The Battle for the Bible | Part 1

Guest (Male): Are you willing to contend for your faith in the last days? Listen to Adrian Rogers.
Adrian Rogers: There is a battle for the Bible that is going on, whether you know it or not. There is a fight for the faith, and the fight for the faith is a fight to the finish with no holes barred. And the child of God cannot afford to be ignorant, and he certainly cannot play neutral. For the scripture says that we should earnestly contend for the faith.
Guest (Male): Welcome to Love Worth Finding, featuring profound truth simply stated from pastor and author Adrian Rogers. The book of Jude warns us of something sinister that will happen to the church before the last days. Jude warns believers of apostates who have crept into the church and deteriorated the integrity of God's word. Children of God cannot afford to be ignorant or neutral. Jude verses 1 through 19 sounds the alarm, calling us to fight for the faith. If you have your Bible, turn to the book of Jude now as Adrian Rogers begins part one of the battle for the Bible.
Adrian Rogers: Take your Bibles and turn to the next to the last book in all of the Bible. That little book that's packed with dynamite, the book of Jude, only 25 verses. And we're preaching through the book of Jude. And my, how important it is. Today we're going to read together the first seven verses. Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ and called. Mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied. Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you that that and and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained unto this condemnation, ungodly men. Turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitations, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. When I was a little boy, I used to like to go to the movies on Saturday afternoon, and we would see Tarzan. And I love the Tarzan movies, and of course Tarzan was the hero of every little boy about that time when I was growing up. But there was one time that I was always concerned for Tarzan. That is when Tarzan would be swimming in the river, and you can remember he would be swimming with those powerful strokes, but over on the shore would be a crocodile. And you would see that crocodile as he would blink those eyes a couple of times and then slide into the water. And Tarzan would be swimming along and not know that crocodile was there. And I would be so frightened because I can't think of anything worse than being in swimming with a crocodile. And that uh crocodile would slither off the bank and enter in that water and never ever even make a ripple. Do you remember when that crocodile would get after Tarzan that way? Somehow Tarzan would always outswim the crocodile, but what happened in that Tarzan movie is in a sense an illustration of what Jude is talking about, believe it or not. Jude is giving a warning. And the warning is that there's certain people who have crept into the church. Now he says they have crept in unawares. Now that word there is the word that was used in the Greek language of that day to describe somebody who could slip into the water without even making a ripple. Something very dangerous, something very sinister that is slipping up on the church of the Lord God. And Jude has written this book to sound an alarm. There is a battle for the Bible that is going on, whether you know it or not. There is a fight for the faith, and the fight for the faith is a fight to the finish with no holes barred. And the child of God cannot afford to be ignorant, and he certainly cannot play neutral. For the scripture says that we should earnestly contend for the faith. And that word earnestly contend in the Greek language has right in the middle of it the word from which we get our English word agony. We are to agonize for the faith. There's no easy way, uh no simple way. It would be easy perhaps just to stand up here and preach the gospel, and I enjoy doing that, and I ought to do that, and I want to be known as a gospel preacher. And there's some people who say, well, you don't digress into any kind of a battle. But that's exactly what happened to Jude. Jude said, I was going to write to you concerning our common salvation. Look in verse three. Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith. So we're going to think about apostasy today. The word apostasy means to fall away from the faith. And the apostasy, ladies and gentlemen, is upon us. First of all, I want you to think of what I call the danger of apostasy. Look in verse four. For there are certain men crept in unawares. It has the idea of being able to slip into water without even making a ripple. Another way this word was used in the language of that day was someone who would come in uninvited through a side door. For example, everybody comes in through the front doors, but there are certain people who are uninvited who just slip in and make themselves a part of the party. They sort of crash the party. Another way in which this word was used, it was used in a law court for a very clever lawyer who when he was arguing a case would slip certain thoughts into his argument, certain words into his argument. He would just place them there and drop them there, and at the time they seemed to be of no consequence. But what he was doing was putting things into the mind of the judge and the jury that later he would come back and play upon, and he would just plant a thought. he would just slip it in. A very clever lawyer. Or else this word was also used of a person having been deposed and exiled from a country and banned from a country, who would somehow just slip across the border and come back from exile and enter that country again. It is a very sinister word. And so what is the danger of apostasy? Number one, it is the danger of deception. But it's also the danger of destruction. Apostasy is very deadly, and that's the reason that Jude is giving us this warning. That's the reason that Jude is sounding an alarm. And how tragic it is when warnings are not heeded. I was reading recently again about Captain Smith, who was the captain of the Titanic, that great ocean liner, luxurious and beautiful. How beautiful she was, how strong she was. It was called unsinkable. As a matter of fact, it is reported that one of the crew members said even God Almighty couldn't sink this ship. That's about all it ever did was sink. I mean it went out on its maiden voyage and went down, but Captain Smith had received on the radio a message that warned him that he was sailing through iceberg laden waters. Before the Titanic struck that iceberg, he slipped that message into his pocket and the ship continued full speed ahead. And that night a number of people went down. 1,490 people went to a watery grave because there was a warning that was unheeded. I was reading also about Sergeant Joseph Lockhart in 1941 who sat at a radar screen in Honolulu. And uh he saw a squadron of airplanes on December the 7th coming toward Pearl Harbor. And he told his superior officer, he said, I see something. He said there's a squadron of airplanes headed this way. And the superior officer said, well, most likely they're friendly. Don't worry about them. And 3,000 of America's finest uh went up in flames and smoke and went down to a watery grave because the warning was there, the message was there, but it was unheeded. And I am telling you that Jude is saying that we should watch, we should earnestly contend because there's the danger of apostasy, because of its deception, because of its destruction. 88 of the first 100 colleges that were begun in the United States of America were begun as institutions based on the Bible for the spread and the propagation of the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I want to show you what happened. Yale, for example. Yale had its beginning in 1701. It was there for the preaching of the gospel. And Timothy Dwight, the president of Yale, advised the class in 1814. I want you to hear what the president of Yale said. I quote. Christ is the only true, the living way of access to God. Give up yourselves therefore to him with a cordial confidence, and the great work of life is done. Can you imagine the president of Yale standing up and telling the student body that today? Or let me tell you about Harvard. Harvard had some rules for conduct for the students. 1646 here were the rules at Harvard. Number one, everyone shall consider the main end of his life and studies to know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life. They said we don't want you to come out of Harvard if you don't know this. That's the chief end of your studies. Number two, seeking the Lord gives wisdom. Everyone shall seriously by prayer in secret seek wisdom of him. Number three, everyone shall so exercise himself in reading the scriptures twice a day that they may be ready to give an account of their proficiency therein, both in theoretical observation of language and logical and practical and spiritual truth. Now that that's Harvard University. Can you imagine those rules today at Harvard? Princeton in its early days insisted that the faculty, and I quote, be convinced of the necessity of religious experience for salvation. John Witherspoon, the first president of Princeton, said this. Cursed be all learning that is contrary to the cross of Christ. Cursed be all learning that is not coincident with the cross of Christ. Cursed be all learning that is not subservient to the cross of Christ. Now I'm not merely picking on Princeton, Yale, and Harvard, but they're such well-known schools. And many people with little dream that these kind of schools had such a beginning. But such is the danger of apostasy. And not only schools, but once great denominations can become apostate. I want to tell you what the secretary for mission board of a great denomination has said. I quote. We have given up all hope of saving this generation. Our efforts are now directed toward the next. No more missionaries will be sent out to merely evangelize. Our hope is in education. That's the secretary for mission board. And the same has become true of many so-called ministers who stand in the pulpit. Let me give you some statements of some of these ministers. I do not believe in the doctrine of salvation by blood. Thank God I'm not saved by the blood of anyone. Salvation by the blood of the gospel is of the butcher shop. That's a minister, not of a cult, but the minister of an historic denomination. Or again, the critical view of today is that the gospel miracles represent the crude ideas of a superstitious age, and that they are to that extent untrustworthy. Or again, those who record the virgin birth were doubtless influenced by pagan fables, seeking by these to secure for him the honor of celestial fraternity. That is when you believe in the virgin birth, you're just believing in a story that has been the offspring of pagan fables. Now the sad thing about that is many men who preach this kind of thing stand behind the sacred desk, and people sit in congregations and listen to that and even pay to have it taught. And such things, dear friend, are not rare. You know, we live in a little closed society. And we think that everybody goes to church and worships as we worship. Not so. Oh, the danger, the danger, the danger of apostasy. Now not only does Jude speak of the dangers of apostasy, but he gives us a description of the apostates. Look if you will in verse four. For there are certain men crept in unaware who were before of old ordained or marked out to this condemnation. That is they haven't taken God by surprise. And then he describes them. Number one, ungodly men. Number two, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness. And number three, and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. And in those statements, Jude speaks first of all of their character, then he speaks of their conduct, and then he speaks of their creed. Now in their character, he calls them ungodly. Now what is the word ungodly mean? It does not mean that they do not mention God or even talk about God. As a matter of fact, they talk about God quite freely. The word according to Thayer's lexicon means a person without a reverential awe of God, without a reverential awe of God. That is the basic ingredient missing in the life of an apostate is a fear of God, a fear of God. And therefore they talk uh flippantly and carelessly and blasphemously about holy things. In verse eight, you have the same idea. Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. That is their mouth and and their tongue uh just runs up and down through the land. There is no fear of God before their eyes, and they fear not to mock and speak of holy things. They take things upon their lips that ought to make us tremble. And so as to their character write down no reverence, no reverence. Now as to their conduct, the Bible says they've turned the grace of God into lasciviousness. Right after their conduct, no restraint. The word lascivious means unbridled lusts. They live as they want. They do as they want. And if you remonstrate with them and tell them they ought not to do that way, they'll say, well, after all, there's the grace of God. God is is not a tyrant. After all, he is a God of grace and he is a God of love. And so what they have done at they have become a disgrace to grace. They have turned the grace of God into lasciviousness, and they have made of the grace of God a license to sin. And if you today stand up in a congregation, in some of these congregations, and preach against sin, they will accuse you of being judgmental and being cruel and bigoted. So therefore we have denominations today who have ordained homosexuals. Today we have denominations who countenance sex before marriage, who never sound an alarm against abortion, who never preach against the horrors of divorce. And we you can almost write down anything you want to believe and any way you want to act, and I can find in the United States of America a church where you fit right in. Because the apostasy has turned the grace of God into lasciviousness. But uh Paul told Titus, the grace of God hath appeared unto all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live righteously and soberly and godly in this present world. Titus 2 verse 11. And the apostle Paul said, what shall we say? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. Oh, but the apostates as to their conduct, they have turned the grace of God into lasciviousness, to their character no reverence. To their conduct no restraint. And then the third thing, think about their creed. The Bible says they have denied they deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Now is an interesting thing when he uses the word the Lord God there. The word Lord is a word that we get our word despot from. Do you ever think of God as a despot? That has a negative meaning to us today, but it literally means he is total ruler. He is Lord. But these people will not bow the knee to the lordship of God. I mean they have humanized God, they have deified man, and they do not submit to the word of God and the God of that word, and thereby they deny him. Some deny him with their lips, and others deny him by their lives, but they deny him nonetheless. And so as to their creed, put down no rule, no regulation. There is no reverence, there is no restraint, there is no rule, there are no regulations. They deny the only Lord God. They live their lives the way they want to live their lives. I want to go on to the third thing. Not only the dangers of apostasy and not only the description of apostasy, but I want you to see the destruction of the apostates. I want you to see how God feels about apostasy. Look with me now in verse six. I will therefore put you in remembrance. And by the way, any teacher, any preacher knows that you have to keep saying the same thing over and over again. Now evidently Jude uh had said this before or someone else had said it because he said you once knew this. That is I I have learned just because people hear something doesn't mean they don't need to hear it again. And that you don't need to continue to put it into their heart and into their mind. All teaching, good teaching is based upon repetition. When I read this, I was thinking about something I heard of Jack Taylor a while back. Jack Taylor was preaching with a wireless lavalier microphone. Now when you have that wireless lavalier, uh the pastor wears a little transmitter. What he is is a little radio station, and he's he's transmitting to the speakers. And those things work pretty good most of the time. But sometimes uh the signals get mixed with the signals on the Citizens Band radio. And you can be in a service like that and music or rock music or something like that will start coming through when the man is preaching. Jack Taylor was up preaching, and as he was preaching away, somebody came in on a Citizens Band radio and said, how long you going to stay on that? And without breaking stride, he said, till they get it, honey. Now that that's what old Jude is saying. I'm going to stay on it till you get it. You've heard it. But he said, I'm going to remind you of it again. He said, I'm going to give you three instances of where God destroyed apostates. And first of all, he talks about the children of Israel who came out of Egypt. Look if you will in verse five. I will therefore put you in remembrance though once you knew this, how that the Lord having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. That's a very interesting thing. When the children of Israel left the land of Egypt, they all went out together. And they went out under the blood of the land. They went out through the Red Sea, and there were miracles, and they all looked alike and they all traveled together. But there was a mixed multitude. And some of them who had had that experience and some of them who had gone through that form, some of them who seemingly were delivered, yet they perished and they perished at the hand of God, and it was God that destroyed them. Now they were destroyed in spite of their experience. That is they had come out of Egypt. But they did never truly believe. The Bible says they believed not. Now let me tell you something. There's some of you here today who may be apostates. And you may be lost, and you're going to be destroyed, and you don't even know that you're an apostate. And you need to be reminded of what happened to the children of Israel. Outwardly they were saved, but inwardly they were not. They had an experience, but they did not have life. They had never truly been born again.
Guest (Male): And coming up tomorrow, we'll hear part two of this important message. Maybe today you have questions about who Jesus is or what he means to you or how to begin a relationship with God through Christ. Go to our website, lwf.org/radio and click the tab that says Find God's Love. There you'll find resources and materials that can answer any questions you may have about your faith.
Carrie Vaughn: Hi, this is Carrie Vaughn, and this program has been brought to you by Love Worth Finding, a nonprofit ministry showcasing the powerful preaching and teaching of pastor Adrian Rogers. We operate solely through the generous gifts of individual supporters just like you. To give a gift today, call 1877 Love God. That's 1877 Love God. Or write to us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38-600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. You can also connect with us online by going to lwf.org/radio. There we offer helpful resources inspired by the timeless teachings of pastor Adrian Rogers. Additionally, you can sign up for daily emails, donate to the ministry, and learn more about how to become an ambassador of the word. Thank you so much for listening today. Be sure to join us next time for more profound truth simply stated right here on Love Worth Finding.
Guest (Male): Have you thanked God for anything today? Listen to Adrian Rogers.
Adrian Rogers: The Bible says that God daily loadeth us with benefits. He loads us down with benefits, and sometimes we don't have the eyes to see or the ears to hear or the uh the fingertips to touch God's blessing until we stop and think about it.
Guest (Male): Adrian Rogers preached messages of thankfulness and gratitude every year during the Thanksgiving season. At Love Worth Finding, we've taken six of his most powerful messages on these subjects and turn them into a new 30-day devotional guide that we're calling Thanksgiving Grace. And for your gift to the ministry during this season, we'd love to send you a copy. Ask for Thanksgiving Grace when you call with your gift at 1877 Love God. Or give online at lwf.org/radio.