REFORMATION
Oct.
31-Nov. 2, 2020
Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude
Text:
Jude
“CONTEND FOR THE FAITH!”
(The need for
ongoing Reformation)
1.
Because
sinful man has a long history of opposing and trying to destroy it.
2.
Because
the Lord Himself has given you the power to do so for Him.
Brothers and sisters, today we remember
and observe the Lutheran Reformation. Some may wonder why we continue to do so.
It happened very long ago. It may have made sense to make a big deal about it
at its 500th anniversary in 2017 but why now?
To answer that question I remind you
of the Second Law of Thermodynamics. It deals with entropy. In very simplified
terms it says that everything in the universe is in a continual state of moving
from order to chaos unless you put more energy into it. Think of a garden.
Those in our Garden Club know that if they plant a beautiful flower garden in
spring and do nothing to it they will not have a beautiful garden in a month
but rather a bed of weeds. Did they plant weeds? No. But to keep a garden orderly
you have to put energy in. Not just any energy, but intelligently guided
energy. If you light a fire in the garden, even though you added energy it’s
the wrong kind, not intelligently guided. This law, by the way, indicates why
it is so important that we don’t blindly follow science. The same science that
has correctly come up with the Second Law of Thermodynamics has incorrectly
provided us with the Theory of Evolution that says things in the universe went
from chaos to order without any intelligently guided energy put in, The theory
is exactly the opposite of the law but we are supposed to believe it because
the science says so. You don’t blindly follow the science because science can
get it really right and science can get it really wrong. Why is that? Because
sinful man is involved.
That’s also why ongoing Reformation is
needed. When you look at the events surrounding the Lutheran Reformation from
our viewpoint today you can’t help but ask the question, “How? How does it
happen that Christ’s church needed reforming?” Think. When Jesus completed His
work on earth He left behind a church of people who were committed to Him and
all of His teachings. They welcomed death rather than deny. They showed great
concern for the well being of each other, giving of their own money to help one
another. How do you go from that church to a church that at the time of Martin
Luther has a monk commissioned by the Roman Catholic church going from town to
town selling indulgences which were pieces of paper that said if you bought
them you could get payment for your sins? You could pay off a loved one’s debt
of sin when in fact Jesus had already paid for them in full? How does that
happen? It seems there is a spiritual law of thermodynamics. Spiritual Entropy.
Every true gathering of believers will go from an ordered state of allegiance
to Jesus and all of His teachings to a disordered state of following things
made up by man unless you put spiritual energy in. Not just any spiritual energy
but the spiritual energy guided by divine intelligence. God.
It’s always been that way since sin
came into the world. The portion of God’s Word before us is a one chapter book
of the Bible written by a man who identifies himself as Jude. He writes to people
like us, who have been called by the Holy Spirit to believe in Jesus, who now
know of God’s love for us who are set apart to serve Jesus.
Jude,
a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James,
To those who are called, who are
loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: 2 Mercy,
peace, and love be multiplied to you.
Then
he tells us why the Spirit had him write this book of the Bible.
3 Dear friends,
although I was very eager to write to you concerning the salvation we share, I
felt it was necessary for me to write, to urge you to continue to contend for
the faith that was delivered to the saints once and for all.
Contend
for the faith! It’s a call to arms. Likely this book is written around 65 AD, a
little more than 30 years since Jesus ascended. Jude wanted to talk about the
fun things, shared salvation, heaven as home. But He instead had to talk about
the hard things, fighting to hold on to the truth faith. Why? Spiritual
entropy.
For certain
individuals slipped in secretly, about whom it was written some time ago that
they are condemned. They are ungodly people who turn the grace of our God into
a license for sin and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Sinful
man has a long history of opposing and trying to destroy the faith handed down
by Jesus Christ. At the heart is rebellion against God.” God if you are a God
of grace then sin does not matter. Jesus, who are you to tell me what to do.
I’m the Master. I will do things my way.” Jude gives some examples.
5 I want to remind
you, though you already know all these things, that after the Lord rescued his
people out of the land of Egypt, he later destroyed those who did not believe.(Read more on
this in Numbers 11-14!) 6 And
the angels who did not keep their position of authority but left their own
dwelling place behind—God has kept them in everlasting chains under darkness
for the judgment of the great day. 7 Like Sodom and
Gomorrah and the cities around them, who in a similar way indulged in extreme
sexual immorality and pursued homosexual perversion, they serve as an
example of those who are going to suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
(Read more on this in Genesis 19) 8 Yet, in the very same way, these dreamers
are defiling the flesh, despising authority, and blaspheming glorious
ones. 9 But when the archangel Michael was
disputing with the Devil and arguing about the body of Moses, he did not dare
to bring a blasphemous condemnation against him. Instead he said, “The Lord
rebuke you!”
The children of Israel rebelled against
God again and again. They didn’t want the leader God had chosen, Moses. They
wanted their own. The people of Sodom and Gomorrah did not want the natural order
of things God had set up. They chose their own way of sexual immorality and
homosexual perversion. We find that some angels did the same thing. They were
not content with angelic authority. They wanted to be God and were cast out and
now are the Devil and the demons. In this section only the archangel Michael is
careful treat God as the highest.
Some
more history of sinful man.
10 But these people
do not understand what they are blaspheming. They are being destroyed by the
very things that they know by instinct (like unreasoning animals). 11 Woe
to them! They have gone the way of Cain. (Read the whole story in Genesis
4) They have abandoned themselves for
hire to the error of Balaam. (Read about this in 22-25) They perished in Korah’s rebellion.
(More on this in Numbers 16)
Cain pretended to worship God but
cared more about his things. Balaam was
a prophet for hire. If not for a talking donkey he would have been killed and
still he persisted in going against God. Korah rebelled against God’s
leadership. All of them brought God’s judgment on themselves. All who do the
same are like them. And following them leads to nothingness.
12 These people are filthy stains on your love
feasts when they eat with you without fear, shepherding themselves. They are
clouds without rain, being driven along by the winds. They are autumn trees
without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots. 13 They
are wild waves of the sea piling up the foam of their own shame. They are
wandering stars for whom the gloom of darkness has been reserved for eternity.
What
do these have in common? Clouds but no rain. Trees with no fruit. Waves that
just produce foam. Stars that would not stay in place. They are worthless!
Worthless for precipitation, food, enjoyment, navigation. So are those who
oppose and try to destroy the faith. And God will take care of them.
14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, also prophesied about
these people, saying, “Look, the Lord is going to come with tens of thousands
of his holy ones, 15 to execute judgment against
all of them and to convict every soul concerning all their ungodly deeds, which
they did in an ungodly way, and concerning all the harsh words that ungodly
sinners spoke against him.” 16 These are
discontented grumblers, who walk according to their lusts, and their mouths
speak boastful things as they flatter others to take advantage of them. 17 But you, dear friends, remember the words that were
spoken earlier by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 They
said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers who follow their own
ungodly lusts.” 19 These are the people who cause
divisions. They are worldly because they do not have the Spirit.
Friends, it’s Reformation Festival. I
wanted to talk with you about good and fun things, how nice it is to know we
are saved by grace alone through faith alone but instead I have to talk about
contending for the faith. Sinful man has a long history of opposing and trying
to destroy the faith. It was going on at Jude’s time. It happened in Luther’s
time. It is happening now. We know that ultimately the Devil is behind these
attacks on our Lord Jesus. We also know that most of the time he works through
people. He attacks the church from the outside using government oppression and
social pressure. He attacks the church from within. There he uses people who
are in the visible Christian church. Some of you have come to St Jacobi because
you recognized godless men who were changing the grace of God into a license to
sin in your former churches. The fact the God loves the sinner does not mean it
is OK to sin as your pastors were saying. Jesus taught marriage as one man and
one woman. To teach otherwise is to throw off his headship. When church leaders
say sin is not sin anymore the faith is under attack. When church leaders say
you can get to heaven apart from Jesus they are denying our only Master and
Lord Jesus Christ. When they participate in prayer services and worship service
with leaders of the man made religions of the world they lead people to think
our Lord Jesus’ sacrifice did not matter, was not necessary, any god will get
you to heaven. Just like all that glitters is not gold, everything with
Christian stamped on it does not give glory to Christ. It’s more fun to talk
about being nice and kind and tolerant but we also have to talk about
identifying people and churches who teach falsely, calling it out, and
separating ourselves from it. We are called on today to contend for the faith.
Why? Because sinful man has a long history of opposing and trying to destroy
the faith and so ongoing Reformation is needed. Jude called for it. Luther practiced
it.
So can you and I because as Jude
points out and Luther practiced the Lord Himself has given you the power to do
so for Him. As the Devil works through evil people God works through His
people.
20 But you, dear
friends, continue to build yourselves up in your most holy faith as you keep
praying in the Holy Spirit. 21 Keep yourselves in
God’s love as you continue to wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ,
which results in eternal life. 22 Show mercy to
those who are wavering. 23 Save others by snatching
them out of the fire. Show mercy to still others with fear, hating even
the clothing that is stained by the flesh.
There is an emphasis here that
sometimes when you first hear it sounds wrong because it sounds selfish. Take
care of yourself first and then you can help others. Moms, you know about this.
It is so natural to ignore your own needs to sacrifice for your kids until you
ignore too long and you aren’t there for the kids. It makes sense when the
flight attendant tells you to get your oxygen mask on first, then the baby
because if you pass out who helps the baby? In a similar way the Spirit has
Jude exhort us, “Build yourselves up. Keep praying. Keep yourself in God’s
love.” God has not left us helpless as we contend for the faith. He gives us
His powerful word. Use it for yourself. He gives us His powerful self. Pray to
Him Ask Him to do what we cannot. It fits right in with spiritual entropy. When
divinely guided power goes in the church stays committed to Christ. What is
more divinely powerful than word and prayer? Then we are ready to help others.
Show mercy, save others. Don’t get pulled into the spiritual pollution they are
falling for but be the one that says, “Hey but what about in the Bible where it
says…” One of our members told me recently of a conversation she had with a
friend. This member was doing a lot of work to bring plants for St Jacobi’s
gardens. When her friend asked why she said, “I love my church. It teachers
straight from the Bible.” To which her friend replied, “I need that.” That’s
mercy, trying to snatch someone from the fire. It’s contending for the faith.
God has given all of us the power we need to do that. Luther is roughly quoted
as saying, “A simple layman armed with Scripture is greater than the mightiest pope without it."
It’s true and all those people back then built themselves up in God’s word and
prayed to their mighty God and the faith was saved.
You and I have the opportunity to be
reformers in our time, ones that God uses to save the faith in our time. Our St
Jacobi Garden club knows that if they plant beautiful gardens in spring and put
no intelligently guided power in to those gardens they will devolve into beds
of weeds. They also know that if they do what God allows them to do, if they
contend for their gardens, they will be beautiful. In the same way brothers and
sisters if we put no effort in to our own personal faith, if we don’t use the
power of the word and make sure our churches keep proclaiming it we should not
expect our children to have a church that holds to the faith. We will hand them
one that “turns the grace of our God into
a license for sin and denies our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” But
if we contend for the faith, if we practicing ongoing reformation, if we put
into the faith the divinely guided power of the God’s word the faith in America
will be preserved for another generation.
Now it may feel like I’ve laid on you a
heavy burden. The fate of the faith rests on me! Instead I want you to look at
contending for the faith as a privilege. There was nothing special about Martin
Luther. He was a tool in the hand of God. And if I refuse or you refuse God can
pick other tools. At the same time even the simplest of tools in the hand of
God is all powerful. What an honor to be a tool in the hand of the almighty God,
the God who is so great Jude had to finish his call to contend for the faith
with these words of absolute confidence:
24 Now to him who
is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless in the presence
of his glory with great joy, 25 to the
only God, our Savior, be glory, majesty, power, and authority through
Jesus Christ our Lord, before all time, now, and to all eternity. Amen.
This
is most certainly true! Amen!
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