Speaker: Senior Pastor Bill Hayden

Scripture Text: Jude 1:4-8 (NKJV)

4 For 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.

5 But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.

6 And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;

7 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

8 Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.

Applications:

1. Resist the temptation to be swayed to depart from the truth and your feelings.

2. Remember the faithfulness of God to those who have believed in His Word.

Scripture Text: Jude 1:1-5 (NKJV)

1 Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ:

2 Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly
for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.

4 For 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.

5 But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.

Applications:

1. Defending the Faith is allowing the Holy Spirit to affirm the truth by your  
         lifestyle.
2. Defending the Faith is not becoming argumentative, but simply stating that
         truth.
3. It is the Holy Spirit in you that brings conviction, when you live a Godly Life.

Part 2 – His Protection and Provision

Scripture Text: Psalms 121:4-8 (NKJV)

4. Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep.

5. The Lord is your keeper; The Lord is your shade at your right hand.

6. The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night.

7. The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul.

8. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore

Applications:

1. Our trust comes from knowing that God never makes a promise that He doesn’t fulfill.

2. The proof of faith is knowing without knowing and seeing without seeing.

Scripture Text: Psalms 121:1-8 (NKJV)

1. I will lift up my eyes to the hills – From whence comes my help?

2.  My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.

3. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.

4. Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep.

5. The Lord is your keeper; The Lord is your shade at your right hand.

6. The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night.

7. The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul.

8. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time
    forth, and even forevermore

Applications:

You are a reflection of the company you keep.

Our security is found in the One and not the many.

Scripture Text: Ephesians 6:1-3 (NKJV)

1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

2 “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with
    promise:

3 “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”

Application:

1. If you didn’t honor your mother in her lifetime, honor her now by loving God,
    others and yourself.

Scripture Text: James 1: 5-8 (NLT)

5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.

6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.

7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.

8 Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.

Applications:

1. Wisdom is always available when we ask God in faith and are willing to wait to reach it.

2. Being led by the Holy Spirit enables you to take the first step in gaining wisdom.

Scripture Text:  James 1:2-8 (NLT)

2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.

3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.

4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.

6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.

7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.

8 Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.

Applications:

1. Our endurance grows from continual testing in the different seasons of life.

2. A good start doesn’t necessarily make a good finish.

Scripture Text:  Galatians 1:1-5 (NKJV)

1. Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead),
2.  and all the brethren who are with me, To the churches of Galatia:
3.  Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ,
4. who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil
   age, according to the will of our God and Father,
5. to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Applications:

1. Your faith is more precious than fine gold or platinum.

2. Your faith is strengthened through the trials you endure.

Scripture Text:  John 6:39-40, 1 Thessalonians 4:14, Romans 8:11 (NLT)

John 6: 39-40 (NLT)

39 And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has
given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day.

40 For it is my Father’s
will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.”

1 Thessalonians 4:14 (NLT)

14 For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.

Romans 8:11 (NLT)

11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.

Applications:

1. Since God loves us and His desire is for us be with Him, what is there to fear?

2. Where there is LOVE…there is no fear.

Scripture Text:  Luke 19: 35-42 (NKJV)

35 Then they brought him to Jesus. And they threw their own clothes on the colt, and they set Jesus on him.

 36 And as He went, many spread their clothes on the road.

 37 Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen,

 38 saying: “ ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’  Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

 39 And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.”

 40 But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”

 41 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it,

 42 saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.

Applications:

1. Love cost the sacrifice of God’s son for you…what are you willing to sacrifice for Him?