Bible Study April 7

Hey, heat. Hey. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N. Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Happy. Come on. Come on. Hey, hey, hey. It's a It's for you. Heat. Heat.

Yeah. Heat. Heat. Yeah. Heat. Heat. We love You Jesus, we adore you. At all night, l the great I am. lives in me. El Shai, Prince of Peace, Emmanuel, here with me. Your name is great and greatly to be praised. Your name is great and greatly to be praised.

Taste Sing Adai. >> Elohim. >> The great I am. >> I am. >> Father, you live in me. >> Lives in me. >> El Shai. >> Elise. You are my prince of peace of peace. >> Emmanuel >> here with me. >> Here with me. >> Yes, you are. >> Sing your name. >> Your name >> is great. >> is great >> and greatly >> greatly to be >> glory.

Your name >> your name >> is great >> father is great >> and great >> oh >> Lord your name >> your name >> Lord your name >> is great >> is great >> and great >> hallelujah >> to me >> oh your name >> your name >> is great >> and great >> and great to me Oh, how worthy you were and worthy you are.

And worthy you will be. Forever Yahe. Worthy you were. Worthy you are. And worthy you will be. Forever Yahe. >> You were. >> Hallelujah. >> Worthy you are. >> Worthy you will be. You will be forever young. >> Worthy you worthy. >> Yes, Lord. >> Worthy you are. >> Worthy you will be. >> You will be forever.

Worthy you. >> Worthy you are. >> Worthy you are. >> Worthy you. >> We worship you. We adore you. >> Worthy you. >> Forever you are. >> Worthy you. Forever you will forever. Lord, your name is >> your name >> is great >> is great >> and greatly >> to be praised >> for your name >> the name that heals >> is great >> a name that delivers >> you are great >> and to be praised >> there's no other God >> is great >> that comes before And >> we worship you. >> We praise your name. >> Your name >> is great. >> And greatly great >> to be praised.

Father, we worship you. We adore you Lord. Hallelujah. We love you Lord. No other name. No other name. Oh, hallelujah. Good evening everyone. Good evening. Good evening. So thankful for your presence tonight. Thank our praise and worship team again for again leading us into the presence of God.

Thank you so much, Sister Denise, and all of those singing with her. And I want to just thank you all for being with us tonight on this beautiful day. Today has been a gorgeous day in the DMV area in the Washington DC area and I am thankful for you joining us.

Uh tonight I want to celebrate we had a tremendous uh resurrection Sunday this past weekend. The weekend was phenomenal. Uh beginning with Friday night, we had um the Glory to Glory production which was amazing. Uh I never I never cease to be amazed at the power of that presentation, the music that was played.

Uh thank Anthony uh Brown for the music he wrote for that play. That's just phenomenal. Thank my son Joshua for uh putting the play together and it's just it's just inspiring. And then we had uh a good weekend on Saturday with uh several people, several thousand, couple thousand, almost 3,000 people.

I know I said Sunday it was 4,000, but I didn't have the numbers, but it looked like it was 4,000. Was actually 3,000 people who came to service uh on Saturday night. Thank all of those who uh this heated my appeal. Uh and then Sunday, we had those four services beginning at 6:00 in the morning. uh 6 8 10 and 12 and we had close to uh 100 people make a decision for the Lord.

I am grateful and thankful for those of you who are reaching out to your friends and family members and neighbors and co-workers to um to come and and check us out. And I'm grateful for all of those who accepted the Lord. It's just a great day. So, I'm I'm just reeling in that.

Uh just grateful, so thankful. So, let me and to our team that serve so well, all of the the people who serve from the music department to um the ushers to to to the production people to hospitality, First Touch, um to uh just all everyone just made just did a great job.

So, I'm I'm I'm overwhelmed and thankful for it. So, I'm giving giving God praise and thankful uh for that. All right, we're going to enter into a new uh study for tonight. Let me let me open up with prayer. Father, we thank you for the privilege and opportunity to uh to study your word.

We pray that you lead us in our dialogue tonight. Let hearts be open and receptive to receive your truth. Help us uh heavenly father to apply your word to our lives and I pray in the name of the lord Jesus Christ that you would help us to see your truth.

In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen. All righty. I want to I want to do a study today on one little small book. It's the uh one chapter in length is the book of Jude. It is in the um New Testament. is the last next to the last book in the New Testament just before Revelation.

It is the book of Jude. And I want to spend some time talking about it. If you wanting notes for anybody who may not know, you can go to um um uh our website and I think they'll put it up there in a moment where you can go and get the uh the notes that you can apply.

You can fill in the notes. It'll help you take good notes. So let me encourage you to um to do that. I'm looking at the book of Jo Jude. Why am I what motivates me to want to talk about that? I I feel that there's so many people who are uh first of all new to the uh the Christian faith and some who've been in it for a while who who don't recognize the importance of how we live our lives.

We are examples. We are uh conduits. We are uh instruments of the g of God's presence and power. And for some people, the only people the only Jesus they'll see is the Jesus in you. The only person that they'll see that will reflect the presence of God is how you walk and how you live your lives.

And in the book of Jude was written, by the way, Jude was written by um the brother of Jesus. His name is Jude. uh Jude uh is writing uh this letter because he's addressing uh those in the church who are called and those who are sanctified. That's what he says when we read that.

Matter of fact, let's let's go to that real quickly. Uh Jude chapter one, it's just one chapter by the way. uh Jude uh he and he says at at the very beginning he says verse one Jude a bond servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James to those who are called sanctified by God the father and preserved in Jesus Christ mercy peace and love be multiplied to you so he's he's sending us a message um that uh he wants us to understand number one he's writing to those who are called and sanctified um by God.

That word sanctification is an important word because the word sanctification means uh to be set apart. It means that God has set you apart for his purposes. When God called you, he saved you, he set you apart for his purposes. Uh we just finished talking uh a couple weeks ago about purpose, understanding what your purpose is and knowing what your assignment is.

So he's he's writing to make you understand and uh speaking to people who uh want to live for God's purposes and for the assignment that God has set for them for their life. And he says uh that to them that they they are called for that purpose for the purpose of God.

And then he says uh he's writing because there are some false teachers uh that have come in and they're teaching a false a false truth. False. It's not truth. They're teaching a lie. They're teaching uh lessons that implies that God doesn't care how you live. These are false teachers who saying just live your life any way you want to, any way you you feel best and it'll be okay.

This God will ignore you. God will uh dismiss whatever your behavior is. And this this book here is seeking to make it clear to us that that is in fact not the case. It does matter how you live. It does matter how you walk. It does it does make a difference.

First of all, because other people are watching you and thusly it does make a difference. And so he tells us right at the outset uh that and so he tells us going on to to verse three. Let's look at verse three. He tells us again what the purpose of this letter is.

He tells us in verse three uh he says he's writing regarding um salvation and to encourage you to fight for the faith. That's what is this part of what he's writing about to make it known to you that we're fighting and standing up for this truth that we believe in in the gospel.

Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once which which was once for all delivered to the saints. So that's that's a very important element, very important truth.

He's telling us that um he wants us to contend for the faith to fight. And then he says in verse four, let's let's read verse four. In verse four, for certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation. Ungodly men who turn the grace of our God into lwdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

He is this is a a writing to tell us to be cautious because there are false teachers in the church that have misinterpreted the meaning of grace. So he wants us to understand it does matter how you live. Matter of fact, I am persuaded that if you are a child of God, if you have if the presence of God comes and lives inside of you, if you are a child of the most high God, it becomes critically important to understand that that that when you stray, when you do something wrong, the spirit of God that lives inside of you convicts you.

Uh you can't just live any kind of a way and it doesn't bother you if you are a child of God. When God comes and takes residency in you and lives in you and you are his child, you just can't live any kind of a way. And there's some some false teachers that have infiltrated the church and said, "Look, live how you want to live.

God's grace will cover you." And this this man wrote this whole book, wrote this this chapter chapter of Jude to to try to make people understand that it does matter and you cannot live just any kind of way. You can't just shack up. You can't just use drugs.

You can't just lie, steal. You can't just be immoral. You you you there ought to be some conviction. the Holy Spirit would bring conviction in you about how you live. If you can just live any kind of a loose lifestyle and there's no conviction, there's no no imploring you to come back and be obedient to God, you have to evaluate whether you really have a relationship with God.

And that's true. That is the reality of the truth. So that's the purpose of this letter. That's the first thing. Verses three and four talks about the purpose of this letter. Then we go to verses 5-7. He tells us this. Here are the consequences of sin. Here's what he wants to address that there are consequences when you don't live the way you want the way God wants you to live.

Let's let's go to verse 5. Let's read verse 5. First of all, he tells us in verse 5, "But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterwards destroyed those who did not believe."

That that's that's a that's a profound and powerful truth because God says, "Let me let me give you some examples. Let me show you some people who did not live the way they wanted they that they should have lived." So, I want to remind you that those who were were saved out of Egypt, the the children of God were saved out of Egypt, but afterwards they some of them were destroyed because they did not walk according to what they said they believe.

So, so he's writing to to say he's given us example that there are consequences to living a sinful life. He also says in verse six that the angels who were in heaven were judged. Just let's read verse six. It says, "And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, he has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the jud for the judgment of the great day."

Here's what he's saying. There were angels who once lived in heaven who were once in the presence of God who beca who got influenced by the enemy. Satan uh Lucifer got influenced by him and they left their their place in heaven and God reserved a place of everlasting chains under darkness for when the day of judgment comes.

They they they unfortunately dishonored God. So this is the pattern that God is showing that the children of Israel who left Egypt, they didn't believe. They stopped believing. They got destroyed. These angels who were in heaven, who once were uh made their boat in heaven, but they they too uh had chains reserved for them in darkness for the day of judgment.

And then verse seven gives us yet another example of some who didn't um pay attention to how they live their life. It says, "Has Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them in a similar manner to these having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire."

Sodom and Gomorrah and cities around them who lived loosely. Matter of fact, this is one of those these Sodom and Gomorrah the cities where they would lived loose lives. Homosexuality, lesbianism just rampant. They lived their lives in this way in a loose way and they were judged. God judged them.

So he he gives in in these opening statements in this opening of this chapter he says it does matter how you live. It does matter what you do. And he gives us three quick examples of those who didn't live the way God called them to live and they suffered the consequences.

So it does matter how you live brothers and sisters. It does matter what you say and your example to the Lord. It does it does matter. Now, the the problem is um he's trying to warn us and appeal to us not to be led astray. And I would say the same to you.

Don't be led astray. Don't allow the enemy to tell you that you can live your life any kind of way. Don't let the enemy convince you that you don't have to pay attention to your choices and your behavior. It does matter to God. It does matter. Amen. Uh, and I believe some some people get strayed and follow this path because of the people they hang around.

Let me say this for a moment. Some sometimes people allow folk to lead them astray. And the writer of this is so concerned about this he that he says this. I want to give you the characteristics of the people that you need to be aware of. Let me he he goes through and lists the characteristics.

Matter of fact, there are 17 characteristics to be aware of. 17 ways you can tell people that you should not become close friends with 17 folk. Uh he starts giving us an example of this in verses 8 through 19. He lists 17 traits. Let me go. Let's look at verse eight.

Let me look at verse eight. He lists uh um three of them. In verse eight, let's read verse eight. He says, "Likewise are also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries." There are three characteristics that you need to be aware of right there.

There they are right there. Number one, and all of these are in verse eight. There's three of them right there. three things. Number one, filthy dreams. They have dreams that are not wholesome, not godly. The the scriptures call them dirty dreams. Filthy dreams, what the scripture calls them.

And it's a warning to us that you be very cautious and careful about paying attention to people who dream who dreams that defile the flesh. Filthy dreamers. He calls them dreams that are not uh godly. Secondly, they reject authority. And they be when you hanging around people who don't can't nobody tell them anything.

Nobody can give them instructions. They don't listen to the authorities in their life. They don't listen to their parents. They don't listen to their boss at work. They don't listen to the the laws of the land. They they defile they they reject authority and they have filthy dreamers.

That that's the first two. And then thirdly, he says they speak evil of dignitaries. When when people that they ought to speak well of, they speak evil about. These are some This is the first three characteristics of the 17 that he mentions that you ought to be careful of.

Now, evaluate who you hang out with. Hang out. Evaluate who the people are that you listen to the words they have to say. Be cautious. Be careful. these three first three characteristics of them. Uh um and then he gives it gives us yet another example. He says he says um matter of fact let's let's read verse nine.

Let's go to verse nine real quick. He says in verse 9, "Yet Michael the archangel in contending with the devil when he disputed about the body of Moses dared not bring against him a reviling accusation but said the Lord rebuke him." And I think that's an interesting verse because he says the the archangel Michael when he was contending with the devil over the body of Moses, that's something that's another discussion about that.

But what he is saying is uh there was a debate about the body of Moses. And when when Michael the archangel had to contend with the mo the body of Moses against the enemy, against Satan, he says uh uh instead of him calling him a name, uh he asked the Lord to rebuke him.

So even even Michael the archangel gave a a somewhat of of what he wanted to do with with the enemy, with Satan. So he wouldn't even speak evil of the dignitary of Satan. So uh is mentioning this as an example of the warning of of being careful of people who uh don't listen to authorities and who who don't who don't speak people who speak evil of dignitaries. and he listen Michael has an has has a person an angel who wouldn't speak evil of uh of Satan but said the Lord rebuke him I think that's I think that's profound and interesting point okay let's keep on going let's go let's let's let's go down to verse 10 in verse 10 he says this uh but these speak evil of whatever they do not know and whatever they know naturally like Bruce Beast in these things they corrupt themselves.

So here's here's yet uh another couple of things for number point four and five of of these characteristics. They speak verse four. They speak evil of dignitaries. They they they they they speak evil of things they don't know. So let me slow down and take my time. I'm trying to read several things here.

But here's number four. They speak evil about things they don't know nothing about. They they they they they give a uh a a statement about something that they have no idea what they're talking about. That's what number verse four, that's what verse 10 says. Number four, and number five, they corrupt themselves in the things they know.

They they find themselves corrupting themselves like animals, no self-control, running by their lower nature. He is saying they're corrupting themselves by going after things um that they shouldn't go after like animals. He's using that example. So that's that's numbers four and number five that here are some elements and some things that again be careful about people who uh find themselves chasing after their lower nature um corrupting themselves.

He says that verse 11 he goes into here's three more things he says in verse 6 here's verse 11 verses 67 and 8 things that he mentions let's let's read those things uh let's read verse 11 he says in verse 11 woe to them for they have gone in the way of Cain have run greedily in the era of balam for profit and per and perished in the rebellion of Kora.

Now, here here's uh an example of uh these numbers, numbers uh 6,7, and 8. These three things, 6,7, and 8. Let me let me put those up there real quick. Verse 11, they follow Cain's example. Y'all know about Cain who killed his brother. He killed his own brother. and they're following these people are will kill their own family for something to gain to benefit to themselves.

They don't care about their family. All they care about is themselves. And then he mentions not only uh does he mention those who are following in Cain's example, he says they run after the Balum. Balum uh the same era of Balum. Um, Balam thought he was more than he was and he sought to curse God's people and God had to rebuke him because he tried to elevate himself.

He tried to make himself uh these are stories that are again these are biblical examples of stories in the scripture that Jude the writer of this book is calling out the examples of how they lived that he wants us to know that these are examples for us. if you think you can live any kind of way.

So, uh, Cain, y'all know what happened to him. He he he killed his brother, uh, for his own gain. Balamu thought he was, uh, more important than others and sought to curse God's people and God rebuked him. And then the last one is Kora. Uh, they they have perished in the rebellion of Kora.

People perished because they followed because Kora conspired to come against Moses. And God judged him. He thought he was better than Moses. He thought he he he was elevated over Moses. It's a dangerous crowd to hang out with when people want to place themselves above spiritual authority. And that's in fact what they that's in fact what they did.

That's what that's what Kora did. thought he was uh came up with a plan to overtake Moses and God judged him for it. Kora ended up being judged and and and he influenced people to follow him. These are examples. These are examples in the scripture that that that tells us warns us about uh how we live our lives and how we ought to what we ought to do to make our life pleasing, acceptable to God.

He's telling us don't follow the examples of these people. So, you need to you need to listen to the people you hang out with. And if they fall in these categories, these are not people to hang out with. These are not people to be close friends with. Let's go on to verse 12.

Let me go to verse 12 because verse 12 picks up this thing. Verse 12 says, "These are spots in your love feast. While they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried out by the winds, late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots."

Go ahead to verse 13 while you're there. I'll come back and look at them. raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame, wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. This is given again a description of these people of of of of the path that they following and lived and it gives us a series of of things.

Here's what he says about them uh in in he says in verse 12, they are clouds without water. He says they are clouds without water. They are carried about by the winds. They they are clouds, but there's no water, no substance to them. And they are carried by the wind.

Whichever way the wind blows, whichever way people come through town with what they believe, they they flow with the wind. They're going whichever way. They are like trees with no fruit. They have they they don't bear any fruit. They're twice dead. They're dead in more than one way.

They are uh pulled up by the roots. He says that that any any if you go pull something up by the roots, it means it didn't get it's not solidly grounded anywhere. So they just pulled up and the roots come with it when you pull it up. They are waging raging waves of the sea.

Um raging waves of the sea just uh like the waves in the sea that flow but there's no substance to them. Foaming up their own shame. He says lot of talk, a lot of mouth, a lot of something to say, but really no substance to what they're saying.

Wandering stars for whom are reserved the dark the blackness of darkness forever. They they they they have no uh no purpose, no direction, no sense. And there's a lot of people hanging around the world hang and I'm hoping they're not hanging around you who got a lot of stuff to say, but they really ain't saying nothing.

It's a warning to us. It is. It is a warning to us. Verse 14, let me go to verse 14. He says this. Now Enoch the seventh from Adam prophesied about these men also saying behold the Lord comes with 10,000 of his saints to execute judgment on all to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken. against him.

Now, here's what this this is a this is a warning, a judgment. Uh Enoch prophesied about these people who would come and God is bringing his judgment with 10,000 of his saints. And he's going to execute judgment uh to convict these ungodly people. This this is his uh warning again that God's going to bring judgment to these people.

God's going to uh uh uhh open up and bring his judgment. And even Enoch prophesied against people like this. There's comes a day of judgment that God's going to judge people. And and and and all I'm saying to you today, make sure that you don't get swayed and pulled aside.

Make sure that you don't get uh deceived and fall into the flow of what these people doing and what they're saying and what they're trying to get people to convince them to do. These are people he gives us a firm warning about. Okay. All right. And so that's that's that's uh um all of that for uh these these verses 12, 13, 14, 15 speaks to um uh uh some of these characteristics of these people who uh they only are serving themselves only about what they think is important.

Uh think life revolves around them and it and it doesn't. The greatest thing you can do is recognize life is not about you. It's about the kingdom of God. It's about Jesus Christ. Life is not about what you want. It's dangerous to try to think that it doesn't that that that you can do what you want to do and live the way you want to live.

It's about your satisfaction. How many families have been destroyed? How many homes have been wrecked apart? How many churches have been destroyed? How many businesses has gone out of step gone out of the way and been destroyed because somebody made a choice to to to live their life to satisfy themselves as opposed to satisfying God.

It's tragic. It's it's it's it's devastating. It's it's it's it's horrible. Okay. Um let's let me go on to verse 16. Let me go on verse uh because it it it too gives us uh uh the 10th thing. It says they are grumblers. Let me talk a moment about grumblers.

If you have a King James version, it will use the word murmurers. Here's what these are. These are people who complain against God. That's what grumblers mean. It means they got something to complain against God about. This is number 10. Uh this is number 10 that flows into this.

They they they complain against God. They got some fault to find with God. What else they do? They are complainers. That means this word complainers means they they're not content with anything. Nothing satisfies them. That's what this means. They they are discontent with life. That's number 11. That's characteristic number 11.

Nothing satisfies them. They're dis find themselves in a horrible posture and place. They are complainers. uh uh number and then uh the 12th thing it says they walk according to their own lust. This is also mentioned in verse eight. We going verse 18. We're going to see that in verse 18 as well.

But it's it's again everything I just been saying. It's it's all about them. It's all about their lust and what they what they want. Life, you know, life doesn't revolve around you or me. It does not. Life does not. Number 13. Uh characteristic number 13, great swelling words that they flatter people for personal gain.

And and here's what that means. This means these are people who speak highly of other people or make them think highly of themselves for the express purpose of having them affirm them. And and in in other words, they they they applaud you so that you'll say something good about them.

That's what that means. great swelling words. They speak words to flatter you for their own personal gain. That's what it boils down to. Great swelling words that they flatter people for their own personal gain. And then in verse 17, it says this. Verse 17 tells us again something that's another thing he he tells us in verse 17, "But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Verse 17, he says, "Remember what Jesus said to you. Go by what he said." Verse 18, that's verse 18. Uh, "Remember what Jesus said about about you." Verse 18, "How they told you that there would be mockers in the last day who would walk according to their own ungodly lust."

Again, this Jesus says that in the last days, when we get to the end of time, when we get to the end of the journey, people are uh speaking uh words according to their own ungodly lust to satisfy themselves. Again, this this is repeated over and over again that they're speaking words for their own satisfaction.

Um uh and then he says in verse 19 he gives us verse in verse 14 I'm sorry verse 18 gives us number 14 characteristic number 14 markers and then in verse 19 it says these are sensual persons who cause the visions not having the spirit. Here's three more characteristics.

They are sensual persons. Their focus is on sensuality. They cause divisions. Number 16. Number 17. They don't have the spirit. These are the characteristics of these people who he warns us about sensual cause divisions and they don't have the spirit of God. They're not they're not from the family of God.

They don't demonstrate that the the presence and power of God lives within them. And so, it's a warning to to them. all of these 17 traits. When you see it, run away from it. When you see it, don't heed it. Don't listen to it. Now, he closes. Let me let me just finish up the the last direction, the last things that uh he says to us.

Uh he gives us he gives us u fourth four characteristics. I call these Jude's directives. Jude gives us some directives. He starts off by telling us verse 20, build up your holy faith. Uh, I like what the King James, New King James says, but but you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith.

Now, how do we build up our faith? How do we build up our most holy faith? Uh, uh, Romans uh, I'm uh, yeah, Romans 10:17. Here's what Romans 10 uh 17. Let me let me read that to you. Romans 10:17. I don't know if they got that. Um let me get that for you.

So then there it is. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. This is how we build up our faith by staying rooted and grounded in the teachings of the of the word of God. Listen to the word, read the word, hear the preaching of the word.

That's that's what builds up our faith. uh build up your most holy faith. And we do that by staying in the word of God, reading, studying, meditating upon the word of God. Uh uh uh studying the word of God. That's what we do. So that's that's one that's the first point.

He says build up your most holy faith. The more you're in the word, the more you build your faith. Secondly, he says pray in the Holy Spirit. There's the second thing he says pray allow the Holy Spirit to pray through you. That's what I believe that means when it says pray in the Holy Spirit.

Let the Holy Spirit to pray and intercede through you. Listen Romans 8 Romans 8:26 says this. Likewise, the spirit also helps us helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

I like that. Verse 26. Verse 27. Now he who searches the heart knows what the mind of the spirit is because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. That's a that my brothers and sisters is a powerful profound passage of scripture because he's saying he's telling us um the spirit of God searches our heart and he knows what what it is that we should be praying for because the truth of the matter is we always don't know what we should pray for or how we should pray but he knows what the spirit of God he knows what the will of God is and he makes intercession for us.

So I believe we have to learn how to let the Holy Spirit pray and intercede through you, motivate you on what to pray for and how to pray for. In my own personal life, that translates into me allowing the Holy Spirit very often in a language I don't understand where the Holy Spirit prays to God on my behalf.

Amen. And and and the way I have felt that and the way I know the best way I know to describe that is at times in my life when I've been praying and talking to God, I feel an uncction uh uh something will come to my a feeling and a thought come to my mind, a coinciding something inside of me wants to be released to God and some words will come to my mind that I understand.

And so I have to I have to by faith just utter what it is comes to my mind and the most amazing thing happens. I feel a release. I feel the presence and power of God released into the atmosphere and I feel my prayer has shot up to heaven.

That's just the best way I know to describe that. That's the best way I know to explain it to you. It doesn't make sense in the natural, but it is an an act of faith that God is the spirit of God is speaking through me to God. And I I step out by faith and speak those words and and they get ushered up into heaven.

That's what I believe praying in the Holy Spirit means. And I would and I would tell you not to be afraid. Not to be afraid. As you build up your prayer life and as you build up your faith, it will come natural to you. But it will only require you to usher out and speak the words that come to your mind that you don't understand.

Amen. That's what I call praying in the Holy Spirit. So that's the first those are first thing first two things uh Jude admonishes us to do. He says build up your holy faith. And he says pray in the Holy Spirit. That's number that's those first two. Then he says, here's the third thing.

He says, "Keep in the love of God." Somebody said, "Keep in the love of God." And and what that means is, and I believe you, you know, never allow anybody to move you away from um loving loving God. Whatever you do, love God. Be thankful to the Lord.

Don't let the enemy make you get bitter toward God. The devil is at at uh anxious to want you to turn your back on God, to reject God, to deny God. That's what the enemy wants you to do. But we have to, we are people of faith. We believe God.

We know God. We trust God. And he says, Jude tells us, stay in the love of God. Keep the love of God. Keep loving God. And look for God's mercy. You know how you that's how you stay in the love of God. You keep looking for the mercy of God. when the fact is God woke you up this morning.

He gave you the activities of your limbs. The love of God uh the mercy of God uh protected you. The mercy of God, you can look back over your life and see the doors God's opened for you, the prayers God's open for, the provisions God's made available to you.

He tells us stay in in loving God and have the mercy of God. That is a an an an a a an an awesome and important thing that God is calling for you to do and for you to to to grab a hold of. Amen. So that's that's the third that's the third thing he tells us to do.

Then he tells us uh have compassion. It's in verse number 22. He says in verse 22 he says and on some have compassion making a distinction. The same way God has shown compassion to you, the same thing the way God has shown you mercy, he says you have compassion on other people.

Have compassion. Uh listen, matter of fact, um that that's how we make a distinction of who we are when we are compassionate to other people. We're not selfish. We're not uh all of this whole chapter we talk about not being selfish and self-centered and thinking about yourself. Have compassion on other people.

When's the last time you've done something compassionate for somebody that you took resources and try to be a blessing to someone? When's the last time you've done that? My wife was telling me the other day she walked out the grocery store and she saw a person that she felt uh she felt needed some compassion.

So she re she felt the Lord tell tell her to reach in her pocket, her purse, and take all the money she had and give it to that person. And sure enough, that's what she did. She took all the I think she said it was $120 out of her pocket and gave it to this person.

That's com that's that's being compassionate to somebody. Yes. She she saw a person who looked like they didn't have nothing and they were in desperate need and she was having compassion. Amen. And then finally verse 23 let's read verse 23 the last verse um of this of this directive he gives us uh he says this but others save with fear pulling them out of the fire hating even the garments defiled by the by the flesh. others saved with fear.

You know, you know what that means? It means we're going to help get somebody saved from going to hell, pulling them out of the fire. They're on right now. They were to die in the the stat the state stat status that they're in. If they were to die in that condition, the tragedy is that they would go to hell.

But thanks be to God, he has made it possible for you and I to be able to help win somebody to the kingdom of God and get them saved for the sake of the kingdom of God. And and again, believe it or not, that's what God is calling you and I to do and to be to save people from hell.

That's the ultimate thing that God's calling us to do. Save people from a burning hell. Now, there's two verses left in this passage. And verse 24 is what I want to I want to close with with you. This is the conclusion. I call this the conclusion. It tells us two things that God is able to do.

And and and I think these are these are two two significant things. He says verse number 24, "Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy." There are the two things right there.

Number one, he's able to keep you from stumbling. Now, that that's important because the the teachers in this church that Jude is writing to are telling people it didn't matter how you lived and you don't have to live a certain kind of a way. But Jude closes his book by saying, "We serve a God who's able to keep you from stumbling.

He's able to guard you from falling to the side or making the mistake. He's able to keep you from stumbling. And he's able to present you faultless." I love that, too. Those there are two significant things that God is able to do. keep you from falling, keep you from stumbling, and that when you are presented before God, he will present you faultless.

He will he he will enable you and empower you to be able to stand before God without blame. And I and I find that the most amazing thing. The presence of God can present you before the very presence of God with without fault. Glory to God. Those those are significant deals and I'm going to celebrate God for that.

Now, having said all of that, let me take a uh let me close this with a couple couple questions. All right. Um let me let me close with some I I I see I have some questions here. Amen. Oh, man. We've got people from all over. I see we have some people from Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, Louisiana, South Africa.

Hey Cape Town, South Africa, glad to see you. How do we navigate disciplehip? Here's a question. If we are advised to stay away from people with poor character, well po people with poor character, they don't want to be discipled. So you you have to make a determination. Do people want to be discipled?

Uh the scriptur is not telling us to waste our time with people who have rejected the gospel, don't want to hear the gospel, don't want to learn from the gospel. Amen. So, so disciplehip is, you know, we we're not we we are admonished in scripture, don't cast your pearls before swine.

Don't cast the truth of the gospel or the the principles of truth before people who don't really want to hear it. So, um when people have poor character and they don't want to change and they don't want to hear it, we're not we're not advising you to um uh disciple them.

The Bible doesn't tell us to disciple them. you the if you the the person who asked that question, you might have to go back to when we talked about um in one of our prior teachings about connecting with people and keeping them. How we determine who are the people that we are called to disciple and keep.

Everybody's not going to be capable of being kept. They don't want to be kept. They don't want to learn. They don't want to study the word. They don't want to be obedient to it. And we we see that through various scriptures in the Bible verses in the scriptures that warns us about that.

So I would I would tell you to be cautious and careful about who you want to spend time with. We're not called to try to change people who don't want to who don't want to learn. How do we navigate disciplehip if we advise? Oh, maybe that's the same.

Oh, that they put that that's the same question. Okay, let me go to another question. And I recognize several of the traits that you covered tonight in myself. How do I begin to reverse this? Boy, that's a powerful question. Let me let me um Oh, boy. Let I I want to applaud you for having enough honesty to say that you see yourself in some of these traits.

And once you recognize that that's what you are, you got to get in a a posture to change. You have to you can't keep those things as a child of God. You have to be surrendered. You you change by surrendering to God. How do you change? You change by to study the word of God.

Being in an environment where the people who will hold you accountable. Accountability is the key here. You are in an environment where people hold you accountable to your choices, your decisions, your actions. Hold them account. Ask them to hold you accountable. Ask people to point out when you say things, do things that are not according to what God wants.

Ask God to show you who these people might be and how you how God wants you to to change. So you you change that getting in the word, studying the word, and applying your life. Okay, that's a that's a great question. I I applaud you that. What are dignitaries?

And can you please explain abode? Abode means abiding. It means to stay. That's what the word above means. And what are dignitaries? People are dignitaries are people who are uh uh significant people who have um status, people who are important, people who have are um in positions of authority would be a dignitary person.

So people who are should be listened to. Okay. Um boy, I got more questions than I'm going to be able to answer here. Let me see if I can get another one of these questions in before. What do you do if those people are in your immediate family, a part of your daily interactions?

Pray for them. You can't, you know, sometimes people um might be in your own family and the greatest thing you can do with a person in your own family is pray for them. Pray for God to change their hearts. Pray for God to make them new creations and ask God and you be the witness for them.

You you live before them. You show them you making sacrifices. You be a model. I think that's the greatest thing. You be a model. You be the model to show them what's the right thing to do. You show them what's the right thing to do. Yeah. My time is up, man.

I'm I'm I'm sorry I didn't get to answer all these questions. Um uh there was some great question. Maybe I'll try to pick up on some of these next week. Try try to get to to to your answers. Matter of fact, I will try to ask the production people, give me these questions, email them to me, and I'll start off next week by answering because I I didn't get to all of the questions.

So, I want to try to get to some. Some of these questions are excellent questions, and I want to um I want to try to answer them. Hey y'all, thank y'all for joining me today. I'm I'm so humbled for the two or three thousands of your of yours.

We average about 2,000 3,000 people a Tuesday night. I'm humbled, honored, wherever you are that you choose to join me. If you're first time on here and I'm you're just getting here, you don't know the Lord and you want to know the Lord, we're going to put a a phone number on the screen for you to call, a button that you can click, an email that you can write to, we would love to be able to share the gospel with you and get you right with God.

If you don't have a church home, we'd love for you to be a member of our church family. uh we would love to be able to help share Christ with you. So, it's my appeal to you to call us, send an email, or click the button there to commit.

I'm appreciative and I pray that God helps you live the way he wants you to live. Walk the way he wants you to walk so you won't be deceived by the enemy or false teachers in Jesus name. God bless you. Good night everybody. >> This is FBCG News.

Be a disciple and make a disciple. Be a disciple and make a disciple. Here's what's happening on our church calendar. Make informed decisions for your future at the Ask a Professional Expo. Saturday, May 16th, 9:00 a.m. at the Worship Center. This event is designed to give you expert guidance on life's most important matters, including legal advice, taxes, personal finance, investing, estate planning, and end of life planning.

Take advantage of free consultations with trusted professionals who can help you navigate your next step with confidence. Register today at fbcgillharden.org/askro. Ladies, it's time to step away and be refreshed. Join us for the Grace Girls Getaway beginning May 20th. A powerful time of rest, renewal, and connection. This year's experience is designed to remind you that you are loved, seen, and called by God.

Through impactful teaching, worship, and meaningful moments, you'll leave engaged, and strengthened for what's ahead. Register today at fbcg glennard.org/getaway. That's the news for this week. To learn more about these events, monthly gatherings, and all things FBCG, visit fBC glennard.org.