Many times when you buy something, it doesn't last very long. How many of you know what I'm talking about? If you don't know what I'm talking about, grab your smartphone and look at it. It doesn't last very long. If you're like me, I like to buy stuff and have it last as long as I can keep it. With my last iPhone, how many of you keep yours until it won't take updates anymore?
Now they have the technology to let you take the updates, but they don't want to because it would eat into their profits. So they developed a thing that's rather new called planned obsolescence. They plan for what you buy to not last very long, or after a certain number of days it will break.
But some things are built to last. I like things that are built to last. I was thinking this week, what are some things that are built to last? Cast iron skillets are built to last. How many of you have a cast iron skillet? Look at all of you crunchy people. How many of you got rid of your Teflon and said, "No more Teflon for me, I'm eating just cast iron"? How many of you cured your cast iron with bacon grease? That's right. That's the way Jesus would have it.
Now, as I said that, I thought, "Jesus is Jewish; I doubt that he used bacon grease." Sometimes there's a hesitation in my own theological thought process. I don't think Jesus did that; he kept the whole law. But you get the idea. These things are indestructible. If you come to my house today, I have one of those Teflon skillets that my daughters challenged me to roll up with just my grip. In my garage, I have a Teflon skillet that I rolled up, and it was kind of fun. Guess what I'm never going to do with a cast iron skillet? I'm never going to roll that up.
My wife, Debbie—I love her, I don't know where she is in the service this morning. Oh, there you are! Whenever she goes in, she goes all in. We got one skillet, and then she said, "I think we need a bigger one." So we got a medium-sized skillet, and then we got this giant iron skillet bathtub. We could wash our dog, Molly Joy, in that thing. It's so huge. We could fry 12 chickens in it. But it's built to last. Things like this are passed down generationally; my daughters will be fighting over who gets the cast iron skillet.
Another thing that's built to last is stand mixers. Stand mixers are built to last. Many of them, especially if you find one with metal components like commercial grade, have been around since the '70s. I watched a video of a restaurant in London not too long ago, and their stand mixer was built in 1935. They have to do maintenance on it every once in a while, but it's been around almost 100 years. It's built to last.
Dutch ovens are built to last. Nobody ever says, "My Dutch oven quit working." The only reason you get rid of a Dutch oven is if you don't like the color anymore.
A Leatherman tool is built to last. My father-in-law bought me a Leatherman probably 15 to 20 years ago, and it's as good as it's ever been. It goes on every ride-along with me. I use the Leatherman, and it's as good as the day I took it out of the box.
The Lamy 2000 fountain pen is built to last. Now, if you're looking at that, you're thinking, "Pastor, that is not a fountain pen." No, that's actually a Lamy 2000 pencil, because John Scheifele, our media guy, doesn't know what a fountain pen is. But I have a Lamy 2000 fountain pen for you to see right here. It's a top-five engineered fountain pen in the world. This pen will last you a lifetime with almost no maintenance. It is a wonderfully engineered pen. If you want one of the best and most affordable fountain pens in history, you can get the Lamy 2000 on sale right now at the Goulet Pen Company for $208.99, which is a steal of a deal. How many of you would never pay $200 for a pen, and yet you'd go to In-N-Out?
How many of you remember the Levi's trucker denim jacket? How many of you ever wore one or still have one? Those jackets are projected to last 30 years. How many of you buy your clothes at Costco? You get a whole new wardrobe every six months. I'm kidding; Costco sells great stuff.
Here's the one I've been waiting all day to share with you: the JanSport backpack. How many of you remember the JanSport backpack from high school? I bought my JanSport backpack as a junior in high school at the White Elephant store in Spokane, Washington, and I still have it today. It holds my extra reels when I go fishing. That backpack is about 36 years old, and I still use it.
This morning I am going to begin a short series of messages on the subject of being a faithful, committed follower of Christ. Next week, Debbie and I will be headed out on a sabbatical. I will be gone for a period of time, and after next Sunday you will be blessed to hear from our pastoral staff, interns, church planters flying in from across the country, and other pastor friends. The lion's share of preaching will be done by our pastoral staff. You are going to be in great hands and fed very well every single week.
I had a dilemma: What do I preach on before we leave for sabbatical? How do I encourage you as a church family? It's kind of like a dad preparing for deployment—what does he say to his kids knowing he's going to be gone for several months? What do I want to say to help my family and the church before I go? What passages of scripture do we want to draw encouragement from?
The Lord brought us to the little book of Jude, the fourth-smallest book in the New Testament. Jude is an amazing book. Jude is the half-brother of Jesus. Jude was not a follower of Christ during Jesus' earthly ministry; he did not become a believer until after the resurrection of Christ. Think of this: Jude grew up with Christ, denied that Jesus was the Messiah, but after the resurrection, everything changed in Jude's life, and he was gloriously saved. He became a pastor, a leader in the church, and a faithful preacher of the gospel of Christ.
Jude wrote to no specific individual, which is why many Bibles label it "The General Epistle of Jude." A general epistle means it is written to all Christians everywhere. He wrote with some emphasis on Jewish people, but it is written to Jews and Gentiles alike.
Jude wrote to help the church because they were living in a very difficult time. Christianity was under severe political attack from Rome. Rome was trying to infiltrate the church and mix government with the church. The principle of American governance called the separation of church and state is a biblical principle. It was actually written by the Danbury Baptists to Thomas Jefferson, stating that there should be a wall keeping the state out of the church, while the church remains involved in the state because the church is made up of citizens.
The Roman government under Nero and the Senate was trying to infiltrate the church. Additionally, there was an aggressive spiritual infiltration from Gnostic false teachers. Gnosticism is a heresy that basically teaches that all physical realities are evil. Because they viewed all physical realities as evil, they claimed that Jesus Christ did not come in the flesh, was not crucified on a cross, and his blood was not spilt for our sin. They completely denied who Christ is, which would mean there was no hope for our salvation if they were correct.
Jude wrote to prevent that. Later, John wrote 1, 2, and 3 John to deal with this in earnest, but Jude wrote to help the believers then. We need not be surprised when false teachers try to attack believers.
As I prepare to leave, I want you to understand some things about church life and being a believer. The first thing we see in our text is the plague of false teachers in verses 3 through 16.
"Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and to exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints." — Jude 1:3
Jude is saying, "I was going to write to you to encourage you with the doctrine of salvation and how it is a joy to be saved. But instead, I had to write to exhort you to fight—to earnestly contend—for the faith that was delivered to the saints." As a pastor, sometimes I just want to encourage the church and talk about the wonderful grace of Jesus, but the text requires that we deal with things that are challenging. Jude wrote to edify and build them up so they would be strong enough for the spiritual battle they faced.
Why did he have to write about this? He continues:
"For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ." — Jude 1:4
"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." — Jude 1:5
"Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities." — Jude 1:8
He says these men are filthy dreamers who defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities—speaking evil of things they do not understand, including angelic beings.
"Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee." — Jude 1:9
They speak evil of things they have no idea about, including spiritual beings much more powerful than they are. Be very cautious around people who say things like, "Satan, I rebuke you." We have no authority to do that; Satan is the Lord's enemy, and we need not speak with spiritual presumption. That is why spiritual leaders are concerned when people want to dwell on demonology and see evil everywhere.
"But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves." — Jude 1:10
"Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core." — Jude 1:11
"These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;" — Jude 1:12
Verse 16 describes them further:
"These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage." — Jude 1:16
They pompously puff themselves up with elaborate religious vocabulary that sounds spiritual, but is void of divine truth. Just because the water is muddy doesn't mean it's deep. People often think obscure language is deep, but true Bible preaching brings truth down so it is clear and easily understood.
How is this relevant to us? Verse 4 says certain men have crept in unawares. This happened in Jude's day, but it is also happening in our day.
We see this in the hyper-grace or antinomian movement, which emphasizes God's love to the exclusion of His holiness. God is love, but not to the exclusion of holiness. This leads to accepting lifestyles clearly prohibited in scripture. This is progressive Christianity. God's love leads to repentance and holiness, not to license and sensual indulgence.
We also see the prosperity gospel, or the error of Balaam: "ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward." Balaam represents using faith as a tool for personal wealth and health. Some churches promise that if you join, you will get wealthy and your business will thrive. You could come to Canyon Ridge, tithe, and be poor or sick your whole life while remaining a faithful follower of Christ. Scripture gives many examples of this. Using the gospel to extract money from people is the error of Balaam.
We also see progressive deconstruction—rejecting authority. Verse 8 speaks of those who "defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities." Deconstruction moves beyond healthy questions into a total rejection of biblical authority, elevating personal experience and subjective intuition above the objective truth of scripture.
Parents, be careful here. Parents are excited when a child accepts Christ at a young age, but if that child later experiences doubts, some parents say, "No, you got saved when you were four." Never discourage your child from making a decision for Christ. The Bible says:
"Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." — Philippians 2:12
If you are not sure you are saved, you need to come to Christ today. My wife Debbie prayed at four years old, but she had massive doubts about her salvation for years until she got it settled in her 20s. If there is no conviction, there can be no conversion. A four-year-old may understand facts, but without Holy Spirit conviction, there is no conversion. Pushing a child to rely on an unremembered prayer often leads to deconstruction later in life when doubts arise. If you are struggling with your salvation, get it settled today, because Jesus changes everything.
How does a discerning believer defend against these attacks and stay close to Christ?
"But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; How they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit." — Jude 1:17-19
First, recognize the necessity to learn doctrinal truth. Jude says, "Remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ." Do not forget New Testament theology about Jesus. Keep it in mind.
As Peter wrote:
"That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:" — 2 Peter 3:2
Jesus warned us about false prophets:
"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." — Matthew 7:15
"And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many." — Matthew 24:11
Become a student of who Jesus Christ is. Spend time reading the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Take 10 or 20 minutes a day to read through them repeatedly. George Mueller determined as a young man to read the Bible continuously, and by age 60 he had read it through over 300 times. We need to know Jesus and remember the doctrine of the New Testament. Scroll less and read more.
Second, work and pray for discernment. Jude warns that mockers will come in the last time. We have been in the last days since Jesus ascended, and they will continue until His return. Everything in our world points to the reality that Jesus could return at any moment. But do not get so caught up in prophetic speculation that you lose sight of who Jesus is and His love for you.
Because mockers exist, we must work and pray for discernment—knowing what is good versus what is bad. Bad creed leads to bad conduct.
Years ago, a couple getting married here sent me their wedding playlist. As I listened, I had a sense in my soul that something was off. I researched the artist and found it wasn't a Christian song, but a song by a Mormon artist. Mormons deny the deity of Christ. Discernment helped identify that error.
Study the Word with discernment in mind, and pray for it. For centuries, Christians were deep thinkers whose minds were fully engaged with scripture. We are commanded to love the Lord with all our mind. Yet in recent decades, Christians have often surrendered intellectual rigor to the secular world. We must not remain simplistic; we need to learn the deep things of God's Word.
If someone asks for a baseball stat, you might know it off the top of your head, yet when it comes to Scripture, you might say, "I can't memorize." You have the mental capacity; it is a matter of discipline to study the things of God. Challenge yourself intellectually instead of filling your time with silly entertainment.
Jeremiah wrote:
"Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them." — Jeremiah 10:2
You don't need to study every false doctrine to know the truth; focus on the truth of God's Word, and that will yield discernment.
If we don't grow, we risk being taken advantage of and led astray. The most devastating thing to see is not a brand-new believer who lacks knowledge, but a believer who has been in church for 30 or 40 years and remains at the exact same spiritual baseline without growing in wisdom and knowledge.
As I prepare for sabbatical, my prayer for our church family is that you know without a doubt that you are saved, know who Jesus is, and daily pursue Him with your heart and mind. Let our conversations center on the deep things of God and what He is doing in our hearts.
If you don't know Christ as your Savior, repent of your sin and put your trust in Him today. And if you are a believer, determine to live for Christ and finish well. You were saved to last. God saved you with the expectation that you would live for Him for the entirety of your life.