STANDING UP FOR JESUS JUDE 3

INTRODUCTION Jude was encouraging Christians to contend for the faith The word “contend” means to fight Jude was writing to these Christians because it was needful I was needful then…and it is certainly needful today We are living in a time when many people do not want to fight at all They do not want to fight for their rights They do not want to fight for their freedom They do not want to fight for their innocence They do not want to fight for their family As Christians we need to take a stand and fight for God We need to stand up for the gospel of Jesus Christ When we are fighting for Christ there are three things that we should not be and there are three things that we should be We should not be We should be Ashamed Addicted Afraid Ambitious Absent minded Absolute

MUST NOT BE ASHAMED What does it mean to be ashamed? To be ashamed is to feel unworthy or a guilty feeling We should not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ Rom 1:16 Paul was bold enough to say and write it and so should we! What will happen if we are ashamed of Christ or his gospel Mark 8:38 We do not want Jesus to be ashamed of us We should not be ashamed to be a Christian We should not be ashamed to live a Christian life I Pet 4:16 We should not be ashamed of the truth Jn 8:32 When we are standing up for Jesus we should not be ashamed!

MUST NOT BE AFRAID What does it mean to be afraid? To be afraid means to be hesitant, apprehensive or fearful Israel- Cannan Are we afraid to teach and preach God’s word Some people are afraid to talk to others because of who they are, and what neighborhood they live in Some Christians do not want to go door knocking in neighborhoods that have crime (These are the people who need the gospel the most) When we feel afraid to talk to others about the gospel we should ask ourselves “what would Jesus want me to do” or “what would Jesus do” Would Jesus want us to be ashamed and afraid to teach his gospel to others? I John 4:18 Phil 4:13 Read Eze 2:3-8 Read Eze 3:17-21

MUST NOT BE ABSENT MINDED To be absent minded is to be unaware of one’s actions or surroundings It is to be inattentive ---or a failure to pay attention Eph 5:15 I Tim 4:16 We could define the word absent minded as forgetting Jer 20:9 Ps 119:11 Col 3:16 If we keep the word of God in our minds and in our hearts then we will never be absent minded! One may ask “preacher how can I keep the word of God in my heart?” STUDY! II Tim 2:15 READ! I Tim 4:13

MUST BE ADDICTED To be addicted means to be attached, devoted, fanatic, or obsessed An addict is a person who has a habit so strong that it is hard to give up Smoking (some have to smoke every 15 minutes) This is the exact way we ought to be about the word of God We should be hooked to, fanatic about, devoted to, obsessed with the word of God! A person on drugs and alcohol seems to have a problem because they cannot live with out As Christians we should have an addiction……we should have an addiction that we cannot live without Christ and the word of God! There are people in the world who cannot put down the alcohol bottle, the pipe, or the needle….they are addicted Well….that is how we ought to be We should not be able to put down the Bible, we should never be able to stop talking about the word of God Quote I Cor 16:15 Not only should we addict ourselves to the ministry, we should addict ourselves to the word of God Alcohol and drugs are harmful to man physically and mentally But being an addict to the word of God can be helpful to man spiritually

MUST BE AMBITIOUS To be ambitious means to be: energetic, enthusiastic, earnest, aggressive This is how we should be when we are preaching and teaching the gospel God needs aspiring, energetic and active Christians Read Is 6:1-8 God does not need Christians who are selfish, God needs Christians who will go the extra mile Sometimes when people work on their jobs, they work so hard that they miss their breaks just to get the task done God needs those type of Christians God needs overtime Christians, Are we working overtime in the work of the church? God needs Christians who have plans, Christians who have goals Can we honestly sing the song “I want to be a worker for the Lord”, I am a hard fighting solider”, “I want to be soul winner for Jesus” God needs ambitious Christians in his church I Cor 15:58 Rev 14:13, Acts 6 We should work until we cannot work anymore (we should be useful not useless) Phil 2:30

MUST BE ABSOLUTE We should be absolute when it comes to preaching and teaching the gospel of Christ To be absolute means to be complete , full or entire, exact The word of God is absolute and we ought to teach and preach it that way II Tim 3:16 Exact Matt 7:13-14 And we are told how we should preach the word of God II Tim 4:2 Acts 20:27 Some make the word of God of no effect Mark 7:6-9 The word of God is absolute and we should teach and preach it that way Is 30:10 Who said that we cannot really know? WE CAN KNOW! 1Jn 2:3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 1Jn 5:19 And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.

APPLICATION The account of Stephen When thinking about standing for Jesus I am reminded of the story of Stephen Stephen was standing….Stephen was standing for Jesus Stephen was standing for Jesus when he was preaching the gospel before he was stoned to death Quote Acts 7:55-56 Visualize this in your mind, I see Jesus sitting down and watching the whole thing And just before Stephen was about to be stone I see Jesus standing up Jesus stood up and acknowledged Stephen Jesus recognized what Stephen was doing for him I see Jesus saying “Stephen I see what you are doing” I see that you are preaching the gospel I see that you are doing the right thing I see that you are doing the will of God And since you are standing up for me, I am going to return the favor and stand up for you When we stand up for Christ and do what he has commanded us to do, Christ will stand up for us!

STANDING UP FOR JESUS JUDE 3