The closing message in a study of Jude, covering verses 16 through 25. Jude describes the ungodly bluntly as grumblers and faultfinders who follow their own desires, speak swelling words, and flatter people for advantage. Then he turns to the believers with four things to do: build yourselves up in your most holy faith, pray in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, and look for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. Pastor Robert Rohlin also works through the instruction to have mercy on doubters and to pull others out of the fire. The letter ends with one of the great doxologies in Scripture, to the God who is able to keep you from falling.

A study of Jude 12-16, where Jude stops describing false teachers gently and starts naming them. They are hidden reefs at the love feasts, clouds without water, autumn trees without fruit and twice dead, wild waves foaming out their own shame, and wandering stars. Pastor Robert Rohlin unpacks each image and then turns to the prophecy of Enoch, the seventh from Adam, about the Lord arriving with tens of thousands of His holy ones to execute judgment. He takes a deliberate detour through Romans 1 and Psalm 19 to show that no one is without excuse. If a passage this severe has ever made you uneasy, this message explains why Jude wrote it that way.

The second message in a study of Jude. Jude had planned to write about the salvation believers share, and changed course because certain men had crept in unnoticed, turning the grace of God into license and denying the Lord who bought them. Pastor Robert Rohlin works through the three examples Jude uses as warnings: Israel delivered out of Egypt and then destroyed for unbelief, the angels who left their proper domain and are kept in chains, and Sodom and Gomorrah. Each one shows privilege that did not protect anyone from judgment. The call in the letter is to contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints.

The opening message in a study of Jude. Jude was the half brother of Jesus and the brother of James, the senior elder at Jerusalem, and he could have opened his letter with either connection. Instead he calls himself a bondservant of Jesus Christ. Pastor Robert Rohlin explains what that word carried in Israel, where a servant who loved his master could refuse his freedom in the seventh year and have his ear pierced with an awl at the doorpost as a lifelong mark of willing service. He also shows how Jude describes his readers, as called, loved by the Father, and kept by Jesus Christ. Then the letter turns urgent, because false teachers had already crept in.

A study of Jude 1-7. Pastor Robert Rohlin spends real time on the word Jude chose for himself, bondservant, and on the Old Testament law behind it, where a servant who loved his master could stay for life and have his ear pierced at the doorpost as the sign of it. He also reads the law's requirement that a bondservant be treated with dignity rather than harshness. Then he turns to Jude's three descriptions of the believer, called, loved, and kept, and to the reason Jude abandoned the letter he meant to write. False teachers had slipped in, and the church had to contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints.

A study of 3 John. The letter is written to Gaius, and John opens by praying that he would prosper and be in health, just as his soul prospers. Pastor Robert Rohlin stops there to correct a common misuse of that verse, since it is not a promise of money and good health to anyone whose walk with God is right. He moves on to what actually gave John joy, which was hearing that his children were walking in the truth, and to the hospitality Gaius showed traveling preachers he had never met. It is a short letter about a man whose private conduct matched his profession, and this message makes the case for that kind of integrity.

A study of 2 John, the short letter John writes to the chosen lady and her children. Pastor Robert Rohlin explains who that lady most likely is, a local church pictured as part of the bride of Christ, which is why the letter reads like a note to a family. John's joy is simple: he found some of her children walking in the truth. Along the way Pastor Rohlin draws a useful line between flattery and praise, since flattery compliments what a person cannot change while praise recognizes godly character and choices. The letter then turns serious about who is welcomed and who is not, because truth and love are not opposites here.

A study of Philippians 3:1-16. Paul lists the credentials that once made him confident, circumcised the eighth day, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, a Pharisee, blameless as to the righteousness in the law. Then he counts every bit of it as loss, and calls it rubbish, for the sake of knowing Christ. Pastor Robert Rohlin works the passage in four movements: the wrong basis for confidence, the right basis for confidence, the pursuit of godliness, and staying the course. Paul says plainly that he has not arrived, and that he presses on toward the goal, which is a comfort to anyone who has felt behind in the Christian life.

Part one of a study on 1 John 5:9-21, on knowing you are saved rather than hoping so. John says that God has testified about His Son, that the testimony of God is greater than the testimony of men, and that the one who has the Son has life. Pastor Robert Rohlin lands on verse 13, where John states his purpose for writing, so that you may know that you have eternal life. From there the passage turns to confidence in prayer, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. If assurance has ever come and gone for you depending on the week you were having, this message points you to firmer ground.

A study of 1 John 5:1-8. John says that everyone who believes Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and that His commandments are not burdensome. Pastor Robert Rohlin works through what belief means here, which is ongoing trust rather than a one-time agreement, and quotes Augustine, that faith is to believe what you do not see, and the reward of that faith is to see what you believe. The victory that overcomes the world is our faith, and John names three that testify together, the Spirit, the water, and the blood. There is also a practical word for parents about talking with their children about faith.