Series: Jude's Guide to Religious Phoneys
Dr. Woodrow Kroll
July 2, 2010

Woodrow Kroll: Jude lived centuries ago, but his writings still strike a vibrant chord with the church today.

Tami Weissert: Find out what he said about standing firm in the truth and standing together in unity.

Woodrow Kroll: Yes, all that in today's study. Please stay with us. Hi, I'm Woodrow Kroll.

Tami Weissert: I'm Tami Weissert.

Woodrow Kroll: And this is Back to the Bible.

Tami Weissert: Well, Jude, a little one-page book of the Bible really packs a punch. Wood, you can read Jude in what?

Woodrow Kroll: Three to five minutes, certainly less than five minutes.

Tami Weissert: So it's a quick read yet it's full of information and it challenges us on a bunch of levels.

Woodrow Kroll: Yes, Jude is a lot more than a stopover to Revelation. This is a book of the Bible that speaks to the church about truth and standing firm in the truth.

Tami Weissert: Wood, when you are talking about the church, you're talking about the church of all believers, right?

Woodrow Kroll: Right.

Tami Weissert: OK. Now, since you're kind of an expert in church history, give us your perspective on where the church stands right now in the 21st century.

Woodrow Kroll: Well, I'm not much of an expert in anything, but I do know that the church goes through cycles of life. You know, churches die and new churches are born. Denominations die and new ones are born. Forms of worship die and new ones are born. But revival for the entire church--that's really the only hope that the church has apart from the return of the Lord.

So today, the church especially in the western world seems to be doing very well. But the church is actually following a pattern that the Church of  England has already followed as well as many churches in Europe. They've built big cathedrals. They have big monuments of worship. But they've neglected God's Word. So their members have wanted to be spiritual, but just haven't become very godly.

Tami Weissert: So as members of the church today, we really do need to acquaint ourselves with what Jude has to say to us.

Woodrow Kroll: I thank God for thousands of churches, big and small, churches around the world with faithful pastors, pastors who preach the Word of God, and faithful people who are moving down the road to spiritual maturity. But you know, that brand of church isn't growing; it's diminishing. And as church members, I think we need to reacquaint ourselves with the issues that Jude addresses and we need to address them seriously if we want revival in our church.

Tami Weissert: Thank you, Wood. We are in the Book of Jude. It's easy to find. It's tucked right before Revelation. Today's study was recorded on location at a Bible conference. Here's Dr. Kroll.

Woodrow Kroll: The things we need to hear for the church in the 21st century are the very things that Jude talked about. He wanted to write about the good stuff. He wanted to write about the common salvation we have. That would have been great. But he knew he had to do something else. He knew he had to encourage his readers to stand firm with regard to Bible truth because there had been people in the church who had drifted from the truth.

Now you and I want to stand firm for Bible truth too but the issue is how do we do it? How do we know we're standing firm for Bible truth and what lessons can we learn from this tiny little epistle of Jude that will help us today? Well I knew you were going to ask that question so I'm prepared to tell you what I've learned from the book and you can compare and see if this is exactly what you've learned. What is the application for our lives today from the 25 verses of this delightful little book?

Let me just suggest several things to you. First of all, I think it's always necessary to seek ways to acknowledge the lordship of Jesus Christ.

If you want to be true to the Word of God, you must be true to the deity and lordship of Jesus Christ. I see that right there in verse 4. He says, "Certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ." It is absolutely essential. In fact, all the apostles encountered this same thing.

I'm mindful of the fact that when Paul was writing to the Colossian church, he was very concerned that they not forget that Jesus is, indeed, Lord. Let me read a verse to you.

Colossians 2, beginning about verse 6: "As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him [now listen], rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him [in Christ] dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him."

You and I were born incomplete individuals. In fact, we were born spiritually dead. The Bible tells us that. Physically alive, but spiritually dead. It's only when we added to the physical life a relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior that we not only became alive, but we also became complete.

So, Jude wants to help us understand. You can walk the Christian life today very successfully if you always seek ways to acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Look down at verse 10. Here's another lesson to be learned. They "speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves."

I think it's important you and I always find ways to keep from feeding our own fleshly lusts. Why? Because it's the natural thing to do, isn't it? I mean, we feed ourselves. We feed our lusts on everything we can. It is normal and natural, but it's also sinful to do that.

That's why the Bible so often talks about feeding the lusts of the flesh—2 Peter  2:12‑14 specifically address that. If we want to maintain the Lordship of Christ, we have to make sure we feed spiritually, not just physically.

And by physically, I don't mean the bounty of the table. I mean what comes in our eyes, what comes in our ears, what enters our minds, the things that feed the lust of the body, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life, the lust of the eyes.

And then he says something truly amazing in verse 20. One of the great lessons, perhaps, of this tiny little epistle, he says, "Always be working on a body-building program." Do you see that? "But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit."

Now, it began in the middle of the twentieth century, the cult of the body, it continued toward the end of the twentieth century, and we continue to be in it today.

It goes very closely with athletics, with the rise of the professional athlete, with strength programs. None of these things are wrong, you understand. It goes very closely with the "boomers" desire to be at the health club. And so, what used to cost you a couple of bucks is now several thousand dollars a year, just for a membership, so that your body can be "buff."

Now, I've got to tell you, all of us would like to have a "buff body," right? And it's not true for most of us. My concern is not for those who want a "buff body." My concern is for those who don't have sense enough to have a body-building program for the soul because they have a "hulk" without a heart. They have all that they need from the gym. They have nothing that they need from the Word.

And Jude's concern here is that we be in a consistent body-building program for our spirits, that we be building ourselves up daily in the Word of God. Remember the verse that I just read from Colossians 2? "Rooted and grounded and built up." See, that's what the faith is all about. It's rooted in Christ Jesus. Grounded in the Word of God, and built up every day by what we learn from God's Word.

So, today, there are a lot of Christians--in fact there are a lot of churches that cater this sort of thing. They have a gym for people to work out in at the church. They have a bowling alley in the church. They have anything they need for outreach to the community.

What they don't have is outreach to the community. What they have is a gym. And what they have is a bowling alley. What they need is something to build up the minds of people. It's a shame, or would be a shame would it not, for us to spend all that time working on that which one day will be eaten through with worms? And not work on that which lives forever?

See, that's why I'm so concerned, as is Jude, that we not spend so much of our money, so much of our time, so much of our effort on the temporal things that we fail to do the eternal things so that now the body is "buff" and the mind is "fat." Used to be the other way around! And neither of those is good, you know? And Jude says, "Be in a bodybuilding program, one that builds up your mind every day."

Tami Weissert: Thanks for joining us today here on Back to the Bible. I'm Tami Weissert along with Bible teacher, Woodrow Kroll.

Now, Wood, what we'll do to be buff! Actually, I have to admit, I am kind of into the fitness thing. But like you said, all that work for our bodies without regard for our minds or our souls, well, it doesn't do much for us in the end.

Woodrow Kroll: No, and my concern with the Body of Christ today is that we're spending so much time, we're spending so much effort--let's be honest--we're spending so much money on ourselves, on our bodies, on our likes and the things we desire, that we may have lost sight of the fact that all of those things stay behind when we leave this earth to enter eternity.

Tami Weissert: We keep talking about the church but doesn't that come down to each one of us individually?

Woodrow Kroll: It does. We are the church. The church is not a building. It's not an institution. The church is people. If we're to have better churches, we have to have better people. And if we want the church to be more pleasing to God, we as the people of the church have to be more pleasing to God.

Tami Weissert: How does that change the way then that we respond to our local church?

Woodrow Kroll: For one thing, we don't abandon the local church. I know there's a lot of talk about that today. This is still God's chosen method to infiltrate the world, to evangelize, to build one another up. But it's that building up part that we seem to be lacking in many churches today. I think we need to encourage the leaders of our church to dramatically increase all the opportunities we have to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Tami Weissert: So Wood, what's your vision for outreach for the church rather than a gym or a bowling alley like you mentioned earlier?

Woodrow Kroll: I'm looking for genuine discipleship, a model that puts responsibility on me personally and on others who hold me accountable. Look, we shouldn't expect our pastor to be in charge of our spiritual formation. He only gets us one hour a week or so. I have 168 hours a week with me. The ultimate responsibility of the church is to help me be a better me, a more godly me.

Hi, I'm Woodrow Kroll from Back to the Bible.

Tami Weissert: And I'm Tami Weissert, inviting you to join us for the journey of your life.

Woodrow Kroll: Yes, we're talking about the journey through Revelation coming up July 5th through August 27th right here on Back  to the Bible. Journey through Revelation will take you to places you may never have been before. Don't worry: there's no costs, no packing, no reservations required.

Tami Weissert: Just plan now to join us right here on this station.

Woodrow Kroll: Well trek through each chapter of Revelation to uncover all this inspired book reveals to us about Jesus Christ and our future with Him.

Tami Weissert: So join us as we journey through Revelation starting July 5th right here on Back to the Bible.

If we want to be in the business of building sound minds and souls, we need to be unified in our efforts. So how do we ward off division and stay unified as Christ's Church? Here's Dr. Kroll.

Woodrow Kroll: If you want to be successful in living a life in the twenty-first century, and Jude is our guide for doing this, then one of the things you have to always be concerned about, is how close you're living to the Savior. How much more today, you look like Jesus than you did even yesterday!

There's one final lesson. Oh, there're many other lessons, but one final one I notice here, I want to share with you today. It comes right out of the Book of Jude and, you know, there are other places in the Bible you could see this, but I don't think they're any better places. Look at verse 19. Jude, verse 19. "These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit." The whole issue of causing divisions.

There are many places in the Bible that tell us what to do with those that cause divisions. Mark them and avoid them, the Bible says. And yet, sometimes those who cause divisions are the power brokers in the church today. And what do we do when we have divisions in the church? We need everybody to get in the same regimen, the same body-building program.

When I was a seminary student, sometimes both Linda and I worked and it was difficult. I remember some seminarians who did not work. They would sit around all day long discussing deep things of theology over very bad coffee. They'd discuss the hypostatic union of Christ and infralapsarianism versus supralapsarianism. And they would go home that day and talk to their wife and her big decision was whether to use Cheer® or Fab® that day, you know? And they were growing apart spiritually and wondering why.

What happens in a family sometimes happens in a church. If we don't grow together as a body, if we grow separate entities as a body, we never really become a unified body.

So Jude is pleading with us here not to allow sensual persons to cause divisions, but rather get into a program where you can help others grow and they can help you grow. I don't know that there's anything that is more devastating to the church of Jesus Christ in the twenty-first century than disunity. And it's always been that way.

Let me tell you my favorite story about disunity. There was a man walking across a bridge one night and he saw a man standing there on the edge of the bridge obviously contemplating jumping into the water. He thought he had to do something so he stepped up to the man and he said, "Stop! Don't jump!"

And the man said, "Why not?"

The fellow said, "Life has so much to offer you. Why would you want to end your life? Why would you want to jump?"

And the guy said, "Like what?"

He said, "Well, are you a religious person or are you an atheist?"

"Well, I'm a religious person."

He said, "So am I." He thought he had a rapport with him immediately.

He says, "Do you follow Christianity or do you follow Judaism or do you follow Islam?"

I follow Christianity. "Well, so do I." He was really excited. He said, "So are you a Protestant or are you a Catholic?"

"I'm a Protestant."

"I am too! It's great!" So he says, "Are you of the Baptist persuasion or are you of the Baptist Church of God or are you Baptist Church of the Lord?"

He says, "I happen to be Baptist Church of God."

"So am I! I am Baptist Church of God too. Are you original Baptist Church of God or are you a Reformed Baptist Church of God?"

"Well, I'm Reformed Baptist Church of God."

"Praise the Lord! So am I Reformed Baptist Church of God. You and I are exactly the same thing. Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God Reformation of 1611 or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God Reformation of 1915?"

He said, "I'm Reformation 1915."

With that, he pushed him off the bridge and said, "Die, you heretic!"

And then there's this last great expression here, verses 24 and 25 of Jude. "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen."

I think the best lesson I learn from little Jude here is to always watch for the return of the Lord. Always keep one eye on the sky because He's coming back, folks. He really is coming back. And the reason I know that is, He said so. I have been able to trust Him with my eternal salvation. Why would I not be able to trust Him with the fact that He's coming back?

A fishing vessel pulled into the harbor one day after many days at sea. And as it neared the shore there, the sailors gazed onto the shore to see if their wives had come down to the dock to meet them. And they were able to identify a number of them. The captain looked out with his long telescope and he said, "Oh, I see Bill's Mary and I see Tom's Margaret and I see Woodrow's Linda." I just thought I'd throw that in, it sounded pretty nice!

And one man became concerned because he didn't see his wife there. He got off the ship, made his way up the hill to his little cottage, opened the door, and there she was, preparing a beautiful dinner for him. He opened the door and went in, and she says, "Oh! So glad to have you home. I've been waiting for you."

And with as gentle a reply as he could give, he said, "Yes, you have been waiting for me. But some of the other wives were watching, too."

We're all waiting for the return of the Lord. My question is, "Are you watching?" Is it that real to you as it was to Jude that you end every day with the prayer, "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior. who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen." That's not just waiting for His return. That's anticipating it!

Tami Weissert: So the question is Are we ready for Christ's return? Hi, Tami Weissert here on Back to the Bible with Bible teacher, Woodrow Kroll.

Wood, is the 21st century church really doing what it needs to do to ready us for Christ's return?

Woodrow Kroll: Not every church of course, just like not every Christian is ready for the return of Christ. There is one key element that the Lord is looking for when He returns. The Bible refers to this in a variety of ways in a number of places and that element is purity. It's not our musical talent or our technical talent. It's just simple purity. When Christ returns, will He find a pure church? We hold the key to answering that.

Tami Weissert: One of the most significant ways to anticipate Jesus' return is to be united in that anticipation. We talked about unification today. How does that happen?

Woodrow Kroll: A.W. Tozer said something about 100 pianos being tuned to the same tuning fork. If they are, they are automatically tuned to each other. I think what he meant by that was if we are united in church, if we're genuinely worshiping God in community, and if the Word of God is preached in power, then we're not only in tune with God; we're also in tune with each other, in tune with one another in the church. Unity happens not when we all do the same thing. Unity happens when we're all united to the same Person and that Person is the Lord Jesus.

Tami Weissert: You know, there are a lot of self-proclaimed church and faith "experts" out there throwing their brand of spirituality at us, but who's telling the truth and who's telling a lie? That's what discernment is all about and that's why this week's series, Jude's Guide to Religious Phoneys is so important--important enough that you may want to order it on CD for yourself, your study group, maybe your church library. Jude's Guide to Religious Phoneys, all five studies in one CD set. Order it on our web site at backtothebible.org or give us a call. Our phone number is 1-800-759-2425.

Well, next week, Wood, I am pretty excited because we kick off our journey through Revelation. It's a perfect study for our summer. In fact, it's going to take us all the way through August.

Woodrow Kroll: We're actually spending eight full weeks in this exciting book. Eight weeks may sound like a lot but hey, listen! When you're dealing with Revelation, you can never spend enough time. We will use the first week just to prepare for the study, just to kind of get our minds in gear and get going in what it means to study the Book of Revelation. Not just all the unique things we will find in the book but what is the real message of this book.

Monday, we'll look at the reason behind studying Bible prophecy and in doing so, I want to identify some of the common mistakes people make when they read the Book of Revelation and there are quite a few of them. So please plan to join us on Monday as we begin this intriguing book taking an in-depth look, chapter by chapter, almost verse by verse, of the Book of Revelation.

Well, the weekend is here and I know you're going to want to be faithful to your pastor and to your local church this weekend. Be in your place studying God's Word, worshiping with others, and then think about what it's like to get a great picture of the future, a picture that comes only from God's Word, the picture we get best from the last book of the Bible--the Book of Revelation. I think you're going to find it an exciting study, answer a lot of questions for you, lots of things you may have wondered about. The Bible has the answer. So join us on Monday as we begin our exciting study of the Book of Revelation.

Thanks for dropping by today. It's always good to have you as a part of our listening family. God bless you. I'm Woodrow Kroll. Have a good and godly day, for of what lasting value is a good day if it's not also a godly day?

Scripture used in today's program was based on the New King James Version of the Bible.