, jaw-dropping description, and he taught us how to recognize false teachers.

Now tonight we will look at Jude's encouragement to believers to persevere through the influence of false teaching. Now let me ask you this, what is your response to false teaching and their influence? Now you've heard last Sunday and this Sunday that there are false teachers. Dr Monroe when he was teaching, he's still going through the series in 1 Peter, he did mention false teachers.

You've heard this so many times. What is your response to false teaching and its influence? Could it be that you are indifferent toward it? You may know that false teachers do exist, but that does not concern you to do anything differently. Or you take on a very extreme confrontational stance, not only you seek to call out false teachers, but you also condemn those who are genuinely influenced and confused by the false teaching.

Or maybe your concern for false teaching and their influence is weighing heavily down on you that you take on a pessimistic stance. You lose hope, you lose joy, you're so frustrated and you find fault with everything, and you forget that the Lord Jesus Christ is building his church in spite of the tears, the influence of the false teachers and their teaching. Tonight we will learn the Lord is encouraging us to persevere through the influence of false teaching. And in Jude 17 to 25, we will learn how to persevere. So let me pray and let's read God's word tonight. Father, thank you so much for your word.

Thank you for the warning that you have given to us. Thank you for the encouragement that we have in scripture. So as we read your holy word, your inner and infallible word that never goes wrong and is always relevant for every people who are on the face of the earth yesterday, today, and even forever. As we turn to your word, Father, please speak to us, help us understand what you are telling us through these passages, convict us, challenge us, transform us, help us to persevere by the power of the spirit in the Lord Jesus Christ and salvation that we have in him. For we ask all this in his mighty name.

Amen. Let's read Jude 17 to 25. This is from verse 17 onward. But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, in the last time there will be scoffers following their own godly passions.

It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the spirit. But you, beloved, building yourself up in the most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt, save others by snatching them out of the fire. To others, show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. Now, to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory 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. What a passage. So how do we persevere through the influences of the false teaching? First, we remember God's warning.

Look at what Jude says. But you, speaking to the church, the Lord through his scripture is speaking to you as well tonight. But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. We must take it seriously.

But why should we take it seriously? Ah, because these warnings come straight from the Lord through his apostles. Now, see, Jude is not a scaremonger who is spreading baseless ominous reports, putting fear into people's hearts.

We as pastors of Calvary Church, when we talk about false teachers and we call people out, we are not trying to create a sensation or trying to shock people. Like Jude, we are only pointing back to what the apostles have already said. But see, Jude is not the first one to talk about false teaching and the false teachers who are out there even in the churches. Paul did that.

Peter did that. He is simply pointing us back to what the apostles have said. What did the apostles say? Look at verse 18. They said to you, what did they say? In the last time, there will be scoffers following their own ungodly passions.

Now, I will not go through the descriptions mentioned here. Pastor Pierce addressed that this morning. He addressed, he talked about the descriptions of the false teachers.

If you missed this morning, please go to calvarychurch.com on our website and please look out for the recording for this morning and for last Sunday as well. But look at what verse 19 says. It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the spirit.

What does that mean? That means that the scoffers are already here. That means that the people described as scoffers by the apostles are the same kind of people who are in this particular church creating such chaos and division through their false teaching.

Therefore, the first century church, the church to which Jude is writing, they must pay attention. They must take this seriously. They must remember God's warning. Now, let me ask you this.

How about you and I? Should we take this warning seriously? The answer is absolutely yes. But taking serious the warning of God is not a mere perfunctory nod to the existence of false teaching. No, it should be a sobering thought of the danger of false teaching that should move us to remain in God's love resolutely. And Jude will explain how we can do that in verses 20 and 21. So we don't just say, yeah, false teachers exist. Yeah, that's there.

And we can name people. These people are false teachers. These are their false teaching.

But is that it? Jude says, no. Yes, you remember God's warning, but we must remain in God's love. Look at verse 20 and 21.

But you, beloved, yes, remember the warning. These are the kind of people, yes, but you, beloved, building yourself up in the most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourself in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, that leads to eternal life. Now, those of you who are interested in grammar, these two verses, you have one main verb, which is keep yourself in the love of God. And you have three supporting participants, building yourself up, praying in the Holy Spirit and waiting for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ. How do you keep yourself in the love of God?

Building yourself up, praying in the Holy Spirit, waiting for the mercy of Jesus Christ. What does it mean to keep oneself in the love of God? Well, it means that you stand on God's love that saved you in the first place. But that also means that you show that you love God by walking in obedience to his commandments. Jesus himself said this, whoever has my commandment and keeps them, it is he who loves me. I didn't say it, Jesus said it. Turn with me to 1 John chapter 2, and let's read verse 4. Listen to what the apostle John says, 1 John chapter 2, verse 4, verse 4, 5, and 6. Whoever says, I know him, but does not keep his commandment.

I didn't say this. This is the apostle John saying is a liar. And the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word in him, truly the love of God is perfected. By this, we know that we are in him. Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

What does that mean? What does it mean to remain in God's love? It means to walk in obedience to God's commandments. That's what it means.

There's no other meaning to it. If you say you love God and you don't walk according to his commandments, John says, you're lying. No, you don't actually love God. How can we remain in God's love, not just on Sundays, but throughout in all the areas of our life? By building ourselves up, by praying in the Holy Spirit and waiting for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ. First, building ourselves up, by continuing to build ourselves up.

What do we build ourselves in? Look at verse 20, but you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith. In the most holy faith is what we build ourselves up. Now, this is the faith that was once delivered. Jude addressed that early in the book.

Pastor Rob Reese, he explained this last Sunday. This is referring to the pure gospel and the teaching of the apostles now codified in God's word, the Bible. We not only stand strong on the foundation of the word of God, but we grow in it on a daily basis as we study it on a daily basis. Now, see, response to false teaching and the influences of the false teachers is not just calling them out or applauding those who call them out.

It's a good thing. We should do that. But if it ends with that, that's not enough. That's not what Jude says. To persevere through the influences of false teaching, the word of Christ must richly dwell in us, Colossians 3.16.

That is what must happen. Now, have you ever wondered why false teachers get so much traction? Now, how is it that they become so popular, their books become bestsellers, their followers are in the order of millions, and they grow by the minute? Yet, they don't teach sound doctrine, not at all the whole counsel of God.

How is it? There are many reasons. One of the reasons, biblical illiteracy among the evangelical Christians.

That's what it is. Jude is challenging believers not to stay biblically naive. Believers in Jesus Christ who seek to persevere must grow in biblical knowledge that will, in turn, move them to obey the word of God and keep oneself in the love of God.

Biblical knowledge is not accumulated so we can have heavy heads or big heads. No, that should translate into our hearts, which will move us to walk in obedience to God's commandments. And as we continue to do that, we are keeping ourselves, we are remaining in God's love.

Now, I might sound like a broken record here. Pastor Rob Riis tells us that the word of God is in the word daily. Pastor Nathaniel talked about you being in the word 15 minutes daily. Pastor Rob Riis challenged us last Sunday, be in the word. Pastor Nathaniel challenged us this morning, be in the word.

How are you doing? Are you in the word daily? You know that there are false teachers and their influences are far reaching. They are influencing our children, the next generation, our grandchildren.

They are influencing every people, everything around us. But are you in the word daily? Are you training your family, your children in the word of God, demonstrating God's grace and His love and His holiness to them? We saw all these kids running around, such a joy.

And I was telling Bill, this is a joyful stampede. It is so good to see all these children. But I see these children as gifts from the almighty God given to us at Calvary Church.

To you as parents, to you as grandparents. Are you being in the word daily? Training yourself up in the word and teaching your children and your grandchildren, if you have. Train them up also in the word of God that they will remain continually in God's love.

Are you? Another way to be in the love of God, to remain in love of God is to pray in the spirit. Now it is fitting that Jude would add this here. Now see, one of the sinful byproducts of growing in biblical knowledge is pride. I know better or more than you kind of attitude. Oh, that's ego. That's pride. And because of that, you have the attitude to look down upon people or to destroy people who don't know as much as you do.

That's ego. And what's the solution? To bend our knees. Bend our knees. To bend our knees in prayer.

It keeps us humble. By prayer, we are declaring our complete dependency and surrender to the Lordship of Christ. Now there is a third one that will help us to remain in God's love. And that is to wait for the mercy of the Lord. Waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. Verse 21. Now, did you notice the emphasis is on the mercy of Christ?

Not merely the return of Christ. It is waiting for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ. The eyes of the believers in Jesus Christ must primarily be on the mercy of the Lord that saved them in the first place.

Oh, this should again keep us humble. We who wait on God's mercy. Shouldn't we show mercy to others? Paul would put it in a different way. This is in 2 Timothy chapter 2. He says, the servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome and be kind to everyone. And then later he would say, correcting his opponents with gentleness.

Why? Hoping and praying that God would give them repentance. Remain in God's love. How do we persevere through the influence of the false teachers? Remember God's warning. Remain in God's love.

And third, reflect God's mercy to others. Yes, we do call out false teachers. Yes, we do counter false teachers. We counter false teachers and their influences in the local church as well.

But what do we do with people who are already influenced by false teachers, by the false teaching? Look at verse 22 and 23. What does Jude say? And have mercy on those who doubt.

Save others by snatching them out of the fire. To others, show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. Now Jude seems to be referring to three groups of people or maybe three scenarios. One are those who are influenced by the false teachers. The second are those who are carried away by the false teachers. And the third, who are those who are contaminated by the false teaching, which is going out there. So first, those who are influenced. These are the people who doubt. They have heard the false teachers. They have also heard the sound doctrine. But instead of standing strong on the truth of scripture, they are asking the question, what if that false teaching or what if that false teacher, what if he or she is right? What if sex before marriage is okay because the whole world is doing it? God understands, doesn't he? Given my financial situations, life circumstances, whatever is going on in my life, God understands.

He's gracious, isn't he? What if other religions are true? What if there are errors in the Bible? What if the biblical authors got it wrong?

What if gender is non-binary and fluid? Doctors seem to say that. PhD holders seem to say that. The whole world seems to say that.

Everybody agrees with it. What if it is true? Or think about someone doubting this way. I do have same-sex attraction.

What if God created me that way? What should we do with these people? What does Jude say? Humiliate them? Marginalize them?

Penalize them because they seem to be asking a genuine question, seeking an honest answer? No. Jude says show mercy. What is mercy? Not giving them what they deserve. Not giving them what they deserve. We did not get what we deserved, did we?

No, God shows us mercy and we as God's people, we reflect God's mercy to others. The second group of people who are carried away by the false teaching. Now these are the people who did not stand strong through the doubts. They're given into the doubt and decided to act on their doubts, giving themselves into the deception of the false teachers. They are in danger of judgment by fire. These are probably those who have started advocating the false teaching or supporting the false teachers or have left the Bible believing church to become a part of a group led by the false teachers. These could be unbelievers. They are slipping into the judgment by fire.

What are we to do with them? Jude says to condemn them, to give them up, give up on them, allow them to fall into the fire. Yeah, you deserve to go into the fire.

You go into the fire. No, Jude says show mercy to them. Save them.

How? By snatching them out of the fire. Now in this case, Jude is telling us to be more active, aggressively using every opportunity to point them back to scripture that is able to make them wise unto salvation.

Paul again would say, correcting your opponents with gentleness, God may grant them repentance. We show mercy to them. The third group of people, those who are contaminated. These are the ones who are living the lifestyle of false teachers, who pervert the grace of God into sensuality. They themselves are captivated by this teaching and have been corrupted and contaminated by sinful sexual practices.

What should we do with them? Jude says show mercy. When we minister to these people, we must hate their sins, but show mercy to them.

Look at what he says in verse 23, save others by snatching them out of the fire to others, show mercy. Look at what he says, with fear, hating even the garment stained by flesh. Now the reason why Jude would instruct believers to fearfully hate their sins is because it is possible in an attempt to show mercy, to downplay the seriousness of their sins. Or in an attempt to show grace and mercy and love and to restore relationships, it is possible for us to affirm them in their sins or worse, get entangled in their sins ourselves.

Jude says, no, don't do that. Show mercy. Oh, but hate with fear, hate even the garment soiled by sin. What is biblical mercy and grace? Biblical mercy and grace is not licensed to live the life the way you want. Romans 2 four, God's kindness is meant to lead you into repentance. That's biblical mercy. We don't condemn them.

We don't show our hatred to them. We show love to them the same way the Lord Jesus Christ, however filthy we were. Romans five eight, God demonstrates his love while we were still sinners, filthy in our sins, walking against God. I was an idolater before I was saved.

Walking behind the false gods of Hinduism. God showed me mercy and drew me close to himself. And he showed me grace and mercy and love and drew me back to him.

I did not stay where I was. Yes, God met me where I was, but he didn't leave me there. He drew me along with him into the kingdom of his beloved son. We show mercy. God does the healing. God does the changing.

God does what he does. Laura Perry. I don't know how many of you know that individual. She wrote a book by the name transgender to transformed.

That's the name of the book. Laura Perry was born a biological woman, having experienced broken relationship with her mother and sister and series of sinful relationships with several men and horrible pornography addiction, she decided to change her life drastically. She went through a complete gender reassignment surgery and became Jake.

Complete surgery. She was raised in a church, by the way, but believed in the deception of the devil and the false teachers and was carried away by it and was contaminated by her sinful lifestyle. Long story short, Laura gave her life to Christ and had a desire to follow after God.

But the deception was still very strong. So she writes in her book, I wanted to love God and follow Christ. I wanted to be a man of God. I truly believe that God was okay with me being Jake. I had convinced myself God had intended to make me a man.

The doubt following through the doubt still contaminated. But today she has been saved from the deception. So she writes, the Lord heal me so gently yet radically. Today I have been completely set free from those beliefs, those feelings and desires. Jesus has satisfied my soul in a way that identity or relationship never could. In the acknowledgement of her book, she writes to the ladies of the Bible study who continue to show her mercy and grace, continue to welcome her. She said, thank you for not giving up on this weary wandering soul.

Thank you for the reception I received upon coming home. This is what the gospel does. As we continue to remain in God's love, walking in obedience to the word of God and teaching the whole counsel of God. And as we reflect on God's mercy to those who are affected by false teaching, the sovereign Lord does the saving. He gives them repentance. He keeps them and us from falling away.

And look at what Jude says at the very end. Now to Him, the Lord Jesus Christ, God, the Father, the Holy Spirit, the triune God, who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy to the only God, our savior through Jesus Christ, our Lord be glory, majesty, dominion, authority before all time and now and forever. Amen. And we say hallelujah for that. Yes.

Yes. The sovereign Lord not only calls us unto salvation, He also grants us repentance. Those who believe in Jesus Christ, God saves.

The Father saves. The sovereign Lord will continue and complete the work that He started in the lives of believers. Philippians chapter one, verse six. Those who are truly saved will never be lost. This is the assurance of Christian salvation. Now this is what we call the perseverance of the saints.

Those who are truly saved will never be lost. That is why we are not scared to show mercy to others. Is the prevalence of false teachers and their influences concerning? Yeah, it is.

Of course it is. But see, our confidence is not in what we are able to do to stop the false teachers. It is in God's absolute sovereignty and the infinite power and authority over the false teachers, over those who are slipping away, over those who are influenced by the false teaching to save us and save them and to sustain us and sustain them and bring us to that day of glory with much joy. This is the awesome and exceedingly joyful salvation that Jude want to write in the beginning.

This is the salvation that we have. I see people who find their identity in their sexuality will never experience the joy mentioned in these verses. People who seek to be happy in their gay marriages or becoming a gender that God had not designed for them will only be left empty and wanting.

People who seek gratification through sinful sexual indulgences will never find what they truly need. This is the lie of the devil and the false teachers that will not deliver what was promised. But look at what the promises of the believers are through the Lord Jesus Christ. They will be made perfect, present you blameless before the presence of his glory.

They will not be made perfect before the presence of his glory. They will stand before the stupendous glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and his father in the presence of all the angels in such glory and majesty. And we will, as believers in Jesus Christ, experience a joy that can never be experienced apart from Christ and a life lived in obedience to his word. This is Christian salvation. Therefore, we remember God's warning.

We don't take it lightly, we take it seriously. We remain in God's love as we continue to walk in obedience to God's commandments, as we continue to pray and wait for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as we wait on the Lord's mercy, we reflect that mercy, God's mercy to others. Ah, but we rest in God's in God's sovereignty.

That is how we persevere through the influences of the false teachers. Let me ask you this, is there anyone here who has never received this awesome salvation? Now one commentator writes this, God's wondrous grace can exchange the excrement covered garments for festive garments of righteousness for no one, not even the most defiled sinner is beyond salvation through faith in Christ's redeeming work.

Come to Christ, surrender your life to Christ, receive his grace, experience this joy, commit your life into the strong hands of our Lord Jesus Christ. You cannot pry his hand open. If he's hold held on you, you cannot let you lose yourself.

Nobody else can. If God is with us, who can be against us? We are secure in the love of Christ.

We are secure in the hand of the triune God. And this is our salvation. Come to Christ if you've never done it. Receive the salvation, receive the assurance of salvation that is only available through the Lord Jesus Christ. And those who have accepted Christ as your Lord and savior, remember God's warning. You have to persevere. And for that, you have to remember God's warning, remain in God's love, reflect God's mercy and rest in God's sovereignty.

Amen. Let me pray. Father, thank you so much for this glorious passage, the assurance of salvation that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. So we ask you Lord that you would change our hearts, change our minds, help us to see this warning, which is so real that we will not take it lightly, that we will remain in God's love, that we will be in your word on a daily basis, building ourselves up in the most holy faith. And as we do that, help us to walk in obedience, remain in God's love and help us to wait for that mercy. And as we do that, Father, help us to reflect that mercy to others and let us not be fearful because our Lord Jesus Christ, his hands are so strong. So teach us, help us to rest in God's sovereignty and wait for that day, the glorious appearing of our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ, who will have our salvation in his hands, who will come to take his redeemed to be with himself. Thank you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.