Bro Gary Sunday PM 5/8/11

Bro Gary Sunday PM 5/8/11

Jude was writing after the Gospel Day had already begun.  He wrote warning the church about a lot of things.  Towards the end of the book, he changed the subject from the problems to the Beloved.  

I didn’t bring it out this morning but John often addressed the church as “The Beloved” or “Little Children.” 

Jude turned his thoughts to the Beloved.  We can be so bombarded with negative stuff that we can get on the wrong end of the stick in our outlook on life.  Everything will be negative.  The focus is often on the bad, yet there are a lot of good things happening.

Every day that we get closer to Jesus’ return, faith will be more precious than ever before.  In Luke 11 the question was asked, “Will I find faith?”  I often think that the world is still in existence because people are praying, “Wait a little longer please Jesus, I have a sister, a brother, a friend that needs to be saved.”

Jud 1:20  But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,

I wouldn’t take the attitude that God’s people are not praying; I believe that there is a seed of God’s people throughout the world that are really praying.  I just want to leave this thought of “Pray in the Holy Ghost until your faith is growing.”

Jud 1:21  Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

Each of us is bombarded with things in life that could cause us to fail of the grace of God, to get agitated and disgusted.  We will only do our self harm if we go that way.

Jude instructed us to pray in the Holy Ghost, keep ourselves in the love of God, and look for the mercy of God unto eternal life.  Our world is so hardened.  Not only the old are hard we see young people that are hard as well.  (What happened to the attitude of being modest and covered?  You see people that are rude and unkind in general.)  We need to be looking for the mercy of God and opportunities to let people know that we are going to be praying for them.

Jud 1:22  And of some have compassion, making a difference:

Jud 1:23  And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

May God help us to have discernment.  May God help us to help others that have a spot on their garment to let them know that even though they’ve failed God is able to cleanse them and to help them be more than a conqueror.

Jud 1:24  Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,

We know that we are in a common battle.  Unbelief is on the rampage today.  The red horse rider in the Revelation went out with unbelief to take peace and to kill.  The horse that followed was the black horse with a rider that has the balance in his own hand.  May God help you and I to not take the balance in our own hand and to not let anyone else take the balance into their hand.  Every time man holds the balance it will be unequal and unjust.

God is able to keep us from falling.  There is only one way to not fall and that is to have living faith that is growing and to add building blocks to our faith.  Having faith in God doesn’t mean that you will never have a problem.  We need to have faith in God so that heaven is more real to us today than it has ever been.  God wants us to have faith and say, “God if for some reason you’ve allowed me to be in this condition, I present myself to you and ask that you cause it to work in me so that I can grow and have the victory.”

It takes living and growing faith to be kept.  People often testify that they are in the worst battle that they have ever been in.  If you’ve won the victory last time, the enemy will not come to you just that strong, but he will come on a little stronger.

To present you faultless:  In the preceding verses Jude hammered pretty hard on the murmurers and complainers.  We may not understand why we are in the position that we are in, but we can know that God knows all about it and is able to help us and keep us.

If you start building a case of self pity than it will get out of hand the first day.  In the last 4 months there are a lot of things that I don’t understand, but God knows all about it.  God sees both sides of the valley that you are in.  For whichever side of the valley that God chooses for you to be traveling, if He’s allowed you to be where it is difficult, know that God’s grace is sufficient and allow him to keep you there however long you need to be there so that He can present you faultless.

Jud 1:25  To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

We have the 66 books of the Bible and thank God for all of those that were faithful and true and left us this testimony.  All those written about in the Old and New Testament are the cloud of witnesses.  

I really appreciate Matthew for writing what he did.  He wrote in chapter 5 that Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in the spirit.”  When I am down and read this, it immediately encourages me.  

It’s alright to hunger.  “Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst.”  

When there are people that shoot arrows at you, “Blessed are you when men say all manner of evil against you falsely for my name’s sake.”  Thank God for the cloud of witnesses Old Testament and New and what they left us in the Word of God.

If you will let the world, they will tell you all the bad that is wrong in Sanders County, in Montana, in the USA, in Canada, and everywhere else.  They will tell you that tomorrow there will be so much contamination that the halibut will die.  I don’t believe it.  

They say that there is not going to be enough water.  (I wish they were saying that there was not going to be enough chlorine.  When I read about what chlorine does to the body, it makes me want to be hiking to the spring to get my water.)  Weighted down with thoughts and problems saying that there’s not going to be enough money to have school and not going to be enough money to pay your taxes.

God doesn’t want you over loaded.  Lay aside every weight and the sin which does so easily beset you.  Where ever there is carnality, it needs to be removed.  We don’t want to be in the mode of being set to protect our self.  It is wonderful that we get rid of that nature to sin.  Aren’t you glad that you are not worshipping anything that is tangible?

Run the race with patience.  You cannot outrun the race.  You are going to be in the race until Jesus calls us home.  While you’re running, keep your eyes on Jesus.  He endured the cross.  There is no way that we can have our eyes focused on Jesus and be discouraged.  While we are running, there are things that would fill our backpack.  We look up to him.  

We’re in a race with our backpack full of stuff?  There is a place to put our cares, our indecision, the travail we have on our soul.  There are things that we really want to see happen, good desires that would bring the best out in an individual.  We say, “God, I cannot bear this burden on my own.”  

If you put your hand to it you may mess it up.  As good as the desire might be, He’s the one that has given you the desire.  It is He that will help it to be accomplished.  You’re travailing and burdened; you look up to him.  There is nothing impossible with God.  

He went through the cross and despised the shame and for our benefit he is set at the right hand of the throne of God and making intercession.  We’re not sure how many times Jesus has stood up as he did when Stephen was to be stoned.  They wanted to destroy him; they were blood thirsty.  If someone is after you and wants to destroy you, be encouraged, Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the Father making intercession on our behalf.  

Don’t ever think that those mean spirits that were after Bro Jeremiah and Bro John when they put him into the hot oil are out to recess.  Satan is loosed out of his prison.  I read in history that the mean Beast killed about 500 saints in France.  Don’t think that those mean spirit have been destroyed.

The spirit of the world is not just a spirit that attacks teenagers.  It will try to make an attack on people my age and older.  The enemy is playing for keeps.  When you are sorely tested, Jesus is at the right hand of the father making intercession.  It is not our position to say, “God please feel sorry for me.”  It is our position to ask God to work through the situation so that we will come out faultless.

We’ve obtained like precious faith.  I thought of those saints that have gone on before that I remember.    They held on by faith.  Think today of the scenes that are now before them.  We have like precious faith.

2Pe 1:5  And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;

2Pe 1:6  And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;

2Pe 1:7  And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

2Pe 1:8  For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1Jn 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

1Jn 5:5  Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

1Jn 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

1Jn 2:17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.