Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz19970105.htm

THRU THE BIBLE SYNTHESIS
"Part LVIII: Jude - God's Call To Contend Earnestly For His Truths"

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

According to the Institute of Creation Research's Dec. '96 Acts and Facts, p. 5, creationist Dr. Duane Gish recently spoke at Bethel College, a Mennonite school. However, before his delivery, one of the school's deans read a disclaimer, "stating that the faculty did not share Dr. Gish's views on origins." A student who attends Bethel College "reported that no disclaimer had been voiced at talks by any other speaker, one of whom he said endorsed sexual promiscuity"!

(1) Well, are we at Nepaug Church being too "narrow" for holding to creationism and not theistic evolution as does Bethel College's faculty, a belief that God USED evolution in Genesis 1-2? After all, as I was recently asked, how would we explain our stand in view of the assertion that VIRUSES regularly "mutate"?!

(2) As for the "sexual promiscuity" issue Bethel College tolerated, aren't we being too narrow as well? After all, some claim homosexual orientation arises from genetic dispositions so that people can't HELP but be gay or lesbian: five researchers led by Dean Hamer at the National Cancer Institute released a July 1993 study attempting to link homosexuality in men with a specific genetic region of t heir X chromosome. Hamer reported, "This is by far the strongest evidence to date that there is a genetic component to sexual orientation." ("A Genetic Cause?" by Bob Davies, Moody Monthly, May 1994)



Are we being too picky on crossing all of our t's and dotting all of our i's in standing against theistic evolution and homosexuality as a Church, ESPECIALLY in light of Bethel College's recent actions?!



(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )



Need: "Some Christians seem to be overburdened about protecting themselves from theological apostasy where others wonder what's all the fuss! To tell the truth, I am confused: are we supposed to be on a sharp lookout for error or try to unite with all other churches?!"
  1. Throughout Biblical history, God's institutions have faced seductive infiltration of false, apostate beliefs and their promoters:
    1. Though God created the world without sin and error, Satan seduced Eve to sin and man fell into disobedience and death, Gen. 1-3.
    2. God renewed history through the Noahic flood, Gen. 6:1-9:7 but Noah's descendant, Nimrod, began an apostasy to counter God's truth and reign over man on earth, Gn. 10:8-10; 11:1-9; Rev. 12:1-3.
    3. God thus chose Abraham to start a nation to check his sin, Gn. 12:1-3.
    4. Yet, Old Testament history records not only that nation, Israel's failure to curb Nimrod's error, but her tendency to be corrupted by it in spite of God's discipline to the contrary, Gen. 12:4-Malachi.
    5. God sent Jesus, Israel's long-awaited Messiah, but Israel rejected Him and God postponed the Kingdom's installation by graciously carrying on its recruitment program through the Church (Gospels and Acts).
    6. However, as predicted in Matthew 13's parables, even the CHURCH faced Satanic infiltrators who promoted Nimrod's errors, Jude 3-4.
  2. God raised up Jude to WARN Christians to contend earnestly for orthodox doctrines amidst apostasy during the CHURCH era:
    1. Jude began with a call for Christians to STAND for God's truth, 3a,b.
    2. Jude then informed believers on what it takes to make this stand:
      1. Step One - Believers need not fear losing their salvation in this conflict, for true Christians are eternally secure in Christ, Jude v. 1.
      2. Step Two - Yet, since apostates creep into healthy groups, true Christians must earnestly contend for true doctrines, Jude 3-4.
      3. Step Three - Jude offers the following criteria to discern apostasy:
        1. Yardstick One - God's truth was once-for-all (Greek = hapax) given in Scripture; thus, beliefs that shift from original Bible assertions must be strongly countered by the godly, Jude 3b!
        2. Yardstick Two - Apostates are ungodly, Jude 4b: (a) they rely on imagination rather than written Scripture for truth, 8a; 2 Tim. 3:14-17; (b) they promise but cannot deliver teachings that feed the spirit, 12c; (c) they flow with popular but false ideologies, v. 12d,13b; (d) they cannot produce righteous lives themselves or in their hearers, Jude 12e, and (e) they are showy but fruitless over the long-term, v. 13a. Beware of parties with such bents.
        3. Yardstick Three - Apostates pervert grace into license, Jude 4: (a) they reject divine and Biblical human authorities, Jude 8b, 9, 11c, 12a; (b) they are abusive, 10a; (c) they indulge in natural instincts, 10b; (d) they are greedy, Jude 11b, 12b; (e) they are habitual faultfinders, v. 16a and (f) they manipulate people by flattery and boasting, v. 16b. Beware of parties with such bents.
        4. Yardstick Four - Apostates deny Christ, 4d: (a) they deny His authority & Lordship, "the only despot (despotayn) (authority) and our Lord," Jude 4d; (b) they deny His incarnation as Jesus who saves from sin, cf. Mtt. 1:21; (c) they deny Him as Christ, the fulfiller of Messianic prophecies (as they deny Scripture's inerrancy or even Christ's historical existence), cf. S. Maxwell Coder, Jude, p. 24. Beware of parties promoting such error.
      4. Step Four - True Christians must counter such apostasy as follows:
        1. Inreach - Take care of our personal spiritual needs, Jude 17-19, 20-21. We do so by (a) using Scripture to discern errors around us, v. 17-19 and (b) applying the Scripture on fellowship with God via learning Bible facts, praying, confessing our sins, depending on the Spirit and anticipating the rapture, Jude 20-21.
        2. Outreach- Minister to others facing apostasy, v. 22-23: do so by (a) gently informing weak believers, v. 22, (b) fervently evangelizing "duped" unbelievers, v. 23a and (c) cautiously instructing Christians "accepting" errant beliefs, watching out for ourselves lest we get sucked into their error in the process, 23b.
        3. Uplook - Remain confident that Christ will give eventual victory to all true believers over apostasy, Jude 24-25!
  3. Jude adds to the "thread of redemption" the promise that in Christ, every believer has the resources to resist the strongest dose of Nimrodian apostacy the world and Satan can deliver, vs. 24-25!
Application: To be sure to get the truth in ANY church, (a) believe on Christ as PERSONAL Savior from sin to receive salvation and INNER truth-protection of God's Spirit, Jn. 3:16; Jude. (b) Then, watch our OWN lives by heeding Scripture INSTEA D OF looking to ANY OTHER source for our FINAL bearings! (c) Having DONE so, minister to others in need with CAUTION for OURSELVES!

Lesson: ALL churches ALWAYS face the threat of invading apostasy: as such, we must ALWAYS heed Jude's warning to contend for the faith!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

 Re: our introduction questions on our church possibly being too "narrow" in countering theistic evolution or homosexuality, consider:

(1) When Moses wrote Genesis, pagan cosmogenies taught that (a) a sea monster restrained inherent creative forces, so a (b) hero god slew the monster, releasing these forces & (c) battled to dominate them, Waltke, Creation & Chaos, p. 6 from Wakeman's Ph.D. diss., Brandeis Univ., Feb. '69. MOSES' account is then a polemic against these pagan views: before creating, God's Spirit sovereignly hovered over a sterile deep as there was no other inherently creative force around, Gn. 1:2! Only God as GOD was around to start life, Bib. Know. Com., O.T., p. 27-28. Thus, saying evolution is a life-inducing force besides God from Moses' viewpoint not only directly counters Gen. 1:2, but makes God not the sovereign Creator, for evolution then becomes an independent and competitive god as a creative force, an apostate idea! (cf. Ibid., Bib. Know. Com., O.T.)

(2) Re: viruses "mutating," P. Grasse, The Evol. of Living Organisms, 87, 88, a non-creationist, writes: "No matter how numerous they may be, mutations do not produce any kind of evolution." (quoted in Bird's, The Origin of Species Rev., v. I, p. 86) Also, in a 1981 speech to the field staff at the Museum of Nat. Hist. in Chicago, "Dr. Colin Patterson (Sr. Paleontologist, British Museum of Natural History) asked: 'Can you tell me anything you know about evolution? Any one thing? Any one thing that is true?' The answer he got was silence." (Ibid., Acts & Facts, p. iv)

(3) Re: genetics and homosexuality, conclusions that homo- sexuality is genetic is opposed by scientists (Ibid., Moody M.): "Many psychoanalysts are treating homosexuality successfuly by 'changing sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual,' says Charles Socarides, pres. of the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality. 'Such a change would be unthinkable if there were any . . . biological or hereditar y causation of homosexuality.'"

Thus, to heed Jude 3-4 and defend God's creative deity, we oppose evolution and theistic evolution; to heed Jude 3-4 and 7 and defend God's grace from license, we call homosexuality sin and seek to deliver people FROM it by God's grace!