Defending the Faith

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Defending the Faith

If you have your Bibles I'd invite you to turn with me to the book of Jude right at the end of the New Testament, as we continue the second of five studies in this great book. The last week we looked at what was essentially the greeting, the salutation, “the dear-so-and-so” part of the book. It's found in verses 1 and 2. And even in those words of greeting and words of blessing–because the second verse contains a beautiful blessing, a beautiful benediction which Jude pronounces upon this congregation. Even in these two, little verses we find so much of spiritual substance. These opening words provide for us important biblical components in answer to questions like “How should we think of ourselves?” Well, Jude thinks of himself as a servant of Jesus Christ. Remember he…

Do Not Take Him In

The Lord's Day April 18th, 2004 2 John 5-13Do Not Take Him In If you have your Bibles I'd invite you to turn with me to 2 John. We’re continuing our study of 1, 2, and 3 John today. We've already observed that the letter of 2 John in a very warm and cordial way, in addressing a local congregation of Christians, applies the principles that John has elaborated more clearly and comprehensively in the letter of 1 John. One of the things that we saw John say over and over in 1 John was that there were three tests, or evidences, of true Christianity. There was a doctrinal test: that is, fidelity to what the apostles taught about Jesus Christ in His person and work. There was a moral test, a love for God's commands and a walking in accordance with Scripture. And there was a…

The Test of Acknowledgement of Christ’s Humanity

The Test of Acknowledgement of Jesus as the Messiah come in the flesh 1 John 4:1-6 If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to 1 John chapter 4. As we've been looking through this book, we have seen John do three things repeatedly. First of all, in the first chapter of the book especially, John was concerned to make sure that we as Christians understood the relationship of sin and holiness in the Christian life. On the one hand, John wanted us to know that as believers we would still struggle with sin; but on the other hand, John wanted to make sure that we strove for holiness in the Christian life, that we were seeking to be conformed into the image of God, that we were realistic about the sin that we still faced and had, and at the same time, were striving to be…

The Test of the Acknowledgment of Jesus as the Messiah

1 John 2:22 and 23 The Test of Acknowledgment of Jesus the Messiah Amen. If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to 1 John chapter 2 as we continue to work our way through this letter of the Apostle John to the church. As we've worked through this letter over the last several months, we have said that over and over John's concern is to show us what the marks of a true Christian are. What's the expression of true Christian faith in life? What does it look like? And…

The Call to Enter the Kingdom, Part 2: False Prophets

If you would turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 7. We will continue our study in the Sermon the Mount. The concluding section of this great sermon last begins in 7:13-14, where we found there an urgent exhortation for all of us to enter into the kingdom. Jesus didn’t simply want people to stand around and admire the beautiful vision of the Christian life that He had sketched for them in this sermon. He didn’t want them to say, “What an exalted teacher Jesus is. He…

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