Jude 17-25 The Christian Response to False Teachers

Well, church, good morning.

Turn with me, if you will, to the letter of Jude.

The letter of Jude, which is right before Revelation at the end of your Bibles.

It's a short, small letter.

And today we will be looking at verses 17 through 25, which is all about the Christian response to false teachers.

So before we dive into this passage, allow me for just a moment to summarize the letter of Jude.

So if you guys remember, the letter of Jude was written by the half-brother of Jesus.

His original intent was to write about their common salvation.

But the Holy Spirit directed him otherwise.

He was compelled to write about false teachers because they had snuck into the church.

They were poisoning the minds of many believers.

And as verse 4 tells us, they were perverting the grace of Jesus Christ.

So Jude starts this letter by introducing himself in verse 1.

He speaks a blessing over these Christians in verse 2.

Then he points to the Old Testament to describe these false teachers in verses 3 through 10.

Then he pronounces a curse over them in verse 11.

And then he points to creation to describe these deceivers in verses 12 through 16.

And so the book of Jude is shouting, here is what a false teacher looks like.

And we now have some insight into what they do and how they act.

We now have measurements, red flags to look for that help us identify false teachers.

So now that we know that false teachers are dangerous, they're everywhere, and we're vulnerable, one question remains.

What are we to do as Christians?

What is our response to false teachers?

Do we, like the crusaders, kill those who promote false teaching?

Do we, like Saint Nick, walk up to them and slap them across the face?

Do we repeat what Christians did in the Middle Ages and legislate our faith so that when heretics arise, we can take them to the state for execution?

Or do we do nothing?

Just look the other way, ignore them, mind your own business.

As Christians, what do we do living in a world that is promoting anti-Christian worldviews, governments that are legalizing sin, and false teachers that are deceiving so many souls?

Well, in our passage today, Jude answers that question for us.

And it's beautiful.

He gives us four essential responses.

One, remember prophecy.

Remember prophecy.

Two, build your faith.

Three, participate in the ministry of mercy.

And four, we are to ascribe all glory to God.

So after examining false teachers, Jude now points us the church and says in verses seventeen through nineteen, it reads, 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 ungodly desires.

It is these who cause divisions, worldly people devoid of the spirit.

So what is the first thing we do when false teachers come into our church and wreak havoc?

What do we do when we see entire churches splitting and fighting because of a false teacher?

What do we do when our best friend deviates from the faith because of garbage that he's been listening to on YouTube?

The first thing we need to do is remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles.

God has specifically, clearly told us in his word that in the last days there will be trouble.

In 2 Timothy chapter 3, Paul says, in the latter days, terrible times will come.

2 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

In 1 Timothy chapter 4, Paul says that the Holy Spirit tells us plainly that in the last days people will turn away from the faith and they will embrace doctrines that are crafted by demons.

1 Timothy 4 · chapter mention

Now, why is it important to remember prophecy?

Why would Jude start here?

Because if we forget what God has revealed to us in his sovereign plan, we will become overly discouraged or frustrated.

We will lose our marbles and feel confused, or worse, we will start questioning the goodness of God.

Remembering prophecy gives us comfort because it validates what God has already predicted.

Imagine for a moment if I just told you to go to the top of Mount Everest.

All the information I gave you, that's it.

Go to the top of Mount Everest.

I didn't tell you about the altitude sickness that you will experience when you get so high up the mountain.

I don't mention how you will fall a few times during the steep parts of the mountain.

No mention of potential avalanches.

It would be so disheartening not knowing the obstacles and the hardships ahead of time.

You would give up and you'd come back to me saying, Why didn't you tell me about all these potential dangers and threats?

Why didn't you tell me about all the troubles of this journey?

Church, God has sufficiently told us about the highs and the lows of the Christian journey.

He warned us about natural disasters, about wars, about false prophets, and how many Christian impostors will fall away from the faith.

He's laid out history, and he's done this through prophecy.

A lot of Christians shy away from prophecy because it can be intimidating or it's controversial.

So they ignore it.

It's too complicated, there's too many views on it, which is tragic because nearly 30% of the Bible is prophecy.

And God gave us prophecy, not to be mysteriously cryptic, but to give his people a general idea of what is to come.

It's meant to be comforting, insightful, and practical.

So that when the government fails, and it will, when false teachers attack and they will, and when the world falls apart, and it does and it will, we don't collapse in the fetal position crying out, God, are you even real?

What's going on?

Why are you allowing this?

Instead, we're so familiar with the predictions of the apostles.

When someone scoffs at our faith, we say, Oh, God said that this would happen.

When someone in the church begins to stir division and spread falsehoods, we can say, Oh, God foretold us that fakers would come, people devoid of the spirit, and that they would stir up division.

We have a cool head.

We have stability because we're familiar with God's foreknowledge and prophecy.

I can't help but to think of the two men on the road of Emmaus.

They apparently were not well versed with prophecy, and so they were disheartened, they were defeated because this Jesus of Nazareth was not what they thought.

They thought he was gonna lower the cost on groceries, they thought he was gonna overthrow the Romans, and so they were disheartened.

But Jesus shows up on the scene, and what does he do?

He points to prophecy and he says, You guys are foolish.

And he calls their attention to what God had already predicted that the Messiah had to die for his people.

That this so-called tragedy was actually the sovereign will of a very good God.

Of course, we don't know every detail in prophecy.

Prophecy's limited for a reason.

We don't know every single world event that will occur, but the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, it lays out for us the big picture of human history.

We have the story from beginning to end.

And this shouldn't make us fatalistic, saying, well, you know, the world's going to hell in a handbasket, so what's the point?

Let's allow evil to flourish so that we can usher in God's kingdom quicker.

Not at all.

This should make us say, God, thank you for telling us ahead of time that hearts will grow cold, that deceivers will come, that wickedness will increase.

This brings me comfort and protects me from panicking.

This protects me from inserting my own ideas on how I think the world should unfold.

Prophecy is meant to be encouraging, not discouraging.

I believe it was Martin Lloyd Jones who famously said, faith refuses to panic.

And I believe he said this to his church while their city was getting bombed in World War II.

People were losing their minds.

They were on the verge of mental breakdowns.

His congregation, many of them, were questioning the existence of God.

And he pointed to Scripture, saying, Friends, did Jesus not tell us that in this world you will have many tribulations?

Has God not made it clear that if you live a godly life, you will get persecuted?

God did, did He not tell us that we that we must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of heaven?

As Christians, it's okay to be upset, but it's not okay to become totally undone.

As Christians, it's okay to wonder what God might be doing, but it's not okay to panic and unbelief.

Church, until Christ returns, the world will continue to kill Christians, governments will continue to legalize sin.

False teachers will continue to flourish and gain followers.

Some of our so-called Christian friends will forsake the faith.

And we grieve and we cry and we hurt.

But the foundation of our faith should not be shaken.

Why?

Because God told us these things would happen.

And we trust in his word, not our human ideas, on how we think the world should unfold.

Church, our first response to false teachers is to keep a cool head by remembering what God has prophesied about them.

False teachers are designated for condemnation.

If we look back at verse 4, God is in total control of their influence, and all of history is working towards the fullness of God's glory.

This will give us comfort in the master plan of God.

It will keep our hearts centered on what God has said when the world around us just doesn't seem to make sense.

The second response that Jude commands is to build ourselves up in the most holy faith.

So let us move on to verses 20 through 21.

Look at what he says.

He says, But you, beloved, building yourselves 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.

So how do we protect ourselves from false teachers?

We do it by building ourselves up in the most holy faith.

And if you're wondering what this looks like, Jude defines it here for us.

It is praying in the Holy Spirit, it is keeping yourself in the love of God, and it is waiting for the mercy of Jesus Christ.

So building ourselves up, it implies a daily determination.

There's an active cooperation on our part of interacting with and seeking God.

Yes, God does his part in building us up.

Yes, the church does her part in building us up, but we need to do some building.

We need to exert some grace-filled effort.

We build so many things.

We build projects, we build houses.

Some of you build entire worlds on Minecraft.

But our highest priority, the thing that we should be building the most, is our faith.

And Jude calls it the most holy faith, to imply that it is the most precious thing that we have in this life.

Believe it or not, the most sacred thing that you possess is not your family and it's not your children.

It is your faith.

Therefore, we must not only protect it from false teaching and new doctrinal additives, but we need to actually tend to it.

We need to build it up.

We need to mature the faith that we have in Jesus Christ.

We need to, as Peter puts it in his epistle, make every effort to add to our faith.

And this involves, look at the verse, praying in the Holy Spirit.

And no, this does not refer to tongues.

There's new no hermeneutical basis for that in the text.

Praying in the Spirit simply means praying spiritually.

We are not praying for whatever we want, we are praying the will of God that has been revealed to us through the Word of God.

That is spirit-filled prayer.

We're not praying in the flesh, saying, God, give me a cyber truck, God, make my life easy, God, change the weather for me.

No.

We are being led by the Holy Spirit, who is always in the business of praying God's word and will.

Spirit-filled prayer is worship.

It's God focused, it intercedes for the saints.

It's concerned about killing sin, promoting holiness, advancing God's kingdom on earth.

We don't pray for what we want in the flesh, but being spirit-led, we pray, thy kingdom come, thy will be done.

So spirit-led prayer will build your faith.

Because if you think about it, the very act of faith, or of prayer, I'm sorry, is exercising your faith.

If you are in a spiritually dry season, if you feel like you're a little bit stagnant in your faith, friends, this is where it starts.

If you have any desire to build your faith, this is where it starts.

It's heartfelt, spirit-filled, word-centered prayer.

You have no chance of growing in your faith unless you're exercising it by simply talking to God.

Next, Jude tells us to keep ourselves in the love of God.

Now, this is vital because, as we saw in previous sermons, this is an area where false teachers typically attack.

They either say, you need to earn God's love, which is legalism, which leads us to always striving but never measuring up as we wallow in guilt and shame.

Or they say, abuse God's love.

God loves you.

Live however you want.

Use God's love like a credit card, only to leave us once again addicted to sin and mastered by our desires.

And so do not be deceived.

We need to keep ourselves in the true love of God, how the Bible defines it.

Now there are many practical ways that we can keep ourselves in God's love.

We do it simply by reading his immeasurable love in Scripture.

The Bible is filled with God's love.

We do it by receiving his love in prayer.

I have never once come out of my prayer closet not feeling drenched in God's love.

We do it by reminding ourselves of our testimony, how you deserved death, you deserved God's judgment, you were filthy and on your way to hell, but God, who is rich in mercy, he quickened you to Christ while you were his enemy, and he gave you a new life, eternal life, and here you stand.

Talk about love, and we experience it within the body of Christ through the fellowship with other believers who are made in the likeness of God.

We are doing all that we can daily to stay in that sweet place where we are totally convinced that the creator of the universe really, really, really loves me.

Not theoretically, not just legally, but in reality, that he chose me before the foundation of the world, even knowing that I would mess up and make so many stupid mistakes, and radically save me, and cleanse me with the precious blood of Jesus Christ and adopt me into his family and give me eternal hope.

Despite my past failures, even my present shortcomings, my Father in heaven, he loves me.

And none of my stupid mistakes have changed his mind.

We need to believe that he loves me.

Jesus died for me, his promises are applied to me.

He's holding me right in the palm of his hand.

He's eager to spend time with me.

He sees me as blameless, pure, holy because of the finished work of Christ.

And when we can believe this reality with our whole heart, are we not so satisfied and fulfilled?

Is our faith not explosive when we can keep ourselves in God's love?

When we are overwhelmed by the Father's love?

Is not false teaching so repulsive?

Church, could it be that is why we're so susceptible to false teaching?

Because we're looking for a more tangible way to earn God's love rather than simply receiving it by grace through faith?

Could it be that when I doubt God's love towards me, that is the reason for my Sinful troubles?

Could it be that when I doubt God's love for me, that's why I seek out idols?

To try to find love elsewhere?

Church, keep yourselves in the love of God.

Cling to the cross of Christ daily.

In Scripture, read over and over again about the abundant glories and the endless mercies that has been lavished upon you by God.

Look back at your life.

Look at all that God's unending acts of love in your life.

And when you doubt God's love, and we do at times, grab your closest Christian friend and beg them to remind you that God really loves you.

That there is therefore no more condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Do all that you can in the power of the Holy Spirit to keep yourself in that place where you can confidently say, I am a child of God, the one who created me loves me, and nothing, no force, no power, no circumstance, no angelic being, not even myself, can separate me from his steadfast love.

Next, Jude tells us to wait on the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.

So this is often a neglected posture in the Christian life.

Remembering prophecies one, building up our faith, those things seem reasonable.

But how many of us are actively, daily, looking to God each day, saying, Come, Lord Jesus, come.

I am ready for the full mercy that you have for me.

So God has shown us mercy in the past when he saved us.

God is currently showing us mercy in the present as he continues to walk with us and sanctify us.

But there is a day coming soon where we will receive a full and complete mercy.

Jesus will impart to us a total and final mercy in which we will be with him forever in a sinless, perfect, joyful, eternal bliss.

And we shall see him face to face.

We will have unbroken fellowship with the God of our salvation.

So there's no better way to build your faith when you're constantly thinking about the final mercy that Jesus Christ will soon bestow on you.

You've heard it said, you know, don't be so heavenly minded so that you're no earthly good.

That is such a lie.

When you are anticipating future glory, it brings faithfulness and urgency to the present.

I don't know about you, but when I'm thinking about the brevity of my life and the eternal glories that await me, I spend a lot less time watching Netflix or playing Fortnite.

And when I'm thinking about the return of Christ and his glory that's going to be revealed, I spend more time helping hurt Christians.

I spend more time making disciples.

I spend more time thinking about evangelistic opportunities.

When I think about seeing Jesus soon, I'm much more concerned about eternal matters.

I'm much more concerned about members meetings and prayer meetings and fellowshipping with the saints than I am about watching football.

Philippians 3.20, Rick preached on this a few weeks back.

It says, for our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly await for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

You know, throughout the New Testament we see this theme, it's a command, even, to be eagerly awaiting the return of Christ.

Excited about his appearance.

We wake up each day with eagerness, saying, Lord, will I finally get to see you face to face today?

Is today the day where I will be with you forever?

I mean, talk about a faith-building exercise.

But if you're consumed with the things of this world, if all your hope is in your kids' sports or next year's vacation, or the new house I'm gonna build in five years, then Christ's return is more of a hindrance.

It's more of a threat, something we really don't want to happen, because it will interfere with the life I'm trying to build here on earth.

Or if there's things that I need to delete on my internet history, if there's sin I'm holding on to, idols in my closet, well, I really don't want Christ to return right now, do I?

Church, this is why we're called to eagerly await the full mercy of Jesus Christ, because it is faith-building.

It keeps our perspective focused on eternal matters.

Next, Jude points to our next response to false teachers, to false teaching and teachers.

It is participating in the ministry of mercy.

Look at what he says in verses 22 through 23.

He says, And have mercy on those who doubt.

To others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.

So remember here that the context of this letter is false teaching.

There are a lot of gullible, immature, new Christians who are theologically confused right now because of these deceivers.

And what should our response be to believers who are now doubting because of false teachers?

The answer is mercy.

In the same way that we have received mercy and we're awaiting the fullness of it, we should then be showing mercy on those who doubt.

Now, why does Jude remind us of this?

Because our tendency is to get frustrated and angry.

So often, I'm gonna be honest, I hope I don't get in trouble for this, but so often I just want to throw the Bible at people and just tell them, read it and weep.

Here's the truth, get on board, believe it or not, but I'm tired of hearing you question it and doubt it, going back and forth and back and forth.

So our tendency is to be harsh and impatient, nasty towards people who doubt.

Which is why Jude reminds us, hey now, show that person mercy.

How long did it take you, Jimmy, to grab a hold of certain doctrines?

How long did it take you, Jimmy, to come around on certain biblical principles?

God's been merciful to you, so you be merciful to them.

And Jude lays out for us three different ways to show mercy.

Okay, there's tender mercy on doubters, there's urgent mercy on those who are playing with fire, and there's fearful mercy on those who are drenched with defilement.

So tender mercy on doubters is simply coming alongside someone who is theologically confused.

They're questioning God's sovereignty, they're doubting God's love.

Perhaps, you know, they're doubting whether they're saved or not.

They experienced hardship, so they're questioning God's goodness, and what these people need is just an arm around them.

Someone who can show up, shut up, and gently look for opportunities to point them to the truth.

They just need a lot of mercy in their doubts.

Slow persuasion, slow love as they wrestle with God.

But then there are those who are playing with fire.

For example, someone who comes to me saying, Hey, I'm thinking about joining the Mormons.

Or someone who is about to leave their whole family for an adulterous relationship.

Those people, says Jude, need to be snatched from the fire.

There's a more urgent and severe exercise of mercy because they're like a toad that's about to jump into the campfire.

We show mercy, but in this case, it's much more urgent, it's much more immediate because this kind of mercy is the kind of mercy that scoops a child up before they run onto a highway.

And then there is mercy mixed with fear.

Those who are coming out of some really, really dark, nasty stuff, witchcraft, violence, drug usage, strange sexual stuff.

Now let me be clear: all sin is lawlessness, all sin is bad, all sin is equally guilty, and we all need a savior just as much as the person next to us.

But there are some people who are coming out of certain lifestyles and behaviors that have really, really defiled them in darkness.

And these people, says Jude, need shown mercy with fear.

In other words, we embrace them, we love them, we treat them like we would anyone else, but we hate that which defiled them.

When men come into the Lazarus house, during our intake process, they all come in, all their bags are placed in the office, and it's a time to hear their story and for us to show them mercy.

Many of these men have terrible, terrible stories.

Things that they have done, things that's been done to them, how deep they were in darkness, and we show them mercy.

We love them, we extend grace to them.

But at the same time, we tremble for them.

We tremble at what will happen if they go back.

We tremble at the depth of darkness they're coming out of.

And so what we do is we search their stuff when they come in.

We pull out every inappropriate shirt, every vape, every lighter, any object that even closely resembles their previous lifestyle, and we dispose of it.

We hate it, not the item itself, but what it represents.

So we are to show mercy.

And in different ways, we are to have discernment in how we show mercy.

And we do this because Christ has shown mercy to us.

You know, early on in my Christian walk, I believed some pretty crazy theological stuff.

And throughout my Christian walk, I've made some very serious moral mistakes.

But I stand here today because there were Christians in my life who didn't write me off, they didn't cut me off, but they patiently and sometimes urgently showed me mercy.

Friends will let you down, church members will make mistakes, people will believe and do stupid and foolish things.

Welcome to the human experience.

And yes, there's a time for church discipline, and yes, there are rare times of church excommunication, but our primary response, our most natural response is to show people mercy.

Christ showed you mercy when you didn't deserve it.

Now, the last thing Jude chose us to do is to ascribe glory to God.

And he models this for us in this amazing doxology.

Listen to how he ends this letter in verses 24 through 25.

He says, Now to him, 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, and authority before all time and now and forever.

Amen.

What a powerful way to end this letter.

To remind us that God, the maker of heaven and earth, is able to keep us from stumbling.

Okay, stumbling here does not refer to making mistakes.

Okay, we all fall short every day in some fashion.

This is referring to a fatal fall, a stumbling away from the faith entirely.

And so if God has chosen you, if God has written your name in the Lamb's book of life, if your election and calling are sure, there will be no fatal fall.

He who justified you, Romans 8, he will also sanctify and glorify you.

It's a promise, a present tense promise.

He who began a good work in you will complete it.

Because salvation is not dependent upon your hold on God, but rather his hold on you.

You can imagine how encouraging this is to believers who are surrounded by false teachers.

He is able to keep us from stumbling.

You may fall back into your old sinful tendencies for a season.

You may be confused right now because of false teaching.

You may be doubting the goodness of God.

You may be in a very hard season in your life, and you may feel defeated.

But if you are a true child of God, you will not stumble away from the faith.

Why?

Because God has a grip on you.

No one can snatch you from his hand.

And you may stub your toe, but you will not stumble away from the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

You know, it's not your job, it's not our job to keep our salvation.

It's our job to work it out.

It's our job to cooperate and participate, as Philippians 2 says, but nowhere in the New Testament does God say, hey, I want you to keep your salvation.

That is God's job.

He created it, he applied it, he sustains it, and his son Jesus Christ accomplished it, and he now mediates on your behalf, and he doesn't fail in his office of advocacy.

He lives forevermore to intercede on our behalf until we arrive with him in the fullness of glory.

And look at the verse, he is able to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy.

So God, despite all your sinning, despite all your crazy thoughts and your feelings, is able to totally sanctify you.

Legally through the atoning sacrifice of Christ and practically through the Holy Spirit who now works in you.

You have been washed by the blood.

You are clothed in Christ's righteousness.

And when he takes you and presents you before his throne in the fullness of his permeating glory, in which the angels around him are crying out, holy, holy, holy, he will look at you and he will say, blameless, without error, no fault found in you.

You are perfect.

Church, do you believe this?

And you might object and say, Jimmy, that's too much.

You don't know who I am.

You don't know what I've done.

You don't know some of the sick thoughts in my head.

You don't know some of the shameful things I've done behind closed doors.

I am a great, great sinner, in which I would agree with you and say, yes, that's the point.

And we have a great, great savior.

The sin in you is no match for the mercy in Christ.

So God is not going to present you before his throne and say, geez, you gave me such a hard time.

You were such a tough case.

I'm a bit disappointed in you.

Not at all.

Look at the next part of the verse.

He will present you before him with great joy.

His attitude will be joy.

Not regret, not bitterness, joy.

And Jude finally reminds us of the nature of God, that he is our only God.

Not many gods, but the one true God.

And through the Savior Jesus Christ, he is ascribed all glory, majesty, dominion, and authority.

Because of who he is and what he has done through his son, all worship, all fame, all authority are his.

And this applies both now and forever.

In which he ends with Amen.

So proclamation church, as a way of summary and application, we are to remember prophecy.

We are to build ourselves up in the most holy faith.

We are to participate in the ministry of mercy, and we are to ascribe all glory to God.

And so my challenge to you this morning is this are you doing this?

When is the last time you took a deep dive into the apostles' predictions?

When is the last time you read through prophecy?

Look, I'm not saying you need to be an expert in prophecy and have it all figured out, but it is in God's word.

And it's there for a reason.

And it's there to comfort us and to reveal to us human history as we know it.

And if we remain prophetically ignorant, well, you will remain spiritually and emotionally unstable as you look around the world and watch the news.

And secondly, are you building yourselves up in the most holy faith?

What is your prayer like life?

How often do you pray?

Are you even praying?

And are your prayers spiritual or are they selfish?

Are you basking yourself in God's love every day, preaching the gospel to yourself until you're overwhelmingly convinced that God really loves you?

Are you eagerly awaiting the full mercy of Jesus Christ?

Periodically throughout your day, you just look up to the clouds and say, Come.

Lord Jesus, come.

Are you participating in the ministry of mercy?

Are you extending mercy to those in our church who are hurting?

Those who are theologically confused?

Are you snatching those in your midst who are on the verge of committing serious sin or embracing fatal doctrines?

Are you just sitting back in judgment, criticizing everyone, gossiping, disengaged from intimate church life and commitment?

On some level, we should all be participating in the ministry of mercy.

Who are you comforting?

Who are you forgiving?

Who are you loving on right now?

Who are you reaching out to?

If I were to ask you the question, who in the last month have you been showing mercy to?

Could you even give me a name?

And if you say, Well, I don't know anyone who is doubting, I don't know anyone who's struggling, let me show you something.

If you feel comfortable, raise your hand if in the last month you've struggled with sin or you doubted something about God or his word, raise your hand.

Okay.

The ministry of mercy is endless, and we need to be involved in it on some level.

And lastly, are you ascribing glory and fame and honor to God?

Do you magnify Yahweh because of his total and complete authority, his dominion and majesty in whatever you do, in all that you do, is it subjected under the reality that all fame, honor, and glory belongs to the Lord?

And do you remind yourself of that often?

When a Christian is rejoicing in God's word, eagerly awaiting the return of Christ, in all about the new heaven and the new earth, reminding themselves constantly about what God has said in the latter days, and they're praying all the time, and they're basking themselves in the endless love of God as they extend grace to hurt or struggling church members, and they're ascribing all glory to God.

Tell me, what can a false teacher do?

A false teacher can't falsely prophesy about the future because the Christian is already so familiar with what God has already said.

They can't trick them into thinking they need to earn or abuse God's love because the Christian is experiencing God's love every day.

They can't trick them into thinking that they need to speak to God in some new way because the Christian is already talking to God in a robust prayer life.

The false teacher can't get the person focused on the things of this world because the Christian is eagerly awaiting the return of Christ.

And the false teacher can't refuse them to their ministry of division because the Christian is already too involved, too busy with the ministry of mercy.

They can't convince the Christian to focus on themselves or take credit because the Christian is too obsessed with ascribing all the glory to the God most high.

So this, church, is how we overcome false teachers.

This is how we persevere and endure.

Not by the sword, not by state law, but through the ordinary means of grace that God has already given the church.

It is through God's word, it is through building our faith, it is through mercy, it is through worship that we overcome falsehoods.

Church, we live in a dangerous world.

As 1 John 5 tells us, the entire world is under the grip of the evil one, and we're just pilgrims passing through.

We are surrounded by wolves, engulfed by lies, and we're not immune.

But God promises to sustain us, to keep us, to help us.

But we must do our part.

We must remember his word, build up our faith, participate in ministry, and ascribe all glory to God.

And Lord willing, let us do that today.

And grow in these things as the day draws near.

Church, let us pray.