Cecil A. Fayard
Elliott Baptist Church
January 18, 2004
What We Face and How To Face It
Jude 16-21
INTRO: There are difficulties that we all must face. We face difficulties individually, and we face difficulties in church capacity. How we face the storms of life will determine whether we become shipwrecked or not.
Jude tells us that we will face:
1. "Murmurers and complainers" (vs 16),
2. "Mockers" (vs 17-18),
3. Those who desire to divide and destroy the church (vs 19).
Jude also tells us how to face the enemy:
1. Build yourself up in the faith (vs 20a),
2. Pray in the Spirit (vs 20b),
3. Keep yourself in God's love (vs 21a),
4. Expect the soon return of Christ (vs 21b).
I. VSS 16-19, WHAT WE FACE
A. Vs 16, We face the five characteristics of the apostates:
1. "Murmurers"-- muttering against God in an undertone.
a) The word "murmur" means a dissatisfaction with the words or deeds of someone - in this case God.
b) These folks grumbled against God.
2. "Complainers"
a) These bemoan the place God has given them in live, complaining against God's guiding hand.
b) They direct their criticism against God. They blame God for all that has happened.
c) We have many faultfinders today:
(1) They find fault with the ten commandments.
(2) They find fault with prayer in school.
(3) They find fault with the Bible.
(4) They find fault with creation.
3. "Walking after their own lusts."
a) These are enslaved to their lusts, enslaved to their evil desires.
b) Daily they pursue evil and commit ungodly acts.
4. "Their mouths speaketh great swelling words." They boast about themselves.
a) Arrogant speech with no content.
b) II Peter 2:10; Jude 15a.
5. "Men's persons in admiration."
a) They show partiality for the sake of material gain.
b) Leviticus 19:15.
B. Vss 17-18, We face the mockers.
1. Vs 17, To face the mockers (vs 18), Jude reminds us to remember the "words which were spoken before of the apostles and of our Lord Jesus Christ."
a) Jude calls the believers, "beloved." This is an expression of tenderness; they are loved by God and by pastor Jude.
b) Remember the words of God and who gave them to you.
(1) Satan likes to question God's word (Gen 3:1, "yea, hath God said"), and He wants to distort and destroy it.
(2) The Apostles had God's commission, His authority; and He used them to write much of the New Testament.
(a) They had witnessed the resurrection of Christ (Acts 1:21-22).
(b) The Apostles were uniquely qualified for they had walked and talked with Jesus Christ.
(3) Many counterfeit messages are out there. We need to stay with the words spoken by the apostles and Christ. We must "earnestly contend for the faith....." (Vs 3). Stay away from new revelations (Isaiah 8:20).
2. Vs 18, We face those who mock the doctrine of the second coming of Christ (II Pet 3:3-6).
a) In the last days, come will depart from the faith not believing in the second coming (I Tim 4:1-3; II Tim 3:1-5).
b) They "walk after their own ungodly lusts."
(1) Believers desire the will of God; they want to please God.
(2) The ungodly want to please self; they live for the flesh and are discontent and complain (vs 16).
3. Vs 19, We face those who are lost, "having not the Spirit." The scripture plainly teaches that if we have not the Spirit we are lost (Rom 8:9).
a) They cause divisions in the church, "separate themselves" (Acts 20:30). Often they say we are smarter than the church leadership; we have more Bible knowledge; we are better than others; come with us.
b) They are "sensual." This is the opposite of spiritual.
(1) The Greek word for sensual is psukikos meaning the "natural, soulish man." We get our word psychology from psukikos.
(2) The false teachers operate on natural, soulish power. The saved, the spiritual operate on God's power.
(3) The natural man can't help but care about worldly things, and the saved can't help but care about spiritual things (Rom 8:5).
(4) The natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God (I Cor 2:14). (The Greek word for "natural" in this verse is psukikos).
c) "A 'soulish' ministry magnifies man, but the Spirit glorifies Jesus Christ. When the Spirit is ministering through the Word, there is edification; but when the soul is merely 'manufacturing' a ministry, there is entertainment or, at best, only intellectual edification" (Wiersbe 159).
II. VSS 20-21, HOW TO FACE THE ENEMY
A. Vs 20, To face our enemy, we must be strong; we must be built up in the faith; and we must pray in the Holy Ghost.
1. Build yourself up on your most holy faith (vs 3). You cannot build yourself up without the study of the Word of God.
a) Acts 20:32, "And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and the Word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and give you an inheritance...."
b) Note that this is a holy faith. II Peter 1:5-7 shows us the type of growing we need to do if we are going to be like Jesus.
c) To be strong in faith, we must be obedient to God's word (I John 2:5).
d) Build yourself up by studying the Word of God (II Tim 2:15).
2. Pray in the Holy Ghost. This means to be led of the Spirit in our prayers. You cannot be built up in the faith without the Bible and prayer.
a) The unsaved (vs 19b) cannot pray in the Spirit.
b) To pray in the Spirit "means to be so committed to God that the Holy Spirit saturates our being, and we pray in the name of Jesus.... that means for Jesus' sake, for Jesus' cause, for Jesus' kingdom, because Jesus loved us and died for us" (Allison 62).
c) To pray in the Spirit, also means that there will be times when we are not able to say what is in our heart. It is then that the Spirit prays for us (Rom 8:26). The Spirit interprets our heart and prays for us.
B. Vs 21, We face our enemy by loving God and looking for Jesus.
1. We are to love God supremely, with every fiber of our being (Matt 22:37-40).
a) "God comes to man and surrounds him with divine love; in response man comes to God with human love" (Kistemaker 406).
b) We abide in God's love when we keep His commandments (John 15:10). We are to delight in those things that please God.
c) To love God, we must hate evil (Psalm 97:10, "ye that love the Lord, hate evil.").
2. We face the enemy by looking for the soon coming Savior.
a) "Looking" is the Greek word prosdechomai meaning to "earnestly expect, to look for, to wait for, and expectant longing."
b) When we are looking for Jesus, our lives will be purified (I Jn 3:3).
c) As we face the enemy and the storms of life, we are anchored in Jesus, our hope (Heb 6:19-20).
CONCLUSION: It is true that we have an enemy to face, but it is also true that we can face the enemy with the Bible, prayer, love of God and the hope of the second coming.
For additional copies of the sermon CD's, please contact the church office:
Elliott Baptist Church
566 Nat G. Troutt Road
Elliott, Mississippi 38901
Phone: 662-226-4425
Pastors Email: cecilafayard@msn.com