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Jude: A Call to Battle


MESSAGE SUMMARY

SERIES:

Fight for the House

MESSAGE:

A Call to Battle

Skip Heitzig

SPEAKER:

SCRIPTURE:

Jude 1:1-4

Standing for God’s truth is a serious thing, and yet it is part of our responsibility to do exactly that.

Welcome to the only book in the New Testament devoted entirely to apostasy (the abandoning of the

truth, the defecting from the faith). This short little letter (only twenty-five verses) is one of the most

neglected yet important books in Scripture. As we begin our series Fight for the House, we will try to

frame the battle by looking at who’s called to fight, what the battle is, whom we are fighting, and what

weaponry we are using. Suit up, soldiers; it’s time to get into this battle!

STUDY GUIDE

Connect Group Recap: April 18, 2021

Speaker: Skip Heitzig

Teaching: "A Call to Battle"

Text: Jude 1-4

Path

Standing for God's truth is a serious thing, and yet it is part of our responsibility to do exactly that.

Welcome to the only book in the New Testament devoted entirely to apostasy (the abandoning of the

truth, the defecting from the faith). This short little letter (only twenty-five verses) is one of the most

neglected yet important books in Scripture. As we begin our series Fight for the House, we will try to

frame the battle by looking at who's called to fight, what the battle is, whom we are fighting, and what

weaponry we are using. Suit up, soldiers; it's time to get into this battle! Pastor Skip's path through the

text is:

I.

II.

III.

IV.

The Army (vv. 1-2)

The Hostility (v. 3)

The Artillery (v. 3)

The Enemy (v. 4)

Points

The Army (vv. 1-2)

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• Generally, Christians don't like to fight; we prefer peace, as many of us believe strife doesn't

represent our Savior.

• But there are two sides to Jesus: a gentle side and a combative side (see Matthew 21:12-13).

• The letter of Jude addresses the hard-hitting aspects of the Christian faith. It reminds us that

the Christian life is not a playground, but a battleground.

• Jude is like a fighter's manual for believers. It's full of brevity, commands, and directives.

• Jude was writing against those who wanted to destroy the Christian faith—false teachers and

apostates, or those who have left the faith.

• Jude was the half brother of Jesus (see Matthew 13:53-56). His full name was Judas.

• Originally, Jude was probably one of the family who thought Jesus was "out of His mind" (Mark

3:21).

• But after the resurrection, Jude's life changed. He became part of the early church (see Acts

1:14).

• The church is Jesus' army. God called us to Himself, set us apart for Himself, and will protect us

by Himself.

• We don't fight for the victory; we fight from the victory.

• And there are benefits to being in God's army: "mercy, peace, and love…multiplied" (v. 2).

The Hostility (v. 3)

• Jude, as Warren Wiersbe noted, put down his harp and sounded the trumpet.

• Jude found it necessary, through the prompting of the Holy Spirit, to proclaim the facts against

the foes of the faith.

• As the J.B. Phillips translation renders verse 3, Jude called believers to "put up a real fight for

the faith."

• The Greek word for contend is an athletic term meaning to stretch the muscles to the point of

agony. In other words, Jude was calling Christians to fight with everything they have within

themselves.

• And what are we to fight for? Faith—the apostles' doctrine, biblical truth (see 1 Corinthians 2:2;

1 Peter 3:15).

• Martin Luther said, "A preacher must be both soldier and shepherd. He must nourish, defend,

and teach; he must have teeth in his mouth, and be able to bite and to fight."

The Artillery (v. 3)

• What did Jude say was delivered to the saints? God's truth.

• Not only do we fight for the faith, but we also fight with the faith; we fight error with truth.

• Christians shouldn't yell, slander, malign, post nasty tweets, or lob ad hominem attacks at

people; rather, we should declare the truth in love.

• When Satan tried to tempt Jesus and misquoted Scripture, Jesus fought back with truth, saying,

"It is written" (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10).

• When Jesus contended with spiritual leaders, He told them, "You are mistaken, not knowing

the Scriptures" (Matthew 22:29).

• There's a reason pastors should spend time in the Word: to give people God's truth,

ammunition for the army.

• The army should take that ammunition and inflict heavy damage on the enemy by declaring the

truth.

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The Enemy (v. 4)

• In verse 4, Jude described the characteristics of apostates.

• An apostate is not a true believer but a professed believer who has abandoned what they said

they believed.

• Jude listed four characteristics:

o They're deceitful. They slip in secretly; they pretend to be Christians but are evil agents.

o They're ungodly. They claim to belong to God but are immoral in their thinking and

living.

o They "turn the grace of our God into lewdness." A lewd person is someone who thinks

only of satisfying their lust. Furthermore, they want everyone to agree with their

definition of morality (concerning sexuality, abortion, politics, etc.). C.H. Spurgeon said,

"The new views are not the old truth in a better dress, but deadly errors with which we

can have no fellowship."

o They deny Christ. They use the name of Jesus in their deception, but they don't want to

live under His authority (see Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46-49).

Practice

Connect Up: Why is truth important to God? Why are both biblical truth and scientific truth to be

defended in today's world? (Hint: God created both.) Look up the following texts and discuss God's—

and our—relationship to truth: Psalm 31:5; 117:2; 111:7; 2 Samuel 7:28; John 14:6, 17; 15:26; 16:13;

4:23; Daniel 9:13; Psalm 145:18; 2 John 1:4.

Connect In: When was the last time you encountered false teaching? How did you know it was false

teaching? What did you do? What should you do the next time you encounter false teaching?

Connect Out: In this post-truth world, how would you discuss with an unbeliever that there is such

a thing as truth? To help start your discussion, check out this article from Norman Geisler and Frank

Turek: https://www.crossway.org/articles/norman-geisler-19322019-on-the-truth-about-truth.

OUTLINE

I.

II.

III.

The Army (vv. 1-2)

The Hostility (v. 3)

The Artillery (v. 3)

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IV.

The Enemy (v. 4)

Topic: apostasy

Keywords: battle, the Bible, contend, faith, false teaching, fight, God’s Word, truth

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Standing for God’s truth is a serious thing. Standing against it carries major repercussions. In this series, Skip Heitzig presents Jude’s call to get in the ring—a call that is as relevant today as it was when Jude penned his letter. Believers must defend the gospel to unbelievers. They also must guard against false teachings that distract from the truth documented in God’s Word and threaten to destroy the church. In the fight to protect the church and the truth of the gospel, are you a contender?


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