I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Jude. The book
of Jude. Jude has one chapter. So it's
Jude 1. Jude verses 1 and 2. Jude the servant. of Jesus Christ
and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the
Father and preserved in Jesus Christ and called, mercy unto
you and peace and love be multiplied. Let's pray together. Our Father,
we thank you this evening for this precious time to be able
to come together. And Lord and his brethren call
upon you. We thank you for your mercy that
you've been pleased to show upon this congregation. I ask you
now, Lord, bless the word, bless it to our heart, our understanding,
and forgive us where we fail you for Christ's sake. Amen. There's times when the Spirit
of God is pleased to take a passage of Scripture and bless it to
your heart and cause that passage to just come alive. And that
time is now for me and I pray will be for all of us this evening. So I want us to consider for
just a few minutes three precious things out of this passage of
scripture that convey the divine favor of Almighty God to a group
of sinners that the Lord has been pleased to bless. Sinners
who in themselves deserve nothing but hell. But Almighty God has
been pleased to show mercy and compassion I've got three questions. Number one, who wrote this letter? Number two, to whom did he write
the letter? And number three, what were the
blessings conveyed in this letter? Now, question number one. Who penned the letter? Well,
the scripture says, Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ and brother
of James. Now, let's just consider for
a second this man's name. His name is Jude. Now that name right there, when
we find out what that name actually means or the variations of that
name, let me say it like that. What I saw immediately when I
saw what the name meant, or the variations of the name, I saw
and considered the distinguishing grace and mercy of God, because
Jude is the same name as Judas, or Judah. Jude, Judas, or Judah. And oh, what significance the
name Judas. carries. Son of Perdition. Mr. Thayer, one of the writers,
I guess, of Greek, said that that title right there, Perdition,
Son of Perdition, that's what the Lord said. He said, all the
sheep that you've given me I've lost none except. All that you've
given me I've lost but the son of perdition. And that title
right there, son of perdition, here's what it means. One doomed
to eternal misery. One doomed to eternal misery. When the Lord said in his prayer
to the Father, Father, I thank you that you hid these things
from the wise and prudent and you've revealed them unto babes. I thank you that you did that. Now, I won't even remotely began
to try to set forth or explain the depth of Almighty God's sovereign
right to withhold revelation to a sinner. Almighty God is
God, and He does as He will. But for the Lord Jesus Christ
to thank Him that God was pleased To hide these things. What things? The marvelous discoveries of
the gospel of God's grace. The message that is the power
of God unto salvation. Now listen. We're sitting here
this evening and the Lord has been pleased to reveal some things
to us. Been pleased to reveal the gospel.
but that he would withhold that revelation from another. Is he
right? Yes, he is. The Lord thanked
him for that. I thank you that you hid these
things. So here's a man, his name is
Jude, which could just as easily be Judas, the same name. Here's a man with the same name. as one that sold the Lord Jesus
Christ for 30 pieces of silver. One that betrayed Him with a
kiss. Oh, the deceitfulness of that
kiss. That's how the mafia would do
it. Come up and hug you and kiss you. Betrayed Him. betrayed him,
just one out of guilt for his actions. Scripture says, went
out and hung himself, went to his place. What happened? God
Almighty left him to himself, left him to do what he wanted
to do. But here's another man. What's this man's name? His name
is Jude, Judas. Another man with the same name,
a same original heart, one cut out of the same lump of clay
as Judas, the betrayer, but one eternally loved in Christ, one
to whom the Lord was pleased to show mercy and compassion,
one for whom the Lord eternally stood as the surety, one that
was not a vessel of wrath. but a vessel of God's mercy. And you know the answer to this
question. Two men with the same name. Two men born sinners. Two men children of wrath. Both of them born hating God.
And now here's one of them writing. Writing holy scriptures under
the inspiration of God's spirit. What's the difference between
those two men? One of them just smarter. One
of them just wiser. One of them just, you know, exercised
his will to what? No. The only difference was the
grace of God. Almighty God was pleased to show
mercy to one. Both of them born in trespasses
and sin, both of them sinners against God. And now here's one.
Scripture says, declaring his state in this world. Jude, the
servant of Jesus Christ. That word servant right there
is translated slave. Now there's a word that, you
know, has a lot of negative connotation. A slave. I mean we think of slavery
and the horridness of that state men owning. other men, treating
them with disrespect. But here, Jude says, I am the
slave. I am the servant. I'm the bondservant. Bored through the ear, heart
made tender toward the Lord Jesus Christ. And thankfully, thankfully,
would admit, Jude, the Lord's slave. All of my rights, my will,
my desires relinquished to Him. Says in his heart as Saul of
Tarsus did, Paul the Apostle later, Lord, what would you have
me to do? What do you want me to do? You want me to be here? You want
me to be there? You want me to move to West Virginia? Is that what you want? You want
me to stay there? What do you want me to do? What
would you have me to do? Free will boasts of man's will
being free from God. Now that's what when someone
speaks of free will, what they're saying is free from God. They're saying that my will supersedes
his will. Now, let me ask you this, you
that believe. Are you the slave, the servant? Lord, what would you have me
to do? Are you a slave? Are you the slave of the Lord
Jesus Christ, one called to follow Him? Or are we the master? Do we call the shots or do He
call the shot? Who makes the decisions? Is it
His will or our will? It can't be both ways. Jude,
a slave. Jude, a servant. Chosen in electing
grace. Particularly redeemed by the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and effectually called in power
and grace by the Holy Spirit. And made willing, remember that
word willing, made willing, what's the definition of that word?
Spontaneous. Made willing in the day of God's
power and thankfully bears the name servant. I'm the Lord's
servant. Servant of the true and living
God, Jude. A servant of Jesus Christ. And listen to this. A brother
of James. A brother of James. Who is James? Well, turn over to Mark 6. Hold your place there Jude. Turn
over to Mark 6 verse 2. Mark 6 verse 2. Let's just read 1, 2, 3. Mark
6, and he went out from thence and came into his own country.
And his disciples followed him, and when the Sabbath day was
come, he began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing him
were astonished, saying, from whence hath this? Now I want
you to notice the man. If your Bible has italicized
words, that word man is not there. Actually, it was added to try
to help, but what it does is it kind of takes away some of
the resentment that they had. It was like they almost paused
and didn't really know what to call him. From whence hath this
these things? And what wisdom is this which
is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought
by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the
son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joseph, and Judah, and Simon,
And they're not his sisters here with us? And they were offended
at him. Mad at him. But I want you to
look at the names of his family. Is not this the carpenter, the
son of Mary, the brother of James, Joseph, and Judah? You see that word Judah? You
see James? They were brothers. James and
Judah, Jude, they were brothers. Look at Galatians chapter 1. Galatians 1, 18-19. Galatians 1, 18-19. Then after three years I went
up to Jerusalem to see Peter and abode with him fifteen days.
But other of the apostles saw I none save James, The Lord's
brother. You see that James right there?
That's Jude's brother. That's the Lord's brother. That's
the Lord's brother. Some say it's his step-brother.
He was from the same mama. The Lord was born of the Virgin
Mary. And she had kids after that. And James was one of them. Jude
was one of them. So back in Jude, it says, Jude,
the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James. Look at the
humility of this man. This man, Jude, right here, was
actually of the same mother of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
This would have been the Lord's step-brother, whatever you want
to call him, but brother, the brother. Here, though, Jude says,
James is my brother. I'm his servant. I'm the servant,
you know. Not even in the realm of just
bragging to say, well, you know, I'm the Lord's brother. I didn't
know if you know that. I grew up with him. No. Who wrote
this book? Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ
and brother of James. So from those scriptures, We
see one that has been made to see something of himself. Brought
down, humbled before the Lord. I'm his servant, I'm his brother. Well, who does he write this
letter to? Who is he? Well, not to everyone. Not to everyone in the world.
I looked up, I knew this, but I just wanted to read it again.
Do you know the most bought book in all of the world? These scriptures, right here.
The most purchased book in all of the world, the Bible. Everybody and their brother has
copies. Copies, I'm sure. I bet you most
of you here has got more than one. I bet you do. Multiple copies. Everybody's
got a Bible, pretty much, you know. But to whom is this book
written? This book is written to God's
people. Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ
and brother of James, to them that are sanctified. by God the
Father and preserved in Jesus Christ and called. Not to everybody. Now, I know
people that just take this and they'll look at these promises
and they'll say, well, here's a promise. This is a promise
to me. I name it and claim it right
there. I've said before, if I write
a letter or if I write a poem, to my wife and I give it to her. Somehow it got blown away out
into the street. Another woman picked it up and
read it and looked at what I was saying to my wife and said, well,
look at this. Look what Marvin wrote me. I
didn't write that to you. You're reading something that
belongs to somebody, something that was written to somebody
else. I wrote that to somebody that I love. I didn't write it
to you. Who is this written to? This
is to them that are sanctified by God the Father. That book,
this book, written to a people, separated, called to be saints. Predestinated under the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ to himself, in electing grace, the
Father sanctified this people. Sanctification. It is a state
of being by which God Almighty sets apart one to be the object
of His mercy. Your mind. I chose you. Why would He choose me, the scripture
says, because it pleased Him. No reason, there's not an ounce
of difference in any of us set apart, chosen unto salvation
in Christ. When? Before the foundation of
the world. That's what the scripture says,
that we should be holy and without blame before Him. I love this
passage. Hold your place. Turn to 2 Timothy
1.9. 2 Timothy 1.9. I'll read 8 and 9. 2 Timothy
1.8. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord,
nor of me his prisoner. But be thou partaker of the afflictions
of the gospel according to the power of God, who have saved
us and called us with an holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. We've read that
scripture before. What's the order? Who has saved
us? and in time called us. Our salvation is eternal. Almighty God that chose us in
Christ, who never again looked at the sheep for answers, only
to the surety, trusted Him That's what Ephesians 1 said, who first
trusted in Christ, trusted Him to redeem. And Christ, who finished
the work, saved us. Now, in time, we're regenerated. In time, we know it. But our
salvation, according to these Scriptures, is eternal, set apart
by Almighty God, and set apart for His glory, is our salvation. Almighty God. But not only sanctified
by God the Father. Here's what it says. Who is he
writing to? Those preserved in Christ Jesus. Preserved before
and after being regenerated. Preserved before ever being found
in Adam, because we were eternally found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Preserved from dying before being
effectually called by the Holy Spirit. I can't tell you how
many times I think on that. When I think about my life, I'm
sure everybody's got a story. We don't need to compare stories.
That's not the issue right here. But think about how Almighty
God would preserve you before calling you. Because without
faith, it's impossible to please God. He's going to give faith
to His people. All that the Father gives me shall come to me. But
before He would allow you to die, preserved from falling away
after conversion, while being kept by the power of God through
faith, The Lord Jesus Christ prayed that the Father preserve. Look in John 17. Look at this. Now here's the Lord praying. I started reading in this chapter
again today and I thought, oh that blessed chapter 17 of John,
that high priestly prayer. Lord willing, we might just go
over that again one time. Look at verse 11. John 17, 11. Now here Christ is praying that
the Father keep the sheep, preserve them. Keep the sheep after He's
gone. Now He's getting ready to go.
He's getting ready to go to the cross right now. This next chapter,
He's going to be betrayed by Judas. But look in verse 11,
John 17. And now I'm no more in the world.
He was leaving. But these are in the world. I
come to thee, Holy Father. Keep through thine own name those
whom thou hast given me that they may be one as we are. He
prayed the Father. Father, keep them. After I'm
gone, Father, you keep them. Look in verse 12. While I was with them in the
world, I kept them In thy name, those that thou gavest me, I
have kept. And none of them is lost but
the son of perdition that the scripture might be fulfilled. Now I want you to notice something.
In that twelfth verse, he says two times that he kept them.
Look at the first part. While I was with them in the
world, I kept them in thy name. Now that word kept right there
is preserved. I preserved them. Those that
thou gavest me I have kept. Now that word kept is a different
word. Same word in English doesn't mean the same. I guarded them.
I preserved them. I guarded them. None of them
is lost but the son of perdition. Never was given to the Lord in
saving grace, in mercy. Gave him as an apostle, yeah,
but not in mercy. And then he prayed to be preserved
from the evil one. And so who is he writing this
letter to? Those that are sanctified by
God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ, and look at
this, and called. This is the ones I'm writing
to. called by the Holy Spirit according to the promise of the
Lord Jesus Christ. They shall come unto me. Called. Now that word called
right there. Now we do know whenever the Lord
calls his people effectually. They come. They come. But this
word called right here actually is the word that means invited.
It's the same word when it says many are called, few are chosen. Now here's the thing. Whenever men are called, there's
a general call that goes out. Everybody's sitting here. Come
to Christ. Come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now there's a general call, but the Spirit of God's going to
have to make that call effectual to you. This word right here
is invited. That's what it is. All of us
are generally invited through the preaching of the gospel.
It's the Spirit of God that makes it effectual. I can't do it. I can preach it. I can say it. Come to the Lord. He's got to
make it. But these right here were invited
those that were sanctified and preserved in Christ Jesus. The Lord made it effectual unto
them. Those that have been instructed
in the blessed scriptures of the oneness of the God of all
grace, and they're made to realize that they have been made partakers
of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that's
in the world through lust. And then thirdly, what blessings
to these that Jude's writing to, what blessings do they enjoy? Verse two, mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied. We were born with a heart of
resentment and wrath toward God. And Almighty God eternally purposed
that His people, those sanctified by the Father, those that were
preserved in Christ Jesus and called by the Spirit of God,
He eternally purposed that we were not going to perish because
He had chosen to show mercy and compassion to those that he eternally
loved. And so he sent the glorious Savior
into this world to put away the guilt of his people by being
made sin for them. Died under the justice and the
judgment of God's law to show mercy He now, having paid their
debt, can justly forgive and show mercy. He's a just God. So here He is. Mercy has been
shown to those who have been set apart and preserved by God
Almighty and called. Mercy. And because of the mercy
that the Lord has shown His people, He has established Peace, peace
before God, peace with the Father, all according to the love that
He eternally possessed for His people. I've loved you with an
everlasting love. Who's He writing to? Those that
He loved, those that He set apart, those that He preserved in Christ
Jesus, called by His Spirit. But then He says this, and let
this mercy and peace and love be multiplied. Let this fresh
realization of this blessed mercy, I need for the Lord to teach
me afresh. I hear, we talk about the mercy
of God, we talk about the grace of God, the compassion of God,
the choosing of God, the setting apart by God, and because of
the frailty of our flesh. Now let's just be honest. How
often have we heard that, and it becomes almost, I don't want
to use the word, calloused is not the word I want to use, but
we become lax in our appreciation of it. If we could behold what
the Lord has delivered us from, and delivered us to, we would
realize, Lord, what you've done. We see, like we looked at last
week, we see through a glass darkly. we see in part, we know
in part. And this blessed truth right
here, Jude is saying, I pray that these precious promises,
this mercy and peace and love may be multiplied. May the fresh
realization and application of those blessings be to your heart
by faith. A renewal of the enjoyment of
God's mercy and peace and love to it. A multiplication of our
understanding of being redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ and forgiven. And that peace has been established
by His blood and that we're being kept by the power of God through
faith. We don't realize the blessing
that Almighty God has bestowed upon us. We don't realize the
mercy. To stand before Him in that day
and have Him separate sheep from the goats and then say to the
sheep, you enter in. Enter in to that kingdom that
was prepared for you from the foundation of the world. In that
day, we'll realize it. In that day, we'll know it. But
Jude said, I pray that the Lord give us all a fresh multiplication
of that in our heart. Cause us to realize. Who wrote
it? Jude. An object of God's mercy. One cut out of the same lump
of clay as Judas. Jude, a servant. of Jesus Christ,
a brother of James, to them who were sanctified by the Father,
preserved in Christ Jesus, and called, mercy, peace, and love
be multiplied unto you. May the Lord bless this word
to our hearts for Christ's sake.