Some Save by Fire

I want you here to turn in your Bibles to the book of Jude in the New Testament. It's a small book just before the book of Revelation. You know in the New Testament we have the book of Acts, which is the history, the details, the story of the early church, the members, the people who were caught up in that revival.

But in the book of Jude someone once called it the Acts of the Apostates. An apostate is someone who falls away from the faith, who turns away from the word of truth, that takes truth and corrupts it and changes it and perverts it, turns it inside out. And so this little book, it's very brief, it doesn't even have chapters, it only has one chapter.

But within this little tiny book you have the Acts of the Apostates. If you want to read about what men who turn away from truth or the person of Christ or real salvation look like, they want religion but not Christ. They want all manners of being able to profess to know God and yet they don't live in holiness.

Read the little book of Jude and you will see what it looks like. But we're in this series of evangelism, of bringing men, winning men to Jesus Christ. And it may seem strange that I take you to a little book that's about apostasy or when the fires have dimmed down and when cities aren't being shaken like on the book of Acts and when the revival fires are not sweeping provinces.

But what you have is this little book is written by the half brother of the Lord Jesus. In other words, he was a son of Joseph and Mary, one of their children. And so you've got Jude in the latter half of the first century.

Hadn't quite got to 90 AD but it was after 60 AD, somewhere in that region. He writes this little book, the brother of our Lord, a man who had watched from the days after Pentecost all the way through, years of revival, years of outpouring. But now he'd started to see an hour where great apostates were arising.

I mean, men, great teachers who were heretics and apostates, deceivers, liars, confusion was arising, not even the end of the first century. But you know what? In this little tiny book, these few verses, he packs so much in. It's an amazing little book.

But one of the things he deals with is winning men to Christ. We're going to read here this part nine in our series, and I call this, although it's not a textual statement I've used, it sounds like it, but it's not. I have a sort of condensed verses, teachings to create the title of this message.

This is what it is, part nine. Some save by fire. That's my message.

Some save by fire. You're going to fully understand what I mean by this. Reading from Jude, verse 17.

But beloved brethren, beloved, sorry, let me say that again. But beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, how that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, in other words, disjoint themselves from a body.

Sensual, in other words, living by the five senses. Having not the spirit, they act like it, they think like it, they say they do, but they don't have the real Holy Spirit. But ye beloved, notice now he's contrasting them with these kinds of apostates.

But ye beloved brethren, beloved, building up yourselves. I really love that word beloved this morning. It's not in the text, but I've said it twice.

So maybe we need to know where the beloved brethren, but ye beloved, building up yourselves on your most Holy faith, praying in the Holy ghost, keep yourself in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And of some, notice this carefully, and of some have compassion, making a difference and others saved with fear, pulling them out of the fire, even the garments spotted by flesh. Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy to the only wise God or savior be glory and majesty and dominion and power both now and forevermore.

Amen. Let's pray together. Father, we pray right now in Jesus name.

We realize it's an hour of apostasy. Apostasy has arisen dramatically. It has multiplied.

It has gained the airwaves, the great pulpits, the great churches, the great denominations of our world. But our God is still a God of revival. He's the God of Calvary and the God of blood redemption.

And we believe in the power of the Holy spirit, the revival of the Holy ghost. I know God, we know that you're not finished, but there's hours like Jude's day where we must contend earnestly for the faith once delivered. And my God, I pray even this morning that we'd be snatching men from the very fires of hell.

We would be rescuing men from apostasy and false teachings and false movements and erroneous things that would destroy their very soul and undermine the faith and the truth of reality. Lord God, we're asking of you now, Lord God, that you'd show us those that need saved by compassion and you'd show us those that need saved by fear and compassion to be merciful, to be kind unto all men, that your name might be glorified in Jesus. And my message is some saved by fire.

It says in verse 20, Jude speaking to the real believers and an hour of apostate apostasy. When you can hardly tell the real Christian from the false, many calling themselves Christian, but it's hard to discern. He actually says, keep yourself in the love of God.

It's a command from him. He gives a number of things that you ought to do as a real Christian and an hour of coldness, heresy, apostasy of great darkness of confusion of deception. One of the things he says is keep yourself in the love of God.

What is the love of God? It is supernatural. It put Christ on the cross stand for sinners. That's the love of God.

Never just tell them God loves you. Explain what it is. Explain to them Calvary, redemption, the shedding of the blood, because this generation doesn't know what love is anymore.

Take them to Calvary. Tell them the old, old story. Tell them of our sin being laid upon the master.

And so he says here in an hour of apostasy, keep yourself in the love of God. This word keep, it means to garrison yourself around, protect yourself with the love of God. Saints, this will keep you on a very dark hour.

It'll stop growing cold. It'll stop you being drawn aside after lusts of the flesh. The love of God is a very powerful thing.

It is a thing of fire. It is a passionate thing. It is a burning thing.

Keep yourself, surround yourself, abide and dwell in. And as the body of Christ, as we fellowship together, love one another, let's abide in the love of God. It is burning.

It is on fire. It is pure. It is holy.

It is righteous. The love of God sent Christ to die for sinners. The love of God will tell you what sin is.

It won't let you be lied about sin. The love of God will make you walk a straight line, will make you flee from the wrath of God. And so he says here to the real Christian, after listing the history of great apostasies in all of world's history and naming names and pointing people out in his own generation, he has given details in his own day of men all around them who are apostates.

He names movements. He names movements. He gives them titles.

He expressly explains who they are and gives them a definition and says who they were like in the Bible. And so this man of God says, keep yourself in the love of God, looking for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And then he says two things here are two verses.

And this is what I'm going to preach to you here this morning. I've got four points that I'm going to take from verse 22 and 23. And it says of some have compassion making a difference.

What are you going to do in apostasy? When it's dark, when it's hard, batten down, merely batten down and protect yourself and have a holy huddle and a love feast. Is that all you're going to do? He tells us something else to do in an hour of apostasy. When many have moved away, what we're to do, we're to rescue men.

We're to be militant. We don't just give ground, say we're holding the fort until Jesus comes back. We actually say we're going after men for Jesus Christ.

That's what we're going to do. And of some have compassion making a difference. And others say with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

Four points. Number one, make a difference. I don't mean make a difference.

I mean, make a difference. There's a difference in what I've just said. My first point here, and you see it, it's written very clearly at the end of verse 21, it says making a difference.

He's just talked about some and some have compassion. He's talking about soul winning, rescuing men from something very dangerous. And then he says, making a difference.

He is actually commanding you here. The word is a command, make a difference. I'm just emphasizing, I want this to sink in between two groups, two ways of evangelizing.

And I'm going to deal with it here. Don't treat all sinners the same in your words, your attitude, your approach, your demeanor. Don't act the same way to all sinners.

Don't treat all sinners the same. Don't approach them all in the same way. Don't say the same thing to all sinners.

All sinners are not the same. There's actually in this text, a different way to deal with sinners. And he gives us two of them, two major distinct ways to deal with sinners, but not only sinners, backsliders, those who have fallen from grace, fallen away, departed from the truth.

Two different ways. What do you do with an apostate? And he's dealing with apostasy here, coldness, people going off on tangents, false teachings, living immorally, but calling themselves a Christian, all of this. How do you deal with them? Well, he tells us here, he says there's two different ways.

Don't treat all backsliders the same. They're not things, they're people. And believe me, as I've been with this, this suddenly, the penny began to drop on so many issues yesterday.

I mean, the lights began to go on. Things began to become clear. I'm going to have to go away and spend time on these verses because something is rolling in me of such practical worth, such value in dealing with men and women.

It's of great value. This is the wisdom of God here this morning. And so the first thing is make a difference.

Don't deal with all sinners the same. Now he says here, making a difference. The word difference here is an important Greek word.

It's diokrino, it's judging. And so he says making a difference is actually to make a judgment. The word diokrino means to separate thoroughly, discriminate between, to then make a decision to discern and to judge.

We have dealt with this in the early stages of this church thoroughly in a very weighty way. There's three things involved with this word diokrino. First of all, you've got to compare.

If you're going to discern, if you're going to make a judgment, if you're going to do what he says, make a difference. Who do you show love to? And who do you win by fear? Who do you win by compassion? Who do you win by fear? Two different ways to win men back to Christ, by compassion, by fear, and we're going to deal with it. So how do you know, who do you win with compassion? And who do you win with fear? That's very different, you know.

What if you get confused and start trying to win the wrong person with fear? And this person over here with compassion when they ought to have fear. Do you know you could show people love and compassion who should not be shown that? They need to be shown something else. You don't show love to everyone.

And so this verse actually says, making a difference. It's very important. He's already said on some show compassion and on others fear.

You're dealing with two things here, trying to rescue men from sin, corruption, false teachings. How are you going to do it? First of all, you've got to make a difference. You have to know how to judge, how to separate, how to discern.

You don't go in there with your hog nail boots and trample over a backslider or some sinner. You don't do that. You never do that.

You ought to be slow, prayerful, careful. Sometimes you've got to be immediate. You've got to be sharp.

You've got to be quick, but never be hasty. Be led of the Spirit of God. Be wise under the wisdom of God.

We need to know where should we show comfort and where do we deliver a rebuke? What if you get that wrong? What if someone's in need of comfort and you're rebuking them in the house of God? Or what if someone needs a rebuke and you're comforting them? There, there, there. I've seen it. You know, we were running a school in this city and I had someone approach me, a young guy.

He looked like a baby, really. He acted like a baby, but he thought he was Evan Roberts from the Welsh Revival. He was convinced of it.

He told me he was about to, the first night of School of Christ, deliver 10 prophecies of judgment upon people in that school who he's never even met before. I said, if you dare even attempt to do that, I will throw you out in your ear and I'll drive you straight to the airport. And I eventually did.

No way is that going to operate. You see, there's something terribly, terribly wrong with that. And there was a very mature godly evangelist in that school who, when I was dealing with this young guy, privately, carefully, quickly, strongly, I didn't go and tell everyone that immediately.

This older, mature evangelist is coming to me and said, oh, he just needs love. He just needs time. Let's just, and he would sit with them and begin to comfort them.

I have seen that 10,000 times in the body of Christ in the church in my lifetime. I've seen it often. You better not comfort those who need a rebuke from God or you're sinning and you're disobeying the word of God.

There's so many scriptures that say you ought not to do that. I could give you a three-hour teaching on that, just on those scriptures. And so it says, make a difference.

It's an hour of apostasy. You must not comfort those that need a rebuke. You must not rebuke those that need a comfort.

You could crush someone. You could destroy someone. You could hinder someone.

You could stop someone in their tracks who needs the comfort of God, the love of God, the kindness of God. And yet you're rebuking or saying, just do this. Seemed all through the church, they used to say, oh, I've got knowledge.

Just do that. You're wisdom. They're just telling people what they ought to do.

You can really hurt people and bruise people like that. Never do that. Listen to what it says in Colossians four and five.

Walk in wisdom towards them that are without. Talking about sinners, the unsaved. Walk with wisdom.

If you're just pouring out the gospel, you could really make a lot of mistakes. Oh, I know the gospel. I'm just telling them.

It says, walk with wisdom, wisdom. You need knowledge. You need understanding.

You need facts. You need time with wisdom. You're to walk towards those that are without the church, redeeming the time, rescuing the time with wisdom to reach out to them.

Let your speech be always with grace. Notice he's talking about reaching out with wisdom to those outside the church, reaching souls for Christ. How are you to do it? Let your speech always be with grace.

Seasoned with salt that you may know how you ought to answer every man. Do you see this making a difference? There's different ways to speak to men, different ways to talk to different people. Young, old, male, female.

You don't know. Only the spirit of God knows. How do you even speak to an individual when you are only human? You rely.

You've got to study. You've got to pray. You've got to be wise.

You've got to be sensitive. Don't be insensitive to people. You see, and then going a stage further, your heart has everything to do with it.

I'm talking about making a difference when you approach a sinner, or it's family, or it's a backslider, or it's an apostate. You're to make a difference. You're to diocrino.

You're to be judging, discerning, deciding, discriminating, separating thoroughly through everything. Not just treating everyone the same. You ought to be giving some diocrino to every individual you speak to.

Should I rebuke them? Should I point out sin? Should I comfort them? Should I ease their conscience? Do I need to help them to pour in the wine and the oil, or pour wrath out on their head? What do I do? You've got to discriminate. You've got to diocrino. But do you know what your heart and deal with a backslider? Notice how with this, with soul women, I've introduced backsliders here this morning.

Do you notice that in apostates? There's a part of soul women that we forget about. We're after the apostates, the heretics. We're after those that have fallen away from the faith as well, as much as the new convert or someone who's never heard the gospel.

We're after all men. But your attitude is very important. Listen to Galatians 6 and 1. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, talking about a believer in the church, he's fallen flat in his face, fallen out the back of the church.

Ye which are spiritual, doesn't say all go bang on his door. Ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness. And it says spiritual for mature.

You're not mature if you don't know the word of God or how to deal with a backslider or someone who's caused problems. Merely because you think you're mature and you can go and do it and show love. What if they need a rebuke and you're giving them love? You're not mature.

You're not even wise. To actually pour in love to someone who needs to be saved by fire and warnings and pointed dealings with things. That is not wise.

Neither is it mature. And so if someone falls flat in their face, you which are spiritual, restore such a one. Heal them.

Mend them. Doesn't mean getting them back in the church. It means heal them.

Deal with the issue. Restore. Fix it.

Good. It's not enough to get someone back in the church. I don't want to get people back in the church.

I want to get them back to Christ. I want to get them back to the blood. I want to get them walking in the light of God's word.

And he says restore such a one. Notice this in the spirit of meekness. Considering myself, lest thou also be tempted.

It's not enough to evangelize. It's not enough to reach out to a backslider or an apostate. It's not enough to have the right words and the right message and to point out the right thing.

That's not sufficient. Do you know what he says here? You're to do it with a spirit of meekness. A certain kind of person going after a certain kind of person.

Not everyone should go after a backslider. Not everyone should address an apostate. If you don't know what you're doing, don't open the door to the JWs.

Don't get involved in the conversation. You'll get in over your head. Don't go out there and try to win people in places you should never be.

And so here we're warned it's got to be with the spirit of meekness. Considering yourself, lest thou also be tempted. You could be tempted in trying to reach someone in places where you think, no, no, I know what I'm doing.

Maybe you don't. You better be careful who changes your tire. Do you know, I used to be okay before I had a Southern Ridge car.

Then I got a Southern Ridge car living in the South and I drive to the North. Same place, I'm the same person, from the same area, with the same accent, but now I've got a Southern Ridge car. And I went to a certain garage that I knew was very good, very reliable and I'd used over the years.

Then I went and used it and went, oh, they didn't do this very well, put their own tire back on. Then the second time I used it, it happened again. Third time, after the third time, now I'm waking up and going, I am not sticking a Southern Ridge car into that garage.

Something's going on here. You need to be very careful who is dealing with your car. But I tell you what, you better be very careful who's dealing with your life.

I don't want you stomping around in your boots over someone's life, whose life hangs in delicate balance of eternity. Now I'm exhorting you to go and evangelize, but there's some cases you ought to. What is it you ought to? Making a difference.

Since you ought to be making a difference, doesn't mean making a difference. It means you ought to be there judging, testing, careful. Am I even equipped for this? And when I do speak to a sinner, and I want you to speak to sinners, but there's certain kinds you need to be careful about.

When you do speak to sinners, are you ministering the right heart and spirit? Is it of love or is it a fear? That's my first point. Christ's example is very important in this. Did he deal with two people the same ever? No.

Every individual, the woman at the well, go through all of them, the rich young ruler, never said the same thing, never dealt with them the same way, never asked the same questions, but always dealt with sin, always brought hope, always dealt with the hard issue. Number two, save with compassion. Some save with compassion.

What's it say in verse 22? And of some have compassion, making a difference. Look at this, it actually, it's a command to you, a real direct command, and the emphasis of the Greek, it means it's a command. You're not being advised, you're being told.

On some, show compassion. It's a command to show compassion on some, and the word actually means constantly, all the time. This ought to be a regular pattern of showing compassion on some.

The word compassion used here, it means to show pity, to have tender mercy, to have sympathy, for your feelings to be moved, for your heart to be drawn out. That's what compassion is. It is to be moved with love, moved with care, moved with concern.

You're commanded to have compassion upon some, to be moved in your heart towards them. It is a tender affection. It is being kind onto them.

It actually means to approach certain people outside of Christ, or outside of truth, in a very gentle manner. Notice, it's a command. There's certain people you're commanded to approach with compassion.

Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 5, 7, blessed are the merciful. It's the same word, compassion. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

Are you a merciful person? Compassionate? If you are, then you will find mercy. There's some people that are not very merciful. They're not merciful than others.

It's black and white, cut and dry. We're very black and white in this church, but we're compassionate. We have large hearts.

We love people. You know how I know that? Because you don't deserve it. See, when you don't deserve it, people who don't deserve it.

See, that's what compassion is. Jesus said, blessed are the merciful. You're really blessed if you're a merciful person who's moved towards people, moved towards sinners, moved towards others in trouble.

You know why? You're going to obtain mercy. Maybe you obtain so little mercy, and you feel like you're living under the wrath of God, and the judgment of God, because you're not being merciful to others. Maybe there's a connection, and I'll tell you what, from my perspective, there is a connection.

I've seen it over the years. And so, Jude says here, on some, show compassion. Not all.

Don't just indiscriminately act with kindness on every apostate, every sinner, every false teacher, everyone in a false church, everyone caught up in false doctrine. Don't act towards all of them with compassion, because you'll get yourself in trouble. You will minister the wrong thing to the wrong person.

Imagine a doctor, and they do it, don't they? Oh, here comes Sally again. Yeah, just take those tablets. There's doctors, nurses in this city renowned for just giving tablets out.

They'll just give it. It doesn't matter what you're, oh, take this. This is what you need.

I'll write you the prescription. The same thing for everyone, no matter the condition. That's dangerous.

You'd be shocked at that, wouldn't you? But there's Christians like that, and there's preachers like that. They're not dealing with individuals. They're just putting everything out there.

Compassion to everyone. You're not meant to give compassion to all people who strayed into false doctrine and false churches. Compassion, kindness is not the answer for everyone.

We always walk in love. We always love people, but actually the act of compassion to save them, acting with kindness is not commanded for everyone. It's only commanded for some.

Notice this word some. It means a portion, a percentage, but definitely not all. This is not God's way for all.

God's wisdom is not to deal with every person who's fallen away from truth in the wrong teaching, in the wrong path with compassion, but it has to be for some. Now, how are you going to know? You need to discriminate. You need diacrino.

You need to make a difference because how do you know? How do you know if this man sitting here, I don't mean actual man, but I'm saying out there, how do you know? Do you show them compassion? Do you love them into the kingdom? Do you just reach out or do you use fear? You're going to have to discriminate in a very real way. So it's vital not to deal with all folk roughly. Listen to me.

Every person that's really fallen into terrible sin, terrible heresies, or is outside of Christ, or is very dogmatic. It's not right to deal with all of them roughly, harshly, pointedly, or brashly. You could really be sinning against God and totally out of step with God.

Someone could be in a very dark place, far from God, and yet you're trying to rebuke them. Maybe they need compassion. Didn't God do that with you? He loved on lovely.

He came looking for you when there was nothing lovely about you. He told you, I love you. And you rebelled and threw up your fist at him.

What a lovely God we have. Haven't we already read in this text in verse 21, He actually says, looking for the mercy of the Lord Jesus. Are you looking for the mercy and not showing mercy? Look at it.

That's what he's just said here. We're looking for the mercy of God. Are you looking for the mercy of God? And yet you can't minister that mercy to someone else.

Oh God, give me mercy. And then we're harsh on others. I've seen people that can rebuke others.

They're doing the same thing themselves. I've seen it so many times in the church. I don't know the world.

I've been out of the world a long time, but I know the church very, very good. Very, very good. It's vital to predominantly and very obviously or visibly to use compassion in soul winning or to reach certain souls.

You've got to love them into the kingdom. You've got to pour out a heart of kindness. Oh, but they turned their nose up at me.

They turned away from me. So glad of Rory's testimony there. Yesterday on the streets with the gospel tract, he had a track for that lady.

She turned up her notes, resisted, was obstinate, rejected us. Well, he kept it in that pocket. Later that day, he finds a man who inquires into the salvation and stands with them for 30 minutes, open, incline and ask him.

It's got a gospel track in that pocket. It's going to be for someone since you leave everything to God, but be careful of your heart. There has to be times where you visibly show compassion, kindness, meekness.

It's undeserved, but the person's rebellious. They rejected it. So what? So did you.

How many times has God spoken to you and you rejected it, ignored them even as a Christian. And yet you're brash with your brother. You could cut your brother's nose off.

How many times has God shown you kindness, compassion? How has God's heart moved? Oh, well, I love them, but I don't feel anything. That's not compassion. Compassion is a moving of the heart.

It's a feeling. Oh, well, I love them, but I don't need to feel it. That's rubbish.

That's stupid luck. Do you know what this compassion? Some save with compassion. Compassion is the thing you need.

If you're going to save a soul, you're trying to save me and I see no compassion. I'm going to go. He doesn't care about me.

See real compassion opens the heart of some say they care. I may not agree with them. I may not like them bother me, but I know they care for me.

I know they're real. I know they have compassion. I know their hearts move towards me.

Do you know how that opens up the door for you to reach someone to realize this is invaluable. Your love, your compassion must be seen, but it's not deserved. It is never deserved.

Neither did you deserve God's kindness. You didn't deserve it. What is compassion without action? And so here you have, he says, save with compassion.

Some save with compassion. Imagine having it in your heart and you never show it. Imagine that compassion doesn't manifest towards someone.

Remember Christ moved with compassion. It says when he's seen the multitude of the people of Israel scattered without a shepherd, he said he was moved with compassion. And then what'd he do? He went and healed their sicknesses.

He went and cast out the demons. He went and bound up their broken hearts. He went and gathered them.

See compassion is an action. It's moved to action. It's a very real thing, but listen, some misunderstand compassion.

So they think, okay, we're to save some with compassion. And so they think it's talking about the preaching of the gospel, the message of the gospel, the content. So they go, I won't mention sin and I won't mention repentance and I won't mention hell and I won't mention wrath.

I want to save some with compassion. No, you're not. You're throwing out a false gospel.

You've taken out all the bad bits and you say, I love people. I'm preaching a loving gospel. I'm having compassion.

I'm trying to save people. It says only save some with compassion. And believe me, this isn't talking about just talking about love.

When you evangelize, that isn't evangelism. It says some save with compassion. This isn't talking about standing in the pulpit, preaching the gospel.

It's not talking about standing on the high street, preaching the gospel. It's talking about one-to-one interaction with someone that you know something about. You come across them, you meet with them, you have interactions with them.

They're in your family. They're on your street. You can't avoid being where they are.

And you know what it says? Have compassion on some of them. You need to discriminate. You know, these people who have changed the gospel to a love gospel, they are destroying souls.

God only loves you. God just wants to bless you. They don't preach in hell anymore.

They don't deal with your sin anymore. People have sat in this church saying, God loves me. And yet they're in a wrong relationship.

They're not right. They're not married. They're being unfaithful.

But say, God loves me. God answers all my prayers. Really? Do you think God's that loving? If he's a loving God, he'll withhold answered prayer from you because of your sin and disobedience.

You need to be so careful. Third of all, save with fear. Not only save with compassion, save with fear.

Look at verse 23. And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garments spotted by the flesh. So we're not only to say by fear, you're to discriminate.

You need to decide. You need to judge. With every individual, you need to have all the facts.

You can't make a judgment without facts and information. Love isn't blind. Love is informed.

Love no facts. You love them when you know biblically. That's love.

And so here he said, there's some you need to save with fear and others without fear. Imagine trying to save some with fear and you shouldn't. It could do a lot of harm.

Some people's evangelism like this, they know nothing about some compassion. All they know is some fear. Now look, it says others with fear.

The word other there is the same word as some in the previous verse. So it means a portion, a percentage, not everyone indiscriminately. Some say with compassion, some with fear.

Saints, if you just try to save people with fear all of the time, you're going to make grave mistakes. It's not what people need. All you're doing is handing them out tablets, same tablet to everyone.

That isn't compassion. Oh, I love them because I'm just telling them, I'm scaring them. No, are you led of the Holy Spirit? It says, and others save with fear.

This word save is so-so. It is a dynamic word on our New Testament. And again, it's a command.

It's a command not only to make a difference, not only to show compassion. It is a command to save some with fear. And the word save here, it means from great danger.

It's like someone in a burning building, go save them. Okay, I'll do it tomorrow. I'll get to it some of these days if the door opens.

The building is burning on fire. This is the picture here. It says some save with fear.

It means do it now, immediately, constantly, always be aware of those in a burning building. You may only have a day. You may only have this conversation.

You may only have this week. You may not have next year or 10 years down the road. Someone is now in a burning building.

That building's on fire. They're surrounded by fire. You better move with fear.

And so, he commands them, the person who needs saved from a burning building spiritually, saved eternally, how are you to save them? The man's in the burning building. How do you save them? With fear. The word fear here is the Greek word phobos, where we get phobia from.

You know phobia, fears. You've got a phobia. I don't like spiders, but I don't have phobia of spiders.

I'd just make Anna kill them. Say, there's no spiders. Sent me a picture.

I said, why are you sending me pictures and not going killing them? He was, I'll do anything, but I managed to do it. I don't have a phobia. See this word phobia.

Listen to what it means. I'm talking about saving men from fire. Some people you have to say, oh, I just, well, I just love evangelism.

It's not sufficient. Oh, I'm not into the wrath and the judgment and the sin, and I don't know how I'll just. The word phobia here means alarm, to be frightened.

It means to stand in awe, to be exceedingly fearful. It's not a mild thing. A phobia is an extreme fear.

So he says save them with fear. He's saying here by strong warnings or urges. What are you going to do with someone? Get out of the building.

I don't like to offend them or hurt them. What if they're sleeping in their bed, unaware of the fire near there? I don't want to disturb their sleep. How stupid can you get? The man's going to die if this fire isn't warned about.

If he doesn't run, he's going to die in a house fire. We had a relative or a friend of relatives, and she to this day has the scars. The last time I've seen her, she has scars on her hands and her arms where a house was on fire, and she climbed up the drain pipe to rescue that child.

The building's on fire, and she rescued them, but the scars are still there. That's this sort of thing, a desperate, earnest rescuing of a soul in need. We're so callous.

See, saving with fear doesn't mean you bring the wrath of God down on them. It moves you. In fact, there's two ways to look at this, and others save with fear.

Does he mean save them with fear, or does he mean you need to save them with an attitude of fear? Does he mean that you need to be awestruck, trembling over the reality of where they're going to, or does he mean you need to speak to them and urge them in a manner that brings them to a condition of fear? Maybe it means both. In Acts chapter 5, verse 5, when it talks about Ananas and Sapphira before Peter falling down dead and being carried out and buried by the church, remember they lied to the Holy Ghost. We're Christians.

We love God. We're given to God's work. No, you're a liar.

We've minimized things, and the church go, oh, they're okay. They're apostates. They're in dangerous ground.

Ananas and Sapphira walked in boldly. Did you sell the land for so much? Yes. You liar.

Why are you lying to the Holy Ghost? Behold the judgment of God. Do you know when they fell down dead, listen to what it says in Acts 5 and 5. They gave up the ghost, and great fear came on all them that heard these things. 1 Timothy 5, verse 20.

Them that sin rebuke before all that others also may fear. That's talking about elders. Revelation 18, 15, when it talks about God's judgment at the end of the tribulation of the great city Babylon and the economic world power like nothing Mr. Trump even dreamed of.

Listen to what happens when God's fire comes down on the city. It says the merchants of these things which were made rich by her shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment weeping and wailing. Look at businessmen.

Can you imagine businessmen standing afar weeping and wailing, crying because the economic capital of the world has gone up in fire. Fire from heaven, fire from God is burning down. They're scared.

Do you know being scared is a thing created by God, not false fear, not a fear that keeps you away from God. I love God. I fear God but it draws me to him.

How do you know the difference between a false fear and a true fear? A fear taught by man, fleshly or the fear of God. Well the fear of God melts my heart and brings me before God. I tremble.

I'm in awe of him but this fear draws me. A false fear makes you stand away and go oh no I'm scared of God. I'm in fear of God.

That's not a true fear. The fear of God's a purifying fear. It brings you to God.

That other fear, there's no fear in love. Love casts out all fear. Perfect love casts out all fear.

I'm not, I'm not scared of my heavenly father. Do you know when I do wrong I say please deal with me. I'm not scared of that.

I'm secure in his love. I'm in the love of Jesus Christ. Now look it says how to save them by fear.

What does that look like? Some others saved by fear. What does that look like? Verse 23 it tells you pulling them out of the fire. If you don't pull a man out of fire you haven't saved him by fear.

So how do you save a man by fear? You literally pull him out of the fire. You don't leave it to him and say I'd suggest you leave there. The word pulling him means to seize, to catch, to pluck, to yourself.

It's bringing someone to safety where you're standing. They're beyond helping themselves. Go speak to a heroin addict.

Just say you've got a choice. His mind is blown. His body is addicted.

He needs the power of God. He needs someone to help him. That's why Jesus said there's some unless you pray and fast without fasting there's some won't get delivered.

Some who are demon possessed this goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. Someone a human is going to have to fast and pray. God can do it.

That's no problem. You can pray all the prayers but that person is demon possessed under the affliction of satan and they will not get set free unless a human goes to fasting and praying and says I'm going to fast. I'm going to pray.

I'm going to see this power of darkness broken. Don't tell me they've got free will. Their will is bound, destroyed.

They've been taken captive at the will of satan. Bible tells us that. Don't tell me someone gets taken by the will of satan that there's just free will.

Free will can be a curse. Some of you never would have come if God would have left you to your own free will. Your free will was one of the most despicable cursed things.

You loved your sin. You would not come. He pursued after you.

He had to woo you and draw you. He had to come pursuing you. It wasn't a case of well if you want me fine.

If you don't well I'll let you go on your way. Thank God he didn't let me go on my way. He ran after me.

Pursued after me. He released the hounds of heaven against me. They came seeking for me.

Look if you're going to save somebody far you need to pull them. You need to drag them out of the fire. Out of the intensity of that fire.

Saints of God we better realize what this fire is because it may not be what you think it is. It's not the sin of health. It's not the fire of hell.

I don't believe that's what it's talking about. Now I believe in hellfire in Jude. He talks about the fire being eternal without quenching.

He talks about that fire that came from heaven on Sodom and Gomorrah. Talks about the angels who kept not their first estate but came down. That they're now reserved in darkness and chains awaiting judgment.

He talks in this chapter about a coming judgment and fire that's coming to our world. Fire is real. Hellfire is real.

But he's not talking about that fire here. You can't rescue a man from hellfire in that sense. He's talking about a fire that's there now present affecting these people.

So what is the fire that you're rescuing them from? Number one is sin. It's the fire of sin. Remember in Proverbs can a man take fire in his bosom and not get burnt? Do you know what he's talking about? Sexual lust.

Do you think you're going to play around with things and not burn yourself? You'll burn yourself bad. If you can literally take fire into your bosom and hold it and not get affected then you'll be able to do that. You can't do that with sin.

It could be unforgiveness, jealousy, anger, bitterness, vengeance. It could be many things. But it's sin.

So here are people in sin. Or it could be temptation. The fire of temptation.

Someone is putting themselves in the way of temptation and you're going God help you. You need to get out of that. No, no, no.

I'll be fine. I can go to the bar. I can just take a beer.

I'll be okay. Don't play with fire. But really I think this is about apostasy.

It's saying the wrong teachings. These individuals are set on fire of heresy. Oh they have zeal but it's a wrong kind of zeal.

False teaching. Religion without Christ. Love without the balance of fire.

You need both in this. You can begin to move down the path of error to a degree that will damn your soul. Listen to what it says in Amos chapter 4 11.

I have overthrown some of you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. And ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning yet ye returned not unto me saith the Lord. The Lord is saying here see how I turned Sodom and Gomorrah over.

I done that with you bunch. I turned your lives upside down and I rescued you. I literally saved you but you still wouldn't turn unto me.

Isn't that terrifying? Do you know when it says if you're going to save some by fire pull on them out of the fire. Do you know what it reminds me? This rescue mission. The two angels who came to Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis chapter 9 16.

God sent two angels to the city and says don't judge it. Don't let fire come until you drag Lot and his family. Get Lot and his family out of there.

He's too righteous to stay there. He's one of mine. I wouldn't have called Lot that.

Oh he didn't become a homosexual. He wasn't sleeping around. He wasn't getting drunk in Sodom and Gomorrah.

In fact Peter writing about him says righteous Lot. He was righteous, holy, pure. But he's in Sodom and Gomorrah.

He's where the will of God would never have taken him. He's in an environment. If he stays there he's in serious trouble.

Two angels get sent to the city. Listen what happens. Verse 16.

And while he, Lot, lingered. The angels are saying God's going to judge the city and destroy everything. What does Lot do? He lingered.

Means to lounge around, hang around, be of two minds. Some Christians like that. We're dealing with people.

We need to rescue this kind of person you know. We're not only saving sinners out there who haven't heard the gospel. Lots of people in the church need rescued.

They're just hanging around. Oh yeah I know this. I know it's happening.

Where's the alarm? You're standing around in Sodom and Gomorrah going oh I know fire's going to come down destroy all this. Your life's just caught up in this. It says while Lot lingered the men laid hold.

That's what this word's talking about. Rescue men from fire. Says the angels laid hold upon his hand, upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters.

The Lord being merciful unto him. It's a word compassionate. Isn't the Lord compassionate? They're lingering.

You deliver the message and still they linger. Some of you with family members you delivered the message and went hmm didn't listen to me. You better not take that personal.

This isn't your mission. This isn't your job. You're a servant of God.

You deliver the message then do you know what you do? You're merciful. Like we ought to be with sinners. God was with us.

This is what he was with Lot and they brought him forth and set him without the city. Saints never be satisfied in this rescue mission. We're out to rescue men from fire.

They disbelieve. They reject. They abuse our grace, our love, our compassion.

Keep on. We're rescuing men from hell fire, from sin fire, temptation fire, apostate fire, from unbelief fire. You know unbelief could sweep across your life.

It could burn like a fire and destroy up sound doctrine. Very, very dangerous. We are here to rescue men from apostasy.

All that chapter dealing with false teaching. I'm a soul winner. Not of just sinners out there.

Within the church I've been doing this all my life. I've been rescuing men. Hundreds have come in this door saying yeah say baptize them water.

Well I've always believed from a child. Well try my best. Do you know what this church is here to rescue men? To save men? Do you know how many people have walked in this church and they're confronted with the gospel for the first time in their life? They spent their whole life in church.

Their whole life in meetings. Their whole life listening preaching. They're on it all all week long and they don't hear the gospel that deals with their See we're going to verse two.

And the Lord said unto satan the Lord rebuke you satan. Even the Lord that has chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee. Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Aren't you glad Jesus plucked some people out of the fire? They're in the fire.

They can't help themselves and Jesus reaches down and he plucks them out. He rescues them. He recovers them.

I'm such a one. You're such a one. Remember John Wesley that great preacher when he was a little boy.

I believe about five. The house went on fire. They all ran out and they said where's John? Little baby John.

And they look back and at the window he's there crying for help. The house is on fire. The whole bottom of the house is on fire.

The roof is about to collapse in. They quickly got a ladder put it up to the window and as they literally snatched him out of the bedroom the entire thing collapsed. He could have been gone and this scripture became his scripture.

He said I was a fire brand plucked out of the fire. Saints of God we need to rescue men like that. Saving them.

Fourth and lastly take heed to yourself. One last statement here at the end of verse 23. Look at it.

Heeding even the garment spotted by the flesh. Do you want to save others from apostasy? From sin? Who have fallen away? Compromised? Got involved with the wrong movement? The wrong teaching? You're to pull them out of the fire. But let me give you a warning as we close here today.

You're to do it with a certain heart and a certain care over yourself. Take heed to yourself. If you just recklessly reach out going after others trying to tell them what to do and you're not taking heed to yourself you're in dangerous ground.

So it's taking heed, sorry hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. This garment it's talking about not your outer clothes your under garments, your pants, your vest, whatever it is you wear underneath and it's actually showing you that it's been spotted by the flesh. It's like those men who invaded the city of Rome.

Those hordes, I forget his name that I said. All those hordes that invaded down in Titli and those men they wore their clothes, their under clothes until they fell off. See some of you are shaking your head.

That'd be a terrible thing if we'd done that in here. It happens spiritually. This is talking about people who knew Christ, walked with Christ, knew the gospel, got raised in the church, have heard the gospel thousands of times but you know what when you're trying to rescue them, they're cold, they're dead, they're departing, they're apostate, they believe something false.

Here's a warning, hating even the garment spotted by flesh. Do you know what the problem is here? These people, their undergarments have been by their flesh for so long unchanged that their undergarments are putrid. Listen, these folks are contagious spiritually, dangerous.

Be careful, they're not clean. You're to save this kind of person with fear. The word means caution, carefulness.

If you go back to Leviticus chapter 13, chapter 14, chapter 15, especially chapter 13 verses 47 to 52, we have commands of contagion. Contagion isn't a new thing. Now everyone's going crazy, going this is the latest cut and sands, how something goes from one person to another.

Some very smart doctors deny that disease can spread. Some Christians say it's all a made-up thing, it's a scam. It's not, the bible talks about it.

If you're a bible Christian, you believe disease can spread from one man to another. Be careful of going down lines where you're listening to things that are true, but you've become so skeptical of governments and powers and authorities and science, you become stupid. You know my bible, Leviticus, it gives all the laws about the contagion of a garment, and so you're to take time of separation, distance, and you need a wash and cleanse.

A garment can be so stinking, or it can have leprosy in it. That's what it says here, a garment can have leprosy. The leprosy was in the man, now it's in the garment.

That's why you have to be careful of the garment. Do you realize being around people, in fact I'm just thinking this might overlap with something you're going to say later. Do you realize that you've got to be so careful when you're dealing with people who are in sin, or in false doctrine, and you're trying to rescue them.

Some smart people say, oh I'll read all the books, listen to all the videos, you don't even know it. Everyone's got measles, I am healthy, I know what measles are, I'm just studying. I'm telling them I don't have what you have, you will have.

That's why it says when you're trying to rescue men from the fire, pulling them out of the fire, but listen hating, as you do it, you need to hate the garment spotted by the flesh. Not leprosy you'll catch, it's flesh. Do you know I don't like people being too explicit about some things.

You can talk in a way that's very pointed, like the Bible does, the Bible really does. Some things I don't need to hear now. Don't talk about the things they talk about in darkness.

There's some things I just wouldn't want to talk about. But here you need to realize when as you're rescuing people, when it involves religion, heresy, dogmatic doctrines, you need to be very, very careful. And so there's clear commandments in Leviticus about how you're to interact.

You know some people, and the statement stands true, love the sinner but hate the sin. What does he say? Hating the garment. Hate the garments of sinners.

Hate the contagion of their sin. Their heresies, false teaching. Hate it.

You ought to hate some things. You know if something isn't truth you ought to hate it. You don't play around with false doctrine and false teachers.

You ought to hate it. Doesn't mean you hate people. I don't hate people.

But here it's dealing with things. Hating it means to detest it. You can't stand it.

You can't tolerate it. It says in Revelation 3 and 4 thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments. Look at the church in Sardis.

In verse 1 he says thou hast a name that thou livest and you're dead. So he's talking about church and people within a certain kind of denominational church. Says you're dead.

You're dead. And then he speaks to those in there. He says you're almost dead.

We're trying to rescue you. He says you've defiled your garments. See when you're dead you've defiled your garments.

And see when you're dying your garments are defiled. You're in church. You're part of the church.

You're caught up in all of this and yet your garments are defiled. And you know if I'm going to rescue you I've got to hate that garment. Hate that sin.

I love you. I care about you. And this is a bit hard.

Listen to me here for a second as I just close now. Some people misunderstand when I approach with the love. I'm not a pointed person.

I'm not a straight person. I'm not a confrontational person. That's against my nature.

But I do it out of love and concern for individuals. And they can actually get it wrong. If they don't discern I'm making the difference between the person and the thing.

They actually think I resent them or hate them. No I hate this over here. I hate sin.

Hey I'm allowed. I hate sin. Fornication is sin.

If you take it personal think I hate you because I hate fornication. You're really getting me wrong. I hate fornication.

I hate sexual sin. I hate false doctrine. I don't hate you.

Someone out there I'm trying to rescue and I'll make this as clear as I can. Always. Let me close with this one verse.

And the verse I'm going to read to you is actually going to be the song that we go into next as we close our service. It was written by Fanny Crosby. This is the first verse of it.

We're going to sing it. We've never sang it in this church. Listen.

Rescue. Because I believe she wrote it from these verses. Rescue the perishing.

Care for the dying. Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave. Weep over the erring one.

Lift up the fallen. Tell them of Jesus. The mighty to save.

Let's pray together. Father we love you. We bless you.

We want to keep ourselves in the love of God. Lord God walking in your love. Enjoying your love.

Understanding the breadth of your love. The height of your love. The depth of your love.

Lord God the amazing love of our God. Father we want to abide in it and dwell in it in an apostate hour so our hearts don't grow cold and carnal and fleshly. Lord God you've commissioned us to discern, to be discriminating that as we deal with men either backsliders, apostates, or sinners on the streets, or sinners in our family, unsaved ones at work, wherever they are, whatever their condition.

Lord God that we are to discern. That we are to judge. That we are to decide.

That with some we are to show compassion and kindness. With others we're to act with fear. Lord God we've to warn them of the wrath of God and the judgment of God.

We're to tell them to flee the judgment to come. We're to stir them out of their complacency and their lethargy. Lord God we're asking of you for the wisdom of God and the power of God and the presence of God and here today we want to be those that are very wise to the women of souls to Jesus Christ in Jesus mighty name.

Amen.