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Earnestly Contend For The Faith - 1/11/26 - Pastor Charlie Branch

Meadows Baptist Church Podcast

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  1. Welcome to the podcast of Meadows

  2. Baptist Church of Walnut Cove, North

  3. Carolina. We're so glad you joined us

  4. today. If you enjoy today's message, be

  5. sure to subscribe, follow, and share

  6. with your friends. Now, let's join

  7. Pastor Charlie Branch with a word from

  8. God.

  9. >> If you have a Bible, let's turn to the

  10. book of Jude if you would tonight. the

  11. book of Jude and uh

  12. Jude chapter 13.

  13. Amen. Some of y'all picked up on that.

  14. Amen. Amen.

  15. Amen. Some of you didn't. Amen. I'm a

  16. little worried about you. Amen. Amen.

  17. Jude verse number one. Amen. Jude verse

  18. number one.

  19. and uh

  20. just kind of feeling out the Lord what

  21. he wants me to do tonight.

  22. >> Tell you what, it takes a lot of

  23. boldness to get up here.

  24. >> That's right.

  25. >> Amen. This young man's done what some of

  26. you never do.

  27. >> Amen.

  28. >> Amen. You helped us tonight, brother. I

  29. appreciate that. Amen.

  30. Jude verse number one. Jude verse number

  31. one. And uh I'll say this tonight. I

  32. don't have to preach. Amen. I don't have

  33. to preach. I just want to mind the Lord.

  34. And if you got something on your heart,

  35. Amen. I'll stop at any time. But we'll

  36. look here tonight. Jude verse number

  37. one.

  38. Jude verse number one.

  39. The Bible says in Jude verse number one,

  40. Jude the servant of Jesus Christ,

  41. brother of James, to them that are

  42. sanctified by God the Father and

  43. preserved in Jesus Christ and called

  44. mercy unto you and peace and love be

  45. multiplied.

  46. And Jude says in verse number three, he

  47. says, 'Beloved, when I gave all

  48. diligence to write unto you of the

  49. common salvation, it was needful for me

  50. to write unto you and exhort you that

  51. you should earnestly contend for the

  52. faith which was once delivered for the

  53. saints unto the saints. For there are

  54. certain men crypt and unawares who were

  55. before of old ordained to this

  56. condemnation, ungodly men, turning the

  57. grace of our God into lasciviousness and

  58. denying the only Lord God and our Lord

  59. Jesus Christ. I want to look at ver the

  60. first three verses tonight with the Lord

  61. helping us and consider uh this little

  62. epistle tonight for just a moment in

  63. time. I notice tonight in verse number

  64. three, there's a statement that we're

  65. all very familiar with. And what it is

  66. is exactly what this brother just did

  67. for us here tonight. He says there in

  68. verse number three, he said, "It was

  69. needful for me to write unto you and

  70. exhort you that you should earnestly

  71. contend for the faith." Earnestly

  72. contend for the faith. Now, Father, I

  73. ask humbly that you would help us for

  74. just a moment of time tonight. And God,

  75. I don't want to get ahead of you, Lord.

  76. I' I'd never want to do that, but Lord,

  77. I just want to be obedient to you

  78. tonight. Lord, you know, I don't have to

  79. preach, but God, I just want to be

  80. obedient. And so, God, I pray you'll

  81. help us as we look at these verses

  82. tonight. Lord, if there's somebody here

  83. lost, God, I pray you'd deal with their

  84. heart, Lord, as you are right now and

  85. pray they'd get out of their seat and

  86. come to this altar and be saved tonight.

  87. And Lord, I sure thank you. I sure love

  88. you. I thank you for loving me and ask

  89. it in Jesus name. God's children said,

  90. >> "Amen." You notice here in this text

  91. tonight, Jude is the last epistle uh in

  92. the New Testament before we reach the

  93. book of the revelation. Of course, the

  94. book of the revelation being the I guess

  95. you would call it the world looks as it

  96. as looks at it as the apocalyptic book.

  97. Amen. The book that defines the end

  98. days. It's prophetic in nature. Deals

  99. with all of the end time doctrine. And

  100. so I guess it would be relevant that

  101. here the book of Jude is just before

  102. that. the book of Jude uh it really

  103. enlists a a fire on the part of the

  104. servant here Jude he is he is desiring

  105. to help the church of God but the church

  106. is in dire straits and Jude mentions

  107. that in this epistle and uh I want you

  108. to notice a few things here tonight and

  109. I'll get out of the way we consider

  110. first of all tonight when we look at

  111. this text you've got to consider the

  112. author of this text of course it is Jude

  113. there in verse number one the Bible says

  114. Jude the servant of Jesus Jesus Christ

  115. and brother of James. Now, there's many

  116. people that believe that uh this Jude is

  117. the apostle Judas that's mentioned in

  118. the book of Acts as well. He's mentioned

  119. in the Gospels. But I do not believe

  120. that it is Jude the Apostle in this text

  121. because um if Jude was the apostle, he

  122. would have named himself uh the apostle

  123. in this text. But I'll say this Jude in

  124. the text, this is Jude, the halfbrother

  125. of Christ. Now Jude here is short for

  126. Judas in the word of God. And you find

  127. the first mention his name first time

  128. appears. This man in Matthew chapter

  129. number 13 in verse number 55. This is

  130. what the Bible says. And turn there and

  131. look at it with me tonight. And we miss

  132. out a lot of times in preaching uh on

  133. the family of Jesus. I think we forget

  134. sometimes that Jesus did have brethren

  135. and and he also had sisters as well uh

  136. on this earth, half sisters and half

  137. brothers. And you notice the description

  138. in Matthew 13 and verse number 55. Is

  139. not this the carpenter's son? It's Jesus

  140. they're talking about. Of course, Joseph

  141. is the carpenter. Is not his mother

  142. called Mary and his brethren James and

  143. Joseph and Simon and Judas. And that is

  144. Jude. And then verse 56 mentions his

  145. sisters. And so Jesus family here is

  146. listed. And Jude is one of his family.

  147. Now when you look at the New Testament,

  148. there's another epistle that's written

  149. by another brother of Jesus and that is

  150. the book of James. James is another of

  151. the half brothers there uh that was born

  152. unto Mary and Joseph after Jesus was

  153. born of her virginity. And uh he so he

  154. first appears there with the family in

  155. Matthew chapter number 13. And one of

  156. the first things that stands out to us

  157. about Jude is is that collectively with

  158. the family of Christ, they did not

  159. believe on Jesus. You notice that in the

  160. book of John, chapter number 7, the

  161. Gospel of John, chapter 7 and verse

    John 7 chapter mention

  162. number five, the Bible says, "Neither

  163. did his brethren believe on him." And so

  164. that pretty much in uh entails all of

  165. the children of Mary and Joseph uh aside

  166. from Jesus. And so they did not believe

  167. on Christ. But boy, I'm thankful that

  168. time made a change in them. Amen. And

  169. because of the ministry of Christ and

  170. the fact that he died and rose again,

  171. you see, before the cross, all they saw

  172. was a man. But I'll tell you this, when

  173. he got up on the other side of the cross

  174. and rose from the dead. Amen. They

  175. looked at him and there was something

  176. different about him. Amen. He didn't

  177. look the same. Amen. He didn't talk the

  178. same. He didn't carry himself the same.

  179. Amen. He didn't have to walk from place

  180. to p place, but he would just appear

  181. whethersoever he wanted to. Amen. And

  182. Jesus there, he wowed them. And so

  183. because of that, they became believing.

  184. You can read that in the book of 1

  185. Corinthians in chapter number 15 says

  186. that his brethren believed on him. And

  187. so Jude here is one of his brethren. And

  188. I I think about the author and his

  189. belief. You see his belief as mentioned

  190. in the first statement of this text.

  191. Look what he says. He does not say Jude

  192. the brother of Jesus. Look what he says.

  193. Jude, the servant,

  194. >> yes,

  195. >> of Jesus.

  196. >> Right.

  197. >> If anybody ever had a right to lay claim

  198. to being brother to Christ, it was these

  199. people.

  200. >> It was Mary and it was Joseph and it was

  201. his brethren, Jude and James and Joseph

  202. and then his sisters. If anybody ever

  203. had a right to glory in anything that

  204. had to do with Jesus, it was these men.

  205. But I'll tell you this, on the other

  206. side of Calvary, they had a different

  207. mindset.

  208. >> Let me say this to you. you get on the

  209. right side of Calvary, your mindset will

  210. change. Amen. And I notice in this text,

  211. his belief, the author's belief, and

  212. then you note the author's brethren

  213. there. I already mentioned this, but

  214. look what he says. You the servant of

  215. Jesus Christ and brother of James. Now,

  216. what he's doing here is he is

  217. vindicating his authority because James

  218. was the one that was uh really the

  219. headship there in the church at

  220. Jerusalem. History tells us that James

  221. was looked to just about by everybody

  222. that was in that church. And so he was

  223. there and Jude here is using his brother

  224. as his authority. And then I think about

  225. this. You notice not only the author's

  226. belief and his brethren, but you notice

  227. his burden. And what do I mean by that?

  228. Well, look what the Bible says in verse

  229. one. Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ

  230. and brother of James, what's him next

  231. two words? To them. Jude's got a purpose

  232. to write it. He's got a burden on his

  233. heart. He's got something on his mind.

  234. God is working in his life and he has

  235. been given a burden here to write this

  236. letter. Now, brother Jimmy, if you was

  237. here during camp meeting, he mentioned

  238. there how the apostle Paul said in

  239. chapter number one that he had a desire

  240. to go to Rome and he wanted to go. He

  241. had that burden to go. But we know that

  242. the apostle was never able to go. And

  243. because he wasn't able to go, what

  244. happened? He pinned the epistle to of

  245. the Romans. the go the the epistle of

  246. the Romans to that church and gives us

  247. some of the greatest Bible doctrine that

  248. is in that text and Jude here has a

  249. burden but we'll notice in the text as

  250. we go further along that his burden gets

  251. sidetracked and God redirects him in the

  252. text let me say this tonight when God

  253. redirects your burden don't ever be

  254. ashamed of that

  255. >> when God changes your course and puts

  256. you going in another direction you just

  257. know don't feel out of place don't feel

  258. like you were mistaken taken. But God

  259. had you where he wanted you for a time.

  260. Now he's going to lead you in another

  261. way. Amen. And I notice not only the

  262. author in our text, but notice the

  263. audience in verse number one. The Bible

  264. says to them that are sanctified by God

  265. the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ

  266. and called. And so Jude here is talking

  267. about the church of God. Let me say this

  268. tonight. The Bible is written to the

  269. church. Somebody say amen. Now, we know

  270. tonight that the Bible, it is

  271. profitable, amen, for salvation. And

  272. it's the word of God that says faith

  273. cometh by hearing and hearing by the

  274. word of God. Well, let me tell you this

  275. tonight. This book is absolutely useless

  276. to a lost man. Amen. Until he gets saved

  277. and it's written to the church and James

  278. audience is here, he know you note there

  279. in the text that those who are

  280. consecrated. Look what he says. To them

  281. that are what? Sanctified by God the

  282. Father. They've been set apart. You know

  283. what? That's what's been that's what's

  284. happened to us tonight. We've been set

  285. apart by God Almighty. He has laid us

  286. aside for his special purpose and

  287. salvation. The Bible says not only here,

  288. but in the book of Romans chapter number

  289. 12, he said, "I beseech you therefore,

  290. brethren, by the mercies of God, that

  291. you present your bodies a living

  292. sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,

  293. which is your reasonable service, as God

  294. has set us apart. We ought to agree and

  295. set ourselves apart. Somebody say amen.

  296. And we're not to be conformed to this

  297. world. And so we've been sanctified by

  298. the father. But then there's not only

  299. the consecration of the church, but then

  300. there's the care of the church. Notice

  301. that in verse number one, he said to

  302. them that are sanctified by God the

  303. father and preserved in Jesus Christ.

  304. You know what that word preserved means?

  305. Means guarded.

  306. >> That's right.

  307. >> It literally means to keep.

  308. >> Yes. the church tonight. We're kept

  309. >> by the power of God.

  310. >> We're in Christ. Amen.

  311. >> Christ is in us. And because of that, we

  312. have been preserved. We are guarded in

  313. the person of Jesus Christ. And I'll say

  314. this, my Lord's been taking good care of

  315. me. Amen. God has cared well for his

  316. servants down through the years. And

  317. hallelujah. Blessed be God. He'll care

  318. for us all the way until the end. Amen.

  319. I'll tell you this. I think I like this

  320. part best. Notice, not only he's talking

  321. to those that are consecrated and to

  322. those that are cared for, but he's also

  323. talking to those that possess character.

  324. Not notice what he says in verse number

  325. one. And preserved in Jesus Christ and

  326. what? Called. Now, many times we think

  327. about the call. We think about what

  328. Jesus said that many be called. And uh

  329. or many be called, but few are chosen.

  330. And we think about those verses. But

  331. I'll tell you what this means here

  332. tonight. It simply means this. Romans

    Romans 1 chapter mention

  333. chapter 1 verse number 7 says this to

  334. them who are called to be saints.

  335. >> Called to be saints. I'm saying when God

  336. saved you, when he sanctified you while

  337. he's preserving you, who are you called

  338. to be?

  339. >> Amen. If you're set apart, you're his.

  340. >> Amen. You're live like.

  341. >> Amen. Notice what he says. And called.

  342. Notice how that's the last thing that's

  343. said. If it had to do with salvation, it

  344. would be the first thing that was said,

  345. >> but it's the last thing. And so, you

  346. know what the calling is on our life?

  347. That we be who God has called us to be.

  348. Amen. Be ye holy, for I am holy. Amen.

  349. And so, here their character is seen.

  350. Romans chapter 1 and verse number 7

    Romans 1 chapter mention

  351. reveals this. 1 Corinthians chapter 1

    1 Corinthians 1 chapter mention

  352. and verse number two says the same thing

  353. that we have been called to be saints.

  354. Amen.

  355. >> Amen.

  356. >> I'll tell you this. You're not a saint

  357. just because you're saved.

  358. >> Amen.

  359. >> I've met many people who I believe were

  360. saved down through the years, but they

  361. were far from a saint. Amen.

  362. >> Y'all ain't liking this preaching

  363. tonight. I'm going to have to get you

  364. back up here and preach. Amen.

  365. >> What I'm telling you tonight is this.

  366. We've been called

  367. >> to higher plane.

  368. >> Amen. to be saints.

  369. >> Amen.

  370. >> John said it this way, "Beloved, now are

  371. we the sons of God?"

  372. >> Now, amen. Right now, in this moment, we

  373. ought to live like it. Amen. I notice

  374. not only the author, and I notice the

  375. audience here, but notice the address in

  376. verse number two. You see, Jude has a

  377. burden for these people. And I'll say

  378. more about the reason why here in just a

  379. minute. But look what he says in verse

  380. number two. He's he he announces who

  381. he's talking to, but then he here deals

  382. with what he wants for them. And look

  383. what he says. Mercy unto you and peace

  384. and love be multiplied. Now, if you know

  385. what the rest of the book of Jude says,

  386. you're going to know that's about the

  387. nicest thing that Jude has to say

  388. >> to them. Amen. And you know what he's

  389. asking for? He's saying, "I want you to

  390. have some grace. I want you to have some

  391. mercy. I want you to have some love

  392. because you're going to need it." Amen.

  393. >> Let me say this to you, child of God,

  394. tonight. The truth is, in every one of

  395. our lives, we're going to have to have

  396. some grace.

  397. >> Amen. We're going to have to have some

  398. mercy. We're going to have to have some

  399. love to get by. Notice what he says. He

  400. mentions that mercy. That's the

  401. longsuffering of God. He said, "Mercy be

  402. unto you." And then not only mercy, but

  403. he mentions tranquility and peace. He is

  404. saying there needs to be a stillness.

  405. That mercy is a look toward God. And

  406. that tranquility is a look within. But

  407. then notice what he says in verse number

  408. two again. And love be multiplied. And

  409. so there is there's mercy and

  410. tranquility. And then there is charity.

  411. He's saying not only are we to have a

  412. look to God for his mercy and a look

  413. within for tranquility, but we're to

  414. have a look around to be charitable to

  415. those that are around us.

  416. >> That's the proper function of the

  417. church.

  418. >> And notice what he says about that. He

  419. said be multiplied.

  420. Means to be growing.

  421. >> Right?

  422. >> These things ought to be swelling in our

  423. life.

  424. >> Amen. We ought to be seeking God,

  425. >> right?

  426. >> Amen. Somebody say, "Amen" tonight. We

  427. ought to be seeking God for his mercy

  428. and for his grace more than we ever

  429. have. But we also ought to be seeking

  430. peace in our heart.

  431. >> You're right.

  432. >> Amen.

  433. >> The Bible says that peace, it's attained

  434. through prayer.

  435. >> Yeah.

  436. >> That's what he said. Amen.

  437. >> Come on.

  438. >> So much I want to say, but my mind is

  439. not keeping up with my mouth or my

  440. mouth's not keeping up with my mind.

  441. Amen.

  442. But this charity, amen, we're to be

  443. right in serving others. Love be

  444. multiplied. And then notice what he says

  445. in verse three. I'll give you the

  446. message and we'll be done tonight. Amen.

  447. You're going to like me after this

  448. sermon. Amen. Look what he says.

  449. Beloved,

  450. >> you see, he's got a burden for them.

  451. >> And I'll tell you this. Anytime you've

  452. got a burden for somebody, it's always

  453. better to start off with the fact that

  454. you love them.

  455. >> You're right. Amen.

  456. >> If you go in there with guns ablazing,

  457. Amen. and knives are swinging. Amen. You

  458. ain't going to do nothing but uh kill,

  459. steal, kill, and destroy. Amen. That's

  460. what you're going to do. But I'll tell

  461. you this. He begins with his burden. And

  462. he shows them his endearment. He says,

  463. "Beloved, when I gave all diligence to

  464. write unto you the common salvation," he

  465. says, "It was needful for me to write

  466. unto you and exhort you." And he gives

  467. him his appeal. He addresses them what

  468. he desires for the church to grow. But

  469. then his appeal in verse number three is

  470. is that they have a desperate need. And

  471. I'll tell you this, the church in the

  472. day in which we're living in has a

  473. desperate need.

  474. >> I say this, he has a desire. According

  475. to verse number three, you note his

  476. desire. Look what he said. I gave all

  477. diligence to write unto you of the

  478. common salvation. Jude had in his mind

  479. that he was going to make another gospel

  480. record. He was going to write another

  481. letter to them encouraging them in the

  482. faith to go on for God in the gospel.

  483. But that's not what God told him to

  484. write. You're

  485. >> right.

  486. >> Notice what the Bible says. He says,

  487. "When I gave diligence to write unto you

  488. the common salvation," he said, "It was

  489. my desire to give you to speak to you of

  490. the grace of God and the glory of Christ

  491. and of Calvary and all the blessings

  492. that come from that." Look what he says.

  493. It was needful for me to write unto you

  494. and exhort you that you should earnestly

  495. contend for the faith. Now, what is he

  496. seeing in here in this text? Well, his

  497. desire got overrode by the demand that

  498. was present. Right.

  499. >> This is what we're lacking in this day

  500. and time.

  501. >> Yeah.

  502. >> Preachers are preaching what they want

  503. to preach.

  504. >> Because they're not worried about the

  505. demand.

  506. >> You're right.

  507. >> They're not worried about the distress

  508. that we're in. They're not worried about

  509. the circumstances that are surrounding

  510. our lives.

  511. >> And when it comes down to the text

  512. tonight, here's what I realized Jude

  513. says. In spite of what I gave diligence

  514. to, in spite of what my desire was, God

  515. is more needful. He said, "The demand is

  516. greater than my desire." And he said, "I

  517. need to exhort you." What is he telling

  518. him? There is a command that I've got to

  519. give forth unto you that you should

  520. earnestly contend for the faith.

  521. What is that?

  522. That's the doctrine

  523. of what we believe.

  524. >> Right?

  525. >> And if there's ever been a day when this

  526. is relevant, it's relevant tonight.

  527. >> Amen.

  528. There is more isms and schisms and

  529. ideologies. You're

  530. >> right,

  531. >> in the church world today than there's

  532. ever been.

  533. >> People don't know anything about the

  534. gospel anymore.

  535. >> Right.

  536. >> And here's what I'm finding. The further

  537. I go along as a preacher, the appeal of

  538. Jude is the same appeal that I have.

  539. What we've lost is because people are

  540. not earnestly contending. Well, we'll

  541. just move a little bit on that and we'll

  542. move a little bit on that and WE'LL JUST

  543. MEET SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE. I had a

  544. teacher tell me this when I was in the

  545. eighth grade. This is what he told me.

  546. He was talking about creation. And we

  547. believe tonight, let me just go ahead

  548. and put this out there. We believe in

  549. six literal days of creation.

  550. >> That's right. Tonight, God made

  551. everything that is in six days. Amen.

  552. There wasn't no gap. Amen. THERE WASN'T

  553. NO DATE STRETCHED OUT. AMEN. GOD MADE IT

  554. all in six days. And on the seventh day,

  555. he did what?

  556. >> Rested. Amen. And that's the doctrine of

  557. creation. But here's what I had a social

  558. studies teacher tell me. And this is the

  559. sad thing about it. He went to church.

  560. Amen. This is the sad thing I found out

  561. about him. He said, "I believe science

  562. and the Bible can hold hands."

  563. >> And that's the world we live in today.

  564. It says, "Well, let me just take the

  565. best of what I've got and we'll take the

  566. best of what you got. We'll just put it

  567. all together and surely we'll have the

  568. best of both worlds."

  569. >> It don't work that way.

  570. Either the Bible's right

  571. >> or it's not.

  572. >> Amen. And when Jude says it was needful,

  573. what was it needful for? Well, there was

  574. men that was trying to undermine

  575. everything that they believed. You see,

  576. there was people in this day and time,

  577. and I'm not going to go there in depth

  578. tonight, but I'm going to give you the

  579. application, and we'll be done. There

  580. was people in this day and time that

  581. were called Gnostics. And these Gnostics

  582. believed doctrines that undermined the

  583. deity of God the Father. They said that

  584. Jesus Christ, you have to separate his

  585. humanity from his deity.

  586. That God the Father had no involvement

  587. with Jesus. And that's the worst part.

  588. It just gets it just gets better from

  589. there the more you listen to them. Their

  590. their ideologies. They're undermining

  591. everything that Christ is. You see what

  592. we're living with in this day and time?

  593. We're living with what the Catholics

  594. think about Jesus,

  595. >> right?

  596. >> That Mary's above him. We're living with

  597. what the Mormons think about Jesus.

  598. >> That there's many different Christ. And

  599. Joseph Smith had something to do with

  600. salvation. What I'm saying is we're

  601. living in a world today that's

  602. completely confused.

  603. >> And somebody's got to stand up and SAY

  604. IT'S WRONG.

  605. >> THAT AIN'T RIGHT. SALVATION is by GRACE

  606. ALONE THROUGH FAITH ALONE IN CHRIST

  607. ALONE. AND THAT'S IT. AMEN. CALVARY WAS

  608. THE PAYMENT FOR SIN AND THAT'S IT. IF

  609. YOU'RE HERE AND YOU'RE LOST TONIGHT,

  610. Jesus saves. JESUS ALONE SAVES. THERE IS

  611. NONE OTHER NAME UNDER HEAVEN GIVEN AMONG

  612. MEN WHEREBY YOU MUST BE SAVED. I'M

  613. SAYING I'M GOING TO EARNESTLY I'M GOING

  614. TO EARNESTLY FROM MY HEART IN VIGOROUSLY

  615. CONTEND FOR THIS FAITH BECAUSE GOD GAVE

  616. IT TO PAUL. AND YOU KNOW WHAT? PAUL GAVE

  617. IT TO TIMOTHY AND TIMOTHY PREACHED IT TO

  618. THE CHURCH AT EPHESUS AND THE CHURCH AT

  619. EPHESUS PREACHED IT THERE IN THE LAND

  620. AND DOWN TO WHERE WE ARE TODAY. SOMEBODY

  621. PREACHED TO YOU AND SOMEBODY PREACHED TO

  622. ME AND TONIGHT IF WE DON'T EARNESTLY

  623. CONTEND FOR IT, WE'LL HAVE NOTHING LEFT

  624. 10 YEARS FROM NOW.

  625. >> I'm telling you tonight, JUDE'S APPEAL

  626. WAS THIS. The demand IS TOO GREAT. THE

  627. DISTRESS IS TOO BAD. DOCTRINE IS AT AN

  628. ALL-TIME high of being ruined in this

  629. country.

  630. >> Look what he says

  631. >> and exhort you that you should earnestly

  632. contend for the faith. We're not backing

  633. up on the Bible.

  634. This is God's word.

  635. >> Amen.

  636. >> God preserved it. God inspired it. God

  637. preserved it for you and I tonight. And

  638. this is his word. It's the King James

  639. Bible. And it ain't because the king

  640. authorized it. It's because God inspired

  641. it. Somebody say, "Amen." This is God's

  642. word. And we still believe that

  643. salvation is through and by THE BLOOD OF

  644. JESUS CHRIST. THAT WITHOUT the shedding

  645. of blood, there's no remission of sins.

  646. THAT IT WITHOUT JESUS BEING PERFECT,

  647. BEING VIRGIN BORN, LET ME SAY THAT.

  648. AMEN. BEING VIRGIN BORN AND LIVING A

  649. SINLESS LIFE AND BEING A PERFECT MAN AND

  650. DYING A SINNER'S DEATH THAT HE DID NOT

  651. DESERVE TO DIE. AND ON THE CROSS BEING

  652. THERE, HANGING THERE IN NAKEDNESS FOR

  653. YOURS AND MY SIN. AND ON THAT THIRD DAY,

  654. HE GOT UP AGAIN AFTER THEY BURIED HIM IN

  655. THE TOMB. AND HE ROSE AGAIN. LIVED ON

  656. THIS EARTH FOR 40 MORE DAYS AND WENT

  657. BACK TO HEAVEN AGAIN. AND HE'S THERE

  658. EVER LIVING TO MAKE INTERCESSION FOR YOU

  659. AND I. OH, SOMEBODY HELP ME PREACH

  660. TONIGHT. WE BELIEVE IT. AMEN.

  661. >> It's the doctrine of salvation.

  662. It's who Jesus is.

  663. >> We believe the doctrine of the

  664. scriptures. We believe the doctrine of

  665. salvation.

  666. Oh friend.

  667. >> We believe the doctrine of the church.

  668. >> That God set apart the local assembly.

  669. >> He said, "Forsake not the assembling of

  670. yourselves together."

  671. >> Amen.

  672. >> As the manner of some is, but exhorting

  673. one another, and so much the more as you

  674. see the day approaching. Jude said, "We

  675. to we are to exhort you that you should

  676. earnestly contend."

  677. You say, "Preacher, what's your emphasis

  678. tonight?" I'm saying we ought to be in a

  679. serious fight for the scriptures and for

  680. our faith. You're

  681. >> right.

  682. >> It ought to mean more to us than what we

  683. eat.

  684. >> You're right.

  685. >> Come on.

  686. >> The prophet said it this way. He said,

  687. "I've esteemed thy words more than my

  688. necessary food." When's the last time

  689. the Bible was more important to you than

  690. what you ate?

  691. doctrines at stake. You see, the

  692. division and the digression of the

  693. church along with the departure of many

  694. from the church led to this letter.

  695. >> Yes.

  696. >> Jude said, "Hey, I wanted to write to

  697. you and rejoice about salvation."

  698. >> Amen.

  699. >> You know, I'd love to preach glory,

  700. hallelujah.

  701. >> Let's get let's let's let's go to heaven

  702. and be saved and live the Christian life

  703. and be hunky dory and happy. I'd love

  704. that. But if somebody doesn't contend

  705. for it,

  706. >> where's it going to be

  707. >> when we're gone?

  708. >> Right.

  709. >> Let me ask you this tonight.

  710. If in your life you were the only one in

  711. your world that contended for the faith,

  712. would there be anything left?

  713. >> It's good.

  714. >> Jude says this in verse number three. He

  715. says that you should earnestly contend

  716. for the faith which was once delivered

  717. unto the saints. You know that

  718. statement's really big, brother Matt.

  719. >> What did he say? He said it was once

  720. delivered.

  721. >> Paul said it this way. He said, "I

  722. delivered unto you first of all that

  723. which I also received

  724. >> one time."

  725. >> Right.

  726. >> You're right.

  727. >> Christ appeared to him on the Damascus

  728. road

  729. >> one time.

  730. >> You're right.

  731. >> He received the gospel one time.

  732. >> Here's the thing about it in our life.

  733. We receive it one time. And you know

  734. what we're supposed to do out of that?

  735. Spend a lifetime defending it,

  736. >> proclaiming it,

  737. >> and living it,

  738. >> I tell you.

  739. You want to know why he helped me so

  740. much tonight? Is because he did what

  741. that text just says.

  742. >> You're right.

  743. >> He came and defended

  744. >> Yep.

  745. >> the gospel that we believe.

  746. >> Let me ask you, you going to do that?

  747. >> Good. Every head bowed and every eye

  748. closed tonight.

  749. This altar's open. Let me ask you

  750. something.

  751. You say, "Preacher, is that really all

  752. you had to say?" That's all God wanted

  753. me to say.

  754. Truth is tonight, if you're here in this

  755. place and you're not saved,

  756. I've got a burden for you.

  757. You don't have to die lost.

  758. You can be saved tonight.

  759. But I tell you this, children, children

  760. of God, church, if there's ever a day we

  761. need to be,

  762. as Dr. Larry Brown said, it locked and

  763. loaded,

  764. it's in this day.

  765. Let me ask you, will you take the gospel

  766. seriously?

  767. Cuz there's plenty of stuff out there

  768. that'll take it from you if you ain't

  769. willing to fight for it.

  770. That word contend means to suffer for

  771. it.

  772. I dare say the gospel has not really

  773. costed much of us anything in this room.

  774. How much are you willing to pay?

  775. I don't know about you, but I'm going to

  776. find myself in a place in this altar to

  777. pray tonight. You do business with God.

  778. >> Thank you for joining our service today.

  779. We'd love it if you'd join us in person

  780. the next time you are able at Meadows

  781. Baptist Church. Our physical address is

  782. 2988 Stewart Road in Walnut Cove, North

  783. Carolina. Our service times are Sunday

  784. school at 10:00 a.m., Sunday morning

  785. worship at 11:00 a.m., Sunday evening

  786. worship at 6:00 p.m., and Wednesday

  787. evening Bible study at 7:00 p.m. For

  788. more information, visit us at

  789. meadowsbaptisturch.com.

  790. Thanks again for tuning in.