Jude verse 24 and 25 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 our Savior be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

Well, who is Jude speaking of in verse 24? Now unto him. So we need to identify who this him is. Well, if you look back in context at verse 21, Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's who he's speaking about, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now unto him, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, if you look back, you see that. If you look forward in verse 25, the only wise God, our Savior. So whether you look back in context or you look forward in the context of this one chapter in Jude, either way you look, the context points to and is all about our blessed Redeemer, our God and friend of sinners, the Christ, the Christ.

So let's look at this. to the only wise God, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only wise one. If we're born in trespasses and sins, we're not born with wisdom. If wisdom is, in all of our getting, get wisdom. This is the principle thing. If we look at wisdom, AKA the Lord Jesus Christ, we don't have him. We don't have him from birth, by nature or by practice. So he is technically the only, as he says it in verse 25, to the only wise God.

Now, there are other gods, lowercase g, who people worship, Muhammad and Buddha Joseph Smith and whoever, but they're not wise. They're not the only wise God. True wisdom, true wisdom is found in him and the beautiful thing is once he reveals to us the mystery of the gospel, like Bruce was talking about in Bible class, he disperses that wisdom to his church. Now we're not the only wise, we're not all wise, but he has given us wisdom. wisdom to see, to separate the precious from the vile, truth from error, and so on and so forth. We are, says 2 Timothy 3.15, we are wise unto salvation, which this is by His grace. 2 Timothy 3.15.

Secondly, we are wise, it says, to build upon this rock. In Matthew 7, you don't need to turn it, but he talks about wise builders. That's talking about the believer, the church. were made wise by Christ to build upon the rock the Lord Jesus Christ. And thirdly, we are likened unto wise virgins, again in the Gospels, with oil in our laps. We know to trim them. We know to be watchful. So we are termed in the scriptures Wisdom given to us by God's grace, by the Holy Spirit, as wise virgins, as wise builders, and wise unto salvation by His grace.

And if you look back a couple books to James chapter one, turn there if you would, James chapter one, if we ever lack wisdom, guess what? We can and we must go to the only wise God, James chapter one. If any of you lack wisdom, Let him ask of God, the only wise God, that giveth to all men, to all believers, liberally and upbraise not, and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, not wavering, for he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

And I use this verse in my own prayers and my own thoughts often. Something happens, I don't have the wisdom to understand how to deal with this. I don't understand the wisdom to be able to comfort someone who's going through something that I have not gone through. but I just asked the Lord. He gives to all his people liberally. We just don't ask enough.

Well, the second thought back to our text in Jude is what is our sovereign majestic God able to do for his little flock? What is this only wise God able to do? Well, go up to verse 24 and there's two things. And both of them are astounding. The second one, to me, is as much, it just blows my mind. He is, keeps us from falling. That's what he says in verse 21. Now 24, now unto him, this only wise God, this only wise God and Savior, that is able to keep each and every one of his people, of his church, his flock, his sheep, from falling.

Now this is not referring to our initial falling in Adam because we've already fell in Adam. We're born in trespasses and sins. So he's not talking about that, but he's able to keep us from falling. Do you ever wonder, maybe because of something you do, which that's usually what it is, when we sin or when we're selfish and then the Lord convicts us, we're like... You know, thought about myself again, or I got my eyes off of Christ, got my eyes on that, that money. You need to work hard for that, you know, and keep it, keep it, keep it. Don't, don't spread it around. Just keep it. And the Lord convicts us. Usually we wonder how can I be a Christian or Am I even going to make it through tomorrow? Am I going to make it through tomorrow?

Well, this is what it looks like in our text. Now unto Him, Him. The emphasis is on Him. Who's this? The Lord Jesus Christ. Not us. Now unto Him. It's His responsibility. It was His responsibility when He Went to the cross. It was his responsibility when he left his father's throne and came amongst sinful men, women, boys, and girls. Now unto him, it's his responsibility. Like, uh, Judah. If I don't come, you know, if we don't come back, put the blame on me. Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling eternally, daily, We forget, well, am I going to make it to the end? What am I going to make it, am I going to make it to this afternoon?

So he's able to keep us from falling eternally, daily, from walking away. You ever think you may be, that one that he's speaking about in James, that they were of us, but they came among us, but they weren't really of us, and no doubt they would have stayed with us. You ever think that that may be talking about you? There's a couple of places in Scripture that I've often thought, is this speaking about me? Well, He's able to keep us from falling eternally, daily, from walking away from final apostasy, which we've seen. We've seen in our 30-something years here, people come, they come in among us. It seems like it's usually, it seems like on average that's about five years. That's what I've noticed. Five years, all of a sudden.

You're saying God died just for his people? He doesn't love everybody? You're saying God is totally sovereign? Yeah, that's what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying. Remember in our lessons in Samuel, the last lesson, when Samuel, he's surrounded, he's going to die. He doesn't want to die at the hands of the Philistines, so he falls on his own sword. I've got to think about that. What is suicidal to us? Free will. Works religion. Decisions for Jesus. Religion without Christ. It's all suicidal.

The only wise God and our Savior. He, the emphasis is not on the one speaking, it's emphasis on the one who has spoke. The one who spoke like no man ever spake and lived and died and rose like no man ever did. Now to him that is able to keep me from falling eternally, daily, from walking away from final apostasy, from abandoning his truth. from being finally deceived by the adversary and this world. How am I not going to be finally deceived by Satan who's stronger than me? Or this world? We get to loving things in this world. It's like, I was eating with family yesterday and there was a lot of snacks and somebody was reaching in to get, you know, and I just goofed around. You know, get out of those, you're going to ruin your supper.

He's going to keep you from falling, falling away. They have this world because we go after this world. We go after the things of this world, the people of this world. We align ourselves with people of this world. And that's not a good thing. But if you're in Christ, the responsibility is His. And is ours, I should say that. It's all, it's unto Him, not Him plus you, not Him plus your decision, not Him plus, I read the Bible every morning and I understand all these things. Unto Him that is able to keep you from falling and falling without His grace, we will, we surely will.

Now, the second one. It just almost doesn't make sense, but it is in the Word. One, it keeps us from falling, and two, to present you, using italics, but to present the same people who he's keeping from falling, faultless, faultless, faultless. That word in the Greek is unblemished. which makes sense in songs of Solomon and there's no spot in thee and all these old Old Testament references. Wonder of wonders, we who must acknowledge our vileness and sinful inconsistencies daily, faultless, he's gonna present us faultless. This almost seems out of character given our wayward and wandering tendencies. prone to wander, we sing that song, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. That's us. But nonetheless, He's able to keep us from falling and to present us Faultless.

We stand because he stood in our room, in our place, in our stead. Adam fell, we fell on him. But there is no possibility of our Melchizedek, our majestic sovereign, ever falling, ever failing. Look at Ephesians chapter five. There's no possibility that he's gonna fall. We fell on Adam. But we stand in Christ.

Ephesians chapter 5, and in verse... Oh, I'm wrong. Well, I looked at this this morning and I thought I had the right verse There we go, it is right Ephesians 5 starting verse 25 husbands love your wives even as Christ has also loved the church and gave himself for it that he there again the emphasis is on the responsible party might sanctify and cleanse the church with the washing of the water by the word that he again might present it to himself a glorious church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be holy and without blemish without blemish that There's no spots, no wrinkles, anything of contamination or sin present in his blood-bought church.

I really can't take all these truths. I really, I can't, you know, as Bruce says, I can't wrap my mind around them. How do you do that? It almost seems it would lead to pride. Well, I could see Mary in the kitchen. I'm faultless. I'm perfect. And they would say, you know, you're just joking. And then when they saw this, it's like, that's kind of presumptuous. Only because he is able to keep us, not try, to keep us from falling, and secondly, to present us faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, exceeding joy. You, me, us, were washed in the blood of the Immaculate Redeemer, and we are pure, clean, and uncondemnable. We are uncondemnable in Christ. Why? Because the all-wise God decreed it so in covenant love. However you want to think in your mind, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, before eternity, before the world cosmos was created, struck an agreement. The Father said, I will choose my bride. The Son said, I will die for this bride. And the Holy Spirit says, I will acquit him. this bride, all for your glory.

And I guess, you know, over the years, and every time I read this hymn, I think of Maurice Montgomery. He just loved this hymn. When we think about this faultlessness, this uncondemnability, if that's the right word,

Man of sorrows, what a name for the Son of God who came, ruined sinners to reclaim, hallelujah, what a Savior. Bearing shame and scoffing rude, in my place condemned he stood, sealed my pardon with his blood, hallelujah, what a Savior. Guilty, vile, and helpless we, spotless Lamb of God was he. full atonement can it be hallelujah what a savior lifted up was he to die it is finished was his cry now in heaven exalted high hallelujah what a savior when he comes our glorious king all his ransom home to bring then anew this song will sing hallelujah what a savior

it's all it's all outside of us it all points to him because it's unto him It's unto him that the only wise God and Savior be glory forever and ever.

Well, lastly, in verse 25, the latter part of verse 25, to the only wise God our Savior be glory and majesty and dominion and power both now and ever. Sounds like what Bruce read in Revelations. I got it here to read it, but he read it, so I'm not going to read it again. this is revelations 5 verse 11 through 14 but therefore we with joy exceeding what it says in verse 24 to keep us faultless before the presence of his glory with great exceeding joy to the only wise God our Savior be glory that means dignity majesty that means greatness Dominion means strength and might, and power means authority. Be unto Jehovah God, our wise God and Savior.

Now, what do we say to all this? Well, we say what Jude says, the last word in this book. Amen. That means, so be it, or to be certain. It's not our stamp of approval, but it is. It's our stamp of amen. Now this is inspired by God. But the believer can say the same thing. Why have I not fallen all these years? Why me? John Sebaugh used to say, why me, Lord? Why am I still here? Because you're chosen in Christ. And you're complete in Him, not in another self. So unto him, unto him we say amen. We say, so be it, or it's to be certain. Now and forever, we say amen. We agree, two are walking together. Can two walk together, says Amos, unless they'd be agreed? No, you can't. But if we agree with God, we can walk with him. And we say amen.

Now this is something I did not know. Did you know, I think only two books, yes, only two books in the entire New Testament do not have amen at the end of each book. Look it up. The Gospels, all four. The last word is amen, so be it. Corinthians, first and second, amen. Romans, amen. Jude, Revelations, they all say, Amen. This is the true and living God. This is the sovereign, supreme God. This is who demands and we desire to worship. So we are saying, Amen. To be certain, because God's word is certain, every word is inspired of God, so be it. Amen to it all. And amen to this unerring word, this blessed book, this true record of Jesus Christ. We read that and today they're skeptics. So this doesn't belong in the Bible. This doesn't belong. This is inconsistent. The believer says, leave it alone. Amen. We agree with what he says about redemption. We agree with what he says about salvation in Christ. We agree with what he says about ourselves, that in us dwells no good thing. in us and we agree that he's able to keep us. We agree that he's able to present us faultless before the presence of his glory. This Christ Jesus, this only wise God, our savior, this one who has all dignity and greatness and strength and authority under heaven and earth. So be it.

So I pray that we would worship him in acknowledgement of our amen. May it be so. May we acknowledge him, acknowledge our sins, acknowledge his greatness, his right to redeem. May we do so this day. And therefore, have peace. Amen.

Bruce, would you close us?