
In today’s climate of turmoil and uncertainty, threatening and incapacitating feelings run rampant. Yet the God who created your emotions has also given you everything you need to navigate them. The Bible paints relatable and resonant portraits of women and men struggling with grief, anger, guilt, and despair—and provides divine wisdom for transforming your emotional trials into spiritual triumphs.
Scriptures: Jude 8-11, John 8:32, Psalm 73:9, 11, Genesis 4:4-5, Hebrews 9:22
Dreams can be delightful or disturbing. They can also be dangerous. In Jude the author warns of dreamers who conjure up their own theology. They just dream up what they want to believe, and their theology is just a figment of their imaginations. They base what they believe on subjective opinion rather than objective revelation. In other words, they base what they believe on what they think, rather than what God says. In this message, Dr. Merritt unwraps the characteristics you can watch for in the life of someone who has turned away from the Word of God.
"These dreamers 'reject authority.' (v. 8b) The word authority there literally means lordship or dominion. The apostate is someone who talks about God, but he defies his authority. These apostates do not believe in spiritual authority. They believe in personal autonomy. When you try to challenge them they will immediately cry, 'priesthood of the believer,' which is simply their way of saying they can believe anything they want to believe without any fear of repercussion or consequence." --Dr. Merritt
Keywords: Jude, apostate, apostasy, salvation, faith, authority, rejection, theology, godless, immorality, sex, identify, ascribe, defame, blaspheme, Michael the Archangel, defile, ignorant, criticize, corrupt, shameful, indulgent, Cain, Baalam, Korah, deny, Balak, David Koresh
Pastors Edge provides Bible preachers and teachers with ready-to-use resources and materials based on the preaching of Dr. James Merritt, Senior Pastor at Cross Pointe Church in Duluth, GA and host of the international broadcast ministry Touching Lives.