Jude had a desire to write to the believers about their salvation; but there was

a pressing need to discuss the wicked people who had begun to infiltrate the assemblies.

Too often in our day salvation is regarded as a ticket to Heaven. We take the "four steps of salvation" and that is all there is to it. We now are on our way to Heaven, some teaching it is impossible to lose our ticket.

The truth is, we have to contend vigorously for the faith. We have to fight the good fight of faith because carnal believers enter our churches and spread their poison.

I have a young friend who has a revival on his hands. People, including young people, are coming to his house to hear the Word of God. Although he is in another state he is under the spiritual covering of our church.

Wouldn't you know it? Here come the "birds" who can smell the sacrifices being made—the people repenting of their sins, being baptized in water, and rejoicing in the Lord.

Here comes one man who tells the little group they must be baptized all over again because they were not baptized in Jesus name. He states also that sin is merely lack of faith in God. But my friend, having been taught better than that, pointed out the passage in First John that states sin is the breaking of the commandments of God.

Then another: "You must call Jesus, Yahweh. If you do not you are sinning."

Yet another: "You should not be meeting in a home. You must meet in my church."

Still another: "You must preach dispensationalism."

My counsel to my young friend continues to be: "Do not come down from the wall. The Sanballats and Tobiahs will do everything in their power to discourage you, to call you down from what you are doing so they may reason with you. (How the demons love to reason!) Ignore them and keep on preaching the Word. The Holy Spirit will bring in those whom the Lord is calling to Himself."

A fine young man called me recently and advised me that when the Lord Jesus spoke of the wheat being gathered into the barn He was referring to the outer darkness. He believes we ought to do all we can to bring these in the "barn" into a victorious walk in Christ.

I responded to him that indeed we ought to encourage every believer to live a godly life in Christ, but if he keeps pressing the issue that the barn is the outer darkness, most mainline Christians will reject this thought and not be moved to practice righteousness.

I mentioned further that the unity of the faith to which we have been called is not a unity of the head but of the heart. We can love Jesus without agreeing to every point of doctrine that someone else holds dear. Do you believe this? I do!

To be continued.