Verse by verse teaching - Lesson 31

We're gonna be starting in the book with you. And you. Yes, ma'am. Alright. Good afternoon, everybody. What a blessing it is to be here. I sure can't tell you how much I enjoy coming in. Such a blessing. Thank you for coming. Well, yes, ma'am, thank you all for coming. It is such an encouragement to me. And I believe me when I tell you that pastors need encouragement to say, "Oh, we need encouragement." And we thank God for the encouragement that we're blessed with. Amen. Y'all are such an encouragement to me. It's just a blessing. Alright. I got it. I know it. You got it. Probably more of it. I know it. Sometimes the whole page is a little sticky with it. They do. Yes, they do. Alright, so we've been in the book of Jude, okay? We have been reading, oh, by the way, my name's Doug Sexton. I haven't got to meet you yet, ma'am. We're nice to meet you, ma'am. My name's Doug, so you can just call me "Hey, you," and I'll answer, too. So we have been reading the book of Jude. I lost my I lost my Yes, ma'am, this is going to be the first. We'll be going over later, but we're going to start off in the book of Jude. Well, that's right here before Revelation. That's right. That's right. That's right. That's it. See, that's Revelation, so we'll go back. Just one more book. Look. Jude. We're going to be in verse 9 until the next page over. Okay. Alright. Now then, we all in Jude is good. We have been reading the book of Jude where Jude has written to his brethren warning them about ungodly men who had crept in unawares into their congregation. Now, real quickly, I would like to say that there is not a person on this earth who was born godly other than Christ Jesus Himself, who was God in the flesh. That's right. We are all born sinners with sinful flesh into a sin-filled world. There is not a person who has ever walked into a church who was not a sinner. There is not a person who has ever walked out of a church who is not a sinner. We are all sinners, and I hope that your pride has not blinded you into thinking that you're not a sinner. Amen. We are all born ungodly, but dear friend, we don't have to stay that way. We don't have to stay ungodly, and the key that opens that door to godliness is only found through the forgiveness of your sins by believing the gospel of Jesus, the Christ, God's only begotten Son, born of a virgin here on this earth, dying on the cross for our sins, paying the penalty for us in order that we may be forgiven. After Christ died, He was removed from that cross, taking every sin that was laid on that old flesh He was born in and laid in a tomb. On the third day, our Savior shed that old sin-covered flesh and rose again, overcoming death, and went back to be with the Father in Heaven, patiently waiting to return and rid this old world of the devil and those that follow Him. Those that follow the devil are ungodly, and God has made a place for the devil and all those who choose to stay ungodly. If you haven't chosen to be forgiven for your sins, God's Word says you are of the devil. We are either righteous or unrighteous in God's sight, godly or ungodly. That is not brother-dove's words. That is from our God. So let's look at this in God's Word. Let's read in 1 John 3, verses 1-10. I've got you, Mark, Mama. You should be Mark, Mama. 1 John should be right there. After 3, verse 10. Yes, Mama. Look at y'all go. Alright. 1 John, chapter 3, verses 1-10. 1 John 3, 1. Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Verse 2, beloved. Now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Verse 3, and every man that hath this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure. Whosoever commitedeth sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law. And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins, and in him is no sin. Whoso abideth in him sinneth not. Whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you. He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that commiteth, that word commiteth means to continue permanently, to be firm and immovable, to remain. So he that remains, he that commiteth sin, is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil, so the ones that are righteous are of God. The ones that are unrighteous are of the devil. Whosoever doth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his program. John is telling us that there is a difference between godly and ungodly. Back in the book of Jude, Jude is warning us of the ungodly men who have crept in unawares. These ungodly men are unrighteous. They are of the devil. They choose to stay unrighteous. We all have a choice to make. There is no in between. We just read there is godliness, there is ungodliness, there is righteousness, there is unrighteousness. It doesn't say nothing about a middle line in there anywhere in that. These men who have mingled themselves in with Jude's brethren were welcomed. They were welcomed to come into the fold and learn of God and how to become godly. The church, we welcome people to come in. We are all sinners. We welcome you to come in. We welcome you to learn of God and we welcome you to learn of God's ways. But if you choose not to be, if you choose not to believe, if you choose not God, then you can only be the other one who is ungodly. If you are not godly, you are ungodly. You are welcome to come in and learn. But if you choose not to learn, if you don't want to learn, if you want to do all these things that Jude has been talking about in these previous verses that we were talking about, if you choose to stay that way, then that is your decision. The Bible tells us to be separate. Welcome on in. We welcome everybody. But if you choose not to learn, if all you want to do is murmur and complain, talk bad about everybody and talk bad about the preacher and talk bad about this, that and the other, that's not encouragement, folks. What does that help? That don't help nobody. These men who have mangled themselves in with Jude's brethren were welcome to come into the fold and learn of God and how to become godly. The same opportunity that is offered to anyone who wants it. But these men chose to stay ungodly. And these are saved. And these people are the ones that Jude is warning us about. He's warning us about the people who choose to stay ungodly. He has been pointing us to different lessons that God's Word teaches us throughout these verses we have been covering here in the book of Jude. And we left off at verse 9 in the book of Jude, where Jude says, this is where we last stopped last time I was in Jude. He says, "Yet, Michael the archangel," we continue with it. Let's go ahead and start in verse 8 to give us a better context. "Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh." Now he's talking about the ungodly men from the very start here. This is what he's saying about the ungodly men. "Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. Yet, Michael the archangel was contending with the devil. He disputed about the body of Moses. Durs not bran against him a railing accusation, but said, the Lord reviewed thee." The Greek word, let's see, let's back up a little bit, find my place. I lost my place, I'm sorry. I'm going to mix up my paperwork here. Let's see. Okay. I need to start numbering my papers, Don. [laughter] Let's see. Probably be able to move to many instances of this. The devil. Okay. Here we are. Now upon our last visit, I said, I believe that Michael the archangel is the Lord Jesus Christ. And I gave scripture to back that up. And we gave definitions of the words we covered here in this verse. And I told you that I wasn't exactly clear about what Jude was talking about when he mentioned the body of Moses. Now I have been doing a lot of praying and asking God to help me with this, as well as a lot of reading and research. I want to tell you that old devil had a field day with me on this and kept trying to talk me into giving up and throwing in the towel. As the boxer's coaches used to do when they would see their boxer in the ring getting so beat up that he was starting to be afraid that his boxer wasn't going to get beat up. He was going to get beat up in the honor of prayer. They would throw in a white towel. They would throw it in the ring signaling they surrendered. Folks, when you are studying God's word and you don't understand something, don't let the devil talk you into quitting. You be like Joseph and you tell God you are not going to let go except thou bless me. You can read about that story in Genesis chapter 32 and I put it on your papers there. With that said, I would like to read verse 9 again in the book of Jude and we can pick up from there. Verse 9 says, "Yet, Michael the archangel was contending with the devil. He disputed about the body of Moses." Now, the Greek word for body is soma. S-O-M-A, soma. It is spelled S-O-M-A in Greek and it means the body as a sound whole. So, when he says the body of Moses, I believe he is actually talking about the body of Moses. "After Moses died, the Lord buried him where no man knew he was buried." Let's read about the death of Moses. Let's read Deuteronomy, and I got you marked. That's going to be in the very first one to mark there for you, ma'am. Deuteronomy chapter 34, and we're going to read verses 1 through 12. Ma'am, we're going to get you a Bible, don't we? Do you need a Bible? I have one. I did not bring it. Oh, so I did not let you bring it today. We come to church, we burn Bibles. Oh, I'll bring it next year. Yes, ma'am. Praise God. Good, good. It's in my room. Alrighty. Good, good. Now then, is everybody else going to look for it? We're going to be in, what did I say, Deuteronomy? Deuteronomy 12. Thank you. Deuteronomy chapter 34. Amen. Yes, ma'am. Boy, let's see y'all opening them Bibles. Praise God. That's pleasant. That's alright, ma'am. I've had it. Good, good, good. I've had it since I was a child. Oh, well, good. You probably should be well-read, then, isn't you? Alright. Praise God. That's good. 34. That's what we want. We want your eyes on Word. We want your eyes on Word. Okay. We're in chapter 34. I guess I better get there, too. I didn't mark them myself. Boy. Okay. Shall we all begin? Yes, ma'am. I get sidetracked pretty easy, you know, squirrels. [laughter] That's odd, I didn't mark them. Must have got sidetracked on something else. How did that happen? Okay. We're in Deuteronomy chapter 34, and we're going to read verses 1 through 12. Now, we're talking about the burial of Moses and when he died. Alright. And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah. That is over against Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead unto Dan, and all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah unto the utmost sea, and the south and the plain of the valley of Jericho, and the very palm trees unto Zor, and the Lord said unto him, This is the land which I swear unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed. I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over the thither. So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-Pior. But no man knoweth of his sepulcher unto this day. Nobody knows where Moses was buried. And Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eye was not dim. That means he could still sleep great, nor his natural force of baby. Oh, Moses could still get after him. He was still good. And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab, thirty days. So the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended. And Joshua, the son of Nod, was full of the spirit of wisdom. Can you imagine, folks, being full of the spirit of wisdom? We all should pray to be full of the spirit of wisdom. What a blessing that would be if we were all just full of the spirit of wisdom. For Moses had laid his hands upon him, and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the Lord commanded Moses. And there arose not a prophet since in Israel likened to Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. In all the signs and the wonders which the Lord sent him to do, the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to do all his land. And in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses showed in the sight of Israel. Moses, that's talking about Moses by the name. He was buried where no man knew. Now with those scriptures read, we want to learn something very valuable here. There is not only bodily learning here, there is also spiritual learning here. Moses was the giver of God's laws. When Moses gave the laws to the children of Israel, they said they would follow them, each and every one. Guess what? They didn't. They couldn't. But they agreed to do it. Exodus 19 pre-says, "And Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, 'Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel, 'Exodus 19.4, Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagle's wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people, for all the earth is mine.'" Exodus 19.6, "And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel." 19.6, "And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him." Exodus 19.8, "And all the people answered together and said, 'All that the Lord has spoken we will do.' And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord." We looked at Exodus 24.2, "And Moses alone shall come near the Lord, but they shall not come nigh, neither shall the people go up with him." Exodus 24.3, "And Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments, and all the people answered with one voice, and said, 'All the words which the Lord has said we will do.'" So the children of Israel have agreed to follow all the commandments, all the statutes, all the laws that God has given. They didn't follow all of them. We can't follow all of them. Huh. "Moses acted as a go-between God and the people." Remember we said back here, Exodus 24.2, "And Moses alone shall come near the Lord, but they shall not come nigh, neither shall the people go up with him." God had one person designated to come between him and the people. Moses acted as a go-between God and the people. If any other person was to come to God other than Moses, they would die. Moses was the one God used to mediate. He was the go-between. The people had agreed to follow all of God's laws, but they couldn't do it. When Moses died, the people needed another mediator, a go-between. Someone who could go between God and man so that man would not die in his sins. The people would sin. They would disobey all that God said. Moses would act as a mediator between God and the people. "Lord, please forgive them. They've sinned. Go back. The people are forgiven. The people would sin again. Moses, Lord, please forgive the people. They have sinned." Okay, you go back, the people would sin again. That's right. Moses was a mediator between God and the people. But now Moses has died. We have to have another mediator, don't we? We have to have another go-between. Someone who could follow and fulfill all of God's laws. Matthew 5, 17, Jesus said, "Think not that I have come to destroy the law or the prophets. I have not come to destroy but to fulfill." That's Timothy 2, 5, through 2, 6. For there is one God, one God, folks, there's only one God. Only one God you have to worry about, please Him. There's not all these other gods out here that some people seem to conjure up. There's only one God that you have to worry about fulfilling His cover. Please Him, follow His laws. Guess what? Jesus Christ followed all those laws. 1 Timothy 2, 5 says, "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men." One mediator. Somebody had to take Moses' place back. The man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time. Jesus came to do what we cannot, and that is to fulfill all of God's laws and live a perfect life in the eyes of the Father. So when you believe in Him, you receive credit for His life because He has already received the punishment for your life and for my life and for the lives of everybody in the world. Jesus has already took your punishment upon Him on the cross. He has already received the punishment that we so much deserve. In the book of John chapter 5, Jesus had just healed a man. And the man was caught walking with his bedroll and a group of Jews confronted the man about walking with his bedroll on the Sabbath. They had made up a bunch of their own laws about not being able to do this or do that on the Sabbath day. And they asked the man who was healed by Jesus what had happened. And the man told the Jews that the man who had healed him told him to take up his bedroll and walk. This angered the Jews so they sought out Jesus and this is part of their conversation. We can find this in John chapter 5 verses 39 through 47. And you all should have that mark. John right here. John Matthew Mark Luke John. Now this man that Jesus healed, he was lame and he was lame by the pull of, I believe it's Bethesda. And I believe it was once a year or I can't remember the exact time but an angel would come and he would stir the pull. And if you could get in that pool you could be healed. Well the man was lame, he couldn't move. So every time the angel would come and stir the pull he couldn't get to it. Somebody asked him to get to it before he did. But Jesus came and asked the man if he would be healed. Now the man said yes I'd be healed. Jesus healed this man and told him to pick up his bedroll and walk. In John 539 Jesus says, "Search the Scriptures for in them ye think ye have eternal life and they are they which testify of you. The Scriptures point us to Christ and ye will not come to me that ye might have life." This is Jesus talking to these Jews who have put their faith in the laws. They put their faith in the laws instead of putting it in Christ. Instead of believing on God's only begotten Son that God sent to save the world, they believed in the laws. He says in 540 Jesus is talking to the Jews who were living in the laws to save them. He says, "And ye will not come to me that ye might have life." Now let me ask you, that man if he were to listen to the Jews who told him the laws and said that it's unlawful for you to walk on the Sabbath day with your bedroll. If he were to listen to them, he would have never been saved folks. He would have never been saved. But he believed on Christ. He believed on the one that told him to believe in him and pick up that bedroll and walk. And the laying man picked up that bedroll and he walked. He put his faith in what Christ said. He didn't put his faith in the laws. Jesus says, "But I know you that ye have not the love of God in you." Jesus knew them. They didn't know Jesus. "I have come in my Father's name and ye receive me not. If another shall come in his own name, him will ye receive." How can he believe which receive honor one of another and seek not the honor that come up from God only? Jesus Christ came from God for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. "Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one that accuses you, even Moses, in whom ye trust." They had put their faith in the law of Moses. Moses now was dead and buried where no man knew where he was. And yet they were still believing in the laws of Moses instead of Jesus Christ standing right in front of them. And Jesus said, "Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one that accuses you, even Moses, in whom ye trust." "For had ye believed in Moses, ye would have believed me, for he wrote of me. But if ye believed not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?" The lame man believed Jesus and was healed. The lame man took his eyes off the laws and believed in Christ and he was healed and walked. The Bible says, "He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already." Why? Because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. "For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not yourselves." It is the gift of God, not by works, lest any man should boast. Now next week, God willing, I want to talk some more about this, but we've run out of time for today. Now real quickly, yesterday I got to visit with some old high school friends of mine. And we sat out there and we reminisced and we talked about times that we had. You know, they got me to thinking. I sure enjoyed those times as a kid. I got to ride my bicycle, hang out with my friends. If I would have known the last time that I was going to get to do that, I would have done it a lot longer than I did it. If I knew that I wasn't going to be able to do it no more, I would have sure stayed doing it a lot longer. And I got to thinking, folks, we're not here forever. And if you don't know Jesus Christ as your Savior, and you keep putting it off and putting it off, one of these days you're not going to have another chance. When I was a kid, if I'd only known the last time I was going to get to ride my bicycle, go fishing with my buddies, it doesn't need a little longer. We don't know the last time we're going to be able to get out of that bed. We don't know the last time we're going to be able to draw breath in these bodies. And it's going to come a couple times when you're not going to be able to do it no more. Don't be laying in that bed, not knowing Jesus Christ as your Savior. I have talked to people on hospice, trying to tell them about Christ. And they're so out of their minds from the drugs and the medications that they don't understand. I pray that somewhere inside of them they do. But what I'll tell you is, you need to know Christ now. There's come a day when you're not going to be able to do that. And that day it's going to be too late. You must work now while it is daylight. For the night is coming when nobody will be able to work. There's coming a time when it's going to be done no more chances. And you don't know that last time is coming. So I pray if you don't know Christ as your Savior, please get with me. I'll sit down with you. We'll open this up right here together. And we'll let God show you Jesus Christ through His Word. If you feel, I mean, if God is drawing you, you know it. Don't ignore it. Because He's only going to draw you so many times. Until He's going to turn you loose and say, "Okay, there you go." He's still going to love you, but He'll be loving you from a distance. We don't want that for nobody. God doesn't want nobody to perish, but that everyone should have everlasting life. But that choice is upon you. Thank you all for coming. We're closing prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank You so much for this time that You allow us to come together, Lord, and share Your Word. Yes, Lord. Lord, we thank You for the past times that we've got the experience. And Lord, we just pray, Lord, for the present that people will come to You, Father, that don't know Jesus as their Savior. It's such a blessing to know Christ as our Savior, Lord. And I pray people would know that blessing that don't know Him, Lord. It's such a blessing to know where we're going to go when we close our eyes for the last time here on this order, Lord. Pray for those, Lord, that don't know where they're going to go, that they're up in the air by the door. They're not for certain, but Your Word makes it for us to know certainly where we're going to be when we pass away here, Lord. It's our choice, Father. And I pray if one here hasn't made that choice, or one watching online, Lord, if they haven't made that choice, that they would reach out to somebody who knows Christ as their Savior, and they would get that settled before it's too late, Lord. Thank You, Father, for those who come and encourage us, Lord. And we pray, Lord, that we are encouragement to them through Your Word, and we pray that You were glorified here today, Father. We pray for those to have ears to hear, Father. Thank You for all that You do, Lord, for all You do is good, Lord. We pray that You keep everybody safe here, Father, and watch over, and we'll just pray for a wonderful week coming up, Father. We'll just pray to You and thank You, Lord, for all that You do, Father. Thank You for Jesus, Lord. Thank You for Jesus. And in His precious name, Lord, we pray. Amen.