Preservation of God's Truth, Part 1 (Jude 3)

In this part of the sermon: Pastor Martin opens by reading Deuteronomy 31:9-13, highlighting Moses' command for the public, septennial reading of the law to all Israel. This demonstrates God's concern that…

Moses' command to read the law every seven years illustrates God's concern for the preservation and transmission of His truth to all generations.

Now please turn with me to the book of Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy and chapter 31, and I shall read in your hearing verses 9 through 13. This is part of Moses' final charge to the children of Israel. Israel leadership has been transferred to Joshua. They're on the plains of Moab, about to go into the land of promise, and Moses has delivered to them the book of the law.

0:13 - 0:49 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The sermon connects the Deuteronomy passage to Trinity Baptist Church's constitution, which mandates regular teaching and preaching of its confession of faith and constitution…

The church's constitutional directive to teach its confession and constitution every five years is presented as a modern application of the biblical principle of truth preservation.

And it was the recognition of this biblical precept and principle that caused us, when we revised our church constitution back in the mid-nineties... ...to incorporate into that constitution this very clear directive.

3:19 - 3:36 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Here, Jude is a marvelous example of pastoral sensitivity. For the life of me, I have never been able to understand preachers that could line out their preaching for the next year and never budge from it.

Jude's decision to abandon his planned sermon on 'common salvation' to address false teachers illustrates the need for pastors to be sensitive to the immediate spiritual needs and threats facing their flock.

Later on, he describes them as sitting at their love feast. They had actually entered, into the church, whether they had been received into the membership, we do not know. But they were within the circle of influence, and Jude says, as much as I would love to go positive and open up and expand before the minds of these people the glories of our common salvation, to do so when they are under the threat of the damning influence of error, I cannot, hold to my original track. Having become aware of these men who crept in among them, he said, I was constrained to get off my original track and now t...

22:24 - 23:44 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The core directive of Jude 3 is expounded: 'contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints.' Martin defines 'exhorting' as a stirring call to duty and…

The word 'exhorting' is compared to a military leader stirring his troops before a critical battle, emphasizing the urgency and vigor required for contending for the faith.

We are to exhort one another while it is called today, lest any be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. There, exhorting, exhorting and exhortation has the overtones of admonition. Here, in this setting, when it is a ringing call to duty, it is used in the way it would be used to describe what a leader of a troop of soldiers would do as they were about to go into a critical battle. He would remind them of their wives and children at home.

26:55 - 27:27 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Whatever it is that we are exhorted to do, it is a call to conscious, vigorous, spiritual activity.

The word 'agonize' is likened to wrestlers in Grecian games, highlighting the intense, conscious, and vigorous spiritual activity required to contend for the faith.

It's the word, agonizo, to agonize with a prefix, epi. And the prefix points toward that concerning which they are to agonize the faith. But there is that word, agonizomai, is the word that would be used to describe someone in the Grecian games on the wrestling mat. Naked, olive oil, and there muscle and bone and sinew and mind, one wrestler against another.

29:40 - 30:14 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Whatever it is that we are exhorted to do, it is a call to conscious, vigorous, spiritual activity.

The phrase 'once for all delivered to the saints faith' is compared to a long hyphenated adjective like 'once-in-a-lifetime, never-to-be-forgotten experience,' to emphasize the unique and complete nature of the faith.

For example, I might go somewhere and experience something wonderful and come back and say to you I had a once in a lifetime never to be forgotten experience. Experience is the noun. That's what I had. Now when I say a once for all all hyphenated never to be forgotten all hyphenated. All those words put together are meant to describe my experience. Now I could say I had a marvelous experience. I will never forget that experience. I doubt I will ever repeat that experience. It goes kind of flat. But if I say it was a once in a lifetime never to be forgotten experience then we sense something mo...

34:39 - 35:36 Read in full sermon

Driving home: All of the true people of God are God-appointed stewards of God's changeless body of revealed truth.

The role of a steward is explained as someone entrusted with another's goods or property, managing it according to the proprietor's will, illustrating the believer's accountability for God's truth.

The proprietor assigns a task and hands over a house, a field, an enterprise to a steward. The steward doesn't own the business. The steward doesn't dictate how the business shall be run, unless that's part of the definition where the one, the proprietor who owns it says, look, I trust your judgment. You run this according to your will and the rest.

43:06 - 43:30 Read in full sermon

The point: Recognize and take seriously your God-appointed stewardship of God's changeless body of revealed truth.

A hypothetical elder who is 'sweet' and has 'people skills' but is indifferent to truth is used to highlight the unacceptability of such a leader, underscoring the importance of truth for all church members.

But not qualitatively. What would you think if one of your elders was indifferent to what the faith once for all delivered to the saints is, unconcerned as to whether or not it was loved and preached and taught in this place? What would you think of an elder? Might be the sweetest guy in all the world.

45:33 - 45:59 Read in full sermon

The point: Soak your soul deeply in your Bible, going beyond superficial devotional readings.

Spurgeon's devotionals are described as 'teasers' or 'appetizers,' not sufficient for building oneself up in the most holy faith, emphasizing the need for deeper engagement with the Bible.

It means you've got to, first of all, start soaking your soul in your Bible. Some of you don't soak your souls in your Bible. Is it good to have Spurgeon's checkbook of faith? Yes, I've used it every morning since last October.

49:26 - 49:41 Read in full sermon

The point: Re-evaluate your priorities if you are spending time acquiring worldly knowledge at the expense of soaking your soul in the Bible, as this makes you vulnerable to false teaching.

Martin's personal collection of medical books, which he only consults out of duty, illustrates the need to prioritize time and knowledge acquisition, especially regarding Scripture, over less essential information.

You do err not knowing the Scriptures. Friends, I said a long time ago there's a lot of things in this world I'm never going to learn about. Some of you know my interest in things medical. But I only pursue the areas where I've got to get fixed up or someone in the church needs to get fixed up and I have a motive in doing it.

53:09 - 53:30 Read in full sermon

The point: Resist the temptation to waste time on trivial news or entertainment that clogs your mind and consumes precious time better spent in biblical study and memorization.

The example of trivial news (a railroad crossing accident) is used to illustrate how easily time can be wasted on non-essential information, diverting attention from biblical study.

I could read all of that in a thousand books more and still be an ignorant would-be physician. You've got to determine certain things have got to go. Would I like to know what the news makers think is important? No.

53:52 - 54:07 Read in full sermon

The point: Have the courage to refuse to engage with worldly entertainment (e.g., movies with objectionable content) and prioritize putting God's Word into your brain instead.

The story of German plowboys, armed with Luther's Bible, catechism, and hymns, standing up to cardinals, illustrates the power of ordinary believers grounded in truth to contend for the faith.

Then take seriously the exhortation. Build yourself up on the most holy faith that you may contend for that faith. It is said that Roman bishops and cardinals feared the average German plowboy. With Luther's Bible and Luther's catechism and Luther's hymns they could stand up to cardinals and send them from the field whipped by the Word of God.

61:29 - 62:00 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second observation is that God's people have always been, and will always be, targets of those who seek to seduce them away from the faith. Martin cites examples from Jude…

The devil's indifference to a 1689 confession carried under one's arm, and his willingness to quote scripture, illustrates that mere possession or knowledge of confessions is insufficient without deep personal grounding in truth.

But the devil's not spooked by all of that. You know, you can carry around a 1689 confession under your arm and come up to the devil and say, look at this. You think he cowers and runs in, whoo, 1689 confession. I can't come near that.

66:36 - 66:50 Read in full sermon