JACKSON, Tenn. — Sept. 18, 2019 — Micah Fries, senior pastor of Brainerd Baptist Church of Chattanooga, Tennessee, spoke at 51社区 Wednesday morning on the book of Jude in the first of a three-part annual 鈥淔aith in Practice鈥� chapel series.
鈥淚n these 25 little verses, we get this powerful letter from Jude to the church affirming the character of God and the love of God for the church, and begging the church 鈥� to avoid the trap of selling the gospel for something less,鈥� Fries said.
Fries pointed out three characteristics of what this looks like in Christians鈥� lives. First, they have to struggle for the gospel if they are going to be faithful in Jesus. In today鈥檚 culture, the church is often guilty of selling out the gospel for cultural accommodation or political expediency, Fries said. Jude reminds the church that the gospel is worth fighting for and of those who have gone before them and fought for the integrity of the gospel.
鈥淚t鈥檚 your turn to fight for the validity and the purity of the gospel,鈥� Fries challenged students.
Second, Christians have to fight for the gospel because there will always be those who will seek to pervert it. Jude talks about false teachers who sneak into the church and were living ungodly lives, turning the grace of God into permission to do whatever they wanted and denying the sovereignty of Jesus. Fries said the same thing happens today.
鈥淵ou and I need to recognize our own brokenness and our own tendency to run away from Jesus, and we have to be ever diligent to constantly run back to the gospel,鈥� he said.
Third, the Bible is clear that God is going to judge those who pervert the gospel. American Christians are not being persecuted like in other places in the world, but they are being marginalized, Fries said. Christians will have to decide whether they will fight to defend their faith, he continued, adding that judgment awaits those who abandon the gospel.
鈥淭he gospel matters. The gospel is the most important, precious, powerful thing you can experience in your life, and we cannot, we should not, we must not sell it short for something inferior,鈥� Fries said. 鈥淚nstead, let us hold on to the gospel, let us contend for the gospel, let us fight for the gospel and trust that God is able, sovereign and capable of leading us and blessing us even as we trust him in the middle of all of that.鈥�
Fries will continue preaching through the book of Jude Thursday and Friday at 10 a.m. in the G.M. Savage Memorial Chapel. All messages are archived and livestreamed at .