A. Pure motivation (Matthew 6:5-7, 8-13)
B. Without doubt (James 1:6-8)
C. Selfless (James 4:3)
D. In accordance with God’s will (1 John 5:14-15)
II. The goodness of God (7:9-11)
A. “Evil” parents (Romans 3:10, 23) take care of their children
B. Of course God, who is good, will take care of His (James 1:17)
III. The golden rule (7:12)
A. Compare with Romans 13:8-10 – It is not a matter of just avoiding the bad, but initiating the good!
B. Do not just wait to repay kindness; show kindness first! (Matthew 6:14-15; James 2:13; Romans 12:15)
A. Build upon the holy faith (2 Peter 1:5-11)
B. Pray in the Spirit (1 Corinthians 14:15)
C. Keep yourself in God’s love (1 John 4:9-10)
D. Look for Jesus’ mercy (Matthew 5:7; James 2:13; Hebrews 4:16)
E. Do all of this “unto eternal life” (Titus 2:11-14)
II. The responsibility to others: compassion (22)
A. The last word in the Greek is difficult – some versions render it “to make difference/distinction” (KJV/NKJV); other versions speak to people “who are in doubt” (ASV)
B. The soul winner’s attitude tender, gentle, compassionate (Galatians 6:1)
III. The responsibility to others: rescue (23)
A. Pull them out of the fire (Zechariah 3:1-4)
B. Love the sinner, hate the sin (James 5:19-20)
A. The apostles had authority (Matthew 16:19; Acts 2:42)
B. Peter (2 Peter; emphasize 3:3-4)
C. John (1 John 4:1-3; 2 John 7-11; 3 John 9-111)
D. Paul (Acts 20:29-30; Galatians 1:6-9; 2 Thessalonians 3:11-14; 1 Timothy 4:1-5; 2 Timothy 3:1-9)
II. Mockers (18)
A. “Scoffers” (2 Peter 3:3-4) – men “who would make light of the truth”
B. The supposed “delay” in Jesus’ second coming is nothing more than a demonstration of God’s love and mercy for His creation (2 Peter 3:9)
III. Walk according to their own ungodly lusts, sensual persons, not having the Spirit (18-19)
A. Earthly, sensual, demonic wisdom (James 3:14-17)
B. The contrast between fleshly and Spirit-filled living (Galatians 5:16-26)
IV. Cause divisions (19)
A. The fallacy of “unity in diversity”/“agree to disagree” philosophy is that divisions are caused by innovations, not by fidelity to the faith
B. Factious spirit condemned (1 Corinthians 1:10; 3:1-7; Romans 16:17-18)
A. The importance of evangelism (1 Timothy 2:3-4; 2 Peter 3:9; 2 Timothy 4:2)
B. The new name = Christians (Acts 11:26)
II. The marriage relationship (62:3-5)
A. Crown of glory = victory over evil (1 John 5:4; Romans 8:37; 1 Corinthians 15:54-57)
B. Diadem = God’s royal family (Ephesians 3:14-15; 1 Peter 2:9)
C. Hephzibah = “My delight is in her”; Beulah = “Married” (Ephesians 5:23-28; 2 Corinthians 11:2)
III. The watchmen and God’s protection (62:6-9)
A. The watchmen are godly saints who guard the truth (1 Peter 5:8; Philippian 1:17; 1 Timothy 4:1-6; 6:10; Acts 20:28; Jude 3; Ephesians 4:11-12)
B. Continual prayer (Luke 11:5-14; 18:1-8; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
C. God’s oath (Hebrews 6:13)
IV. “Surely your salvation is coming” (62:10-12)
A. Evangelism includes: preparing the way, building the highway, removing obstacles, lifting the banner
B. Worldwide proclamation (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16)
C. Four identifications
1. The Holy People (Ephesians 2:21; 5:27)
2. The Redeemed of the Lord (Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 1:18-19; Acts 20:28)
3. Sought Out (Luke 19:10)
4. A City Not Forsaken (Hebrews 13:5; 2 Corinthians 4:8-9)
I. They were alarmed by what they faced (2 Kings 7:3-4)
A. Severe famine led to extortion and cannibalism (2 Kings 6:25-29)
B. A hopeless scenario
II. They were amazed at what they found (2 Kings 7:5-8)
A. The provisions were not only sufficient, but surpassed their needs
B. The prodigal son’s view of his father’s provisions for the servants: “bread enough and to spare” (Luke 15:17)
III. They were absorbed with what they had (2 Kings 7:8)
A. They consumed all they could
B. They concealed treasures they found – greed
IV. They were ashamed of what they had done (2 Kings 7:9)
A. Confession: “We are not doing right” (cf. Haggai 1:4-5)
B. Selfishness is inexcusable
C. Silence is impossible
V. They were anxious to tell what they should (2 Kings 7:9-10)
A. Urgency – did not want to wait even until morning
B. They communicated what they had found – if people starved, at least they tried
VI. Application
A. We must be alarmed at our condition if we are in sin
B. We must be amazed by the grace of God when we find it
C. We must be absorbed with what God reveals through His Word
D. We must be ashamed if we do not share what we find
E. We must be anxious to tell others!
I. Examples of God’s righteous judgment (Jude 5-7)
A. The Israelites delivered from Egypt, then destroyed for unbelief (Jude 5; 1 Corinthians 10:1-5; Hebrews 3:16-19)
B. The angels who left their own abode (Jude 6; Matthew 25:41; 2 Peter 2:4; 1 Timothy 3:6)
C. Sodom and Gomorrah (and surrounding cities) who committed sexual immorality (Jude 7; Gen. 19:1-13, 24-25)
II. “Likewise” (Jude 8-10) – refers back to the “ungodly men” of v.4
A. Defile the flesh (Jude 8)
B. Reject authority (Jude 8)
C. Speak evil of dignitaries (Jude 8-10; Romans 1:18-32; 2 Peter 2:10-12)
III. “Woe to them!” (Jude 11)
A. The way of Cain – disobedience, hate, murder (Genesis 4:1-8)
B. The error of Balaam – the abuse of influence for personal gain (Numbers 22:5-7)
C. The rebellion of Korah – rebellion against divinely constituted authority (Numbers 16:1-35)
Based on a hymn written by Wilkin B. “Chief” Bacon in 1943.
I. First verse: the crucifixion
A. We must be motivated by His mercy, even while suffering (Luke 23:34)
B. “For us He died that for Him we might live” (2 Corinthians 5:15)
II. Second verse: the resurrection
A. We must be motivated by His resurrection to share the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:13-20)
B. Baptism recreates the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus (Romans 6:3-5)
III. Third verse: the hope of heaven
A. We must be motivated by His promise to receive us to a prepared place in eternity (John 14:2-3)
B. Evangelism is an outpouring of love and gratitude for the Savior (Matthew 28:19-20)
IV. Chorus: can He depend on you?
A. Do we respond appropriately to His great sacrifice? (Acts 4:20)
B. Our focus must be on eternity (Colossians 3:1-4)
A. Jude’s desired focus: “our common salvation”
B. What was really needed at that moment: “contend earnestly for the faith”
C. “The faith” is the singular system of faith (Ephesians 4:5)
II. The finality of God’s Word
A. “Once for all delivered” – no additions or modifications (Galatians 1:6-9)
B. Culture does not determine truth (Galatians 1:11)
III. Dangers of false teachers
A. “Crept in unnoticed” (2 Timothy 3:6; Galatians 2:4; 2 Peter 2:1)
B. “Marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men” – not the specific individuals, but the character of the person was foretold (Acts 20:29-30; 2 Timothy 3:1-7; 4:3-4)
C. “Who turn the grace of our God into lewdness” (Romans 5:20-6:2)
D. “Deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ” – denial can come by word or deed (1 John 2:4)
A. Presumption of salvation or lack of it (Matthew 7:1; John 12:48; Acts 17:31; 2 Timothy 4:1)
B. Some types of judgment required (John 7:24; Matthew 7:6, 15-16)
C. How we treat someone is generally how they treat us (Matthew 7:2; Luke 6:37-38)
II. The fallacy of faultfinding (Matthew 7:3-5)
A. Judgments must be made out of love (Leviticus 19:15-18)
B. We must not ignore or tolerate sin, but we must first put ourselves in a position to help (Galatians 6:1)
III. Some judgment required (Matthew 7:6)
A. Patience is needed (2 Timothy 4:2)
B. And yet, at some point we must recognize that some will not listen to truth and we must stop wasting time where the truth is not wanted
But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. (Acts 8:12)
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