Building Up And Keeping Yourselves

Q: What does the Bible say about keeping ourselves in the love of God?

The Bible instructs believers to keep themselves in the love of God by meditating on His love and avoiding influences that undermine it. In Jude 21, believers are exhorted to 'keep yourselves in the love of God,' which means actively remaining aware of and immersed in the love that God has for them. This involves recognizing that His love is sovereign, saving, and effectual. To experience this love fully, one must stay close to Christ and the gospel, as the love of God is manifested there. Additionally, meditation on God's love kindles a deeper affection for Him and helps maintain a relationship steeped in His grace.

Q: How do we know God's sovereign grace is true?

God's sovereign grace is affirmed through scripture and historical theology, showing that salvation is entirely of the Lord's doing. The foundation of God's sovereign grace can be seen through numerous biblical passages that emphasize divine choice and the unmerited nature of salvation. For instance, Ephesians 1:4-5 highlights God's election of believers before the foundation of the world. Historical theology, especially the Reformation, underscores that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, and intended for God's glory alone. Thus, God's sovereign grace is not just a doctrine but a central tenet supported by scripture and tradition.

Q: Why is contending for the faith important for Christians?

Contending for the faith preserves the truth of the Gospel and protects believers from distortions and false teachings. Contending for the faith, as mentioned in Jude 3, is essential for Christians because it ensures that the doctrines of the faith remain intact against the backdrop of increasing falsehoods and errors prevalent in society. This exhortation to earnestly contend for the faith safeguards the truth of the Gospel passed down from the apostles. Moreover, it serves as a call to discernment, urging believers to recognize threats to the integrity of God's Word that can arise from within the church and the wider culture. Such vigilance is crucial for the spiritual health of individuals and congregations alike.

Q: How does God keep His people from falling?

God keeps His people from falling by His power and grace, ensuring that none of those chosen by Him will ultimately be lost. The assurance that God keeps His people from falling is central to the doctrine of preservation, articulated in Jude 24. Believers are reminded that it is God who is capable and willing to sustain them in their faith. This divine preservation is a function of God's grace, implying that those who are truly saved will persevere until the end. This doctrine alleviates fear and provides comfort, knowing that salvation is not contingent upon human effort but on God's unchanging nature and promise to preserve His elect throughout their lives.

Q: Why should Christians meditate on God's love?

Meditating on God's love helps Christians appreciate grace, foster a deeper relationship with Him, and strengthens their faith. Meditation on God's love is vital for Christians because it cultivates an appreciation for grace and the depth of God's character. As believers reflect on how God has set His affection upon them despite their unworthiness, they are moved to respond with love and gratitude. This practice also serves to remind them of their identity in Christ, empowering them to live in accordance with His will. Keeping themselves in the love of God not only reinforces their relationship with Him but also equips them to resist temptations and distractions that can weaken their faith.

Look at verse 21. It says, Keep yourselves in the
love of God. And then down in verse 24, it says, Now unto him that is able
to keep you. Which is it? is keep yourselves
in the love of God, and then he says now, unto him that is
able to keep you from falling. Which is it? Well, they are inseparably
connected again, as we saw this morning. Justification, faith. We're talking about God's sovereign
keeping grace, and we're talking about our responsibility, a believer's
responsibility. They go together. You don't have one without the
other. But first, now, let's go back to the beginning of this
chapter. Let's do a brief review and see
who this is written to, because the only ones who will keep themselves
and the only ones who will be kept are these, verse 1. It says,
Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, the brother of James, to them
that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus
Christ, and called who will keep themselves, who are kept, those
who have been sanctified. What does sanctified mean? Sanctified
simply means set apart. Set apart. As you would separate
two things, two similar items, two very same items, and you
put one over here and one over here, you set them apart. You
decided to do this with that and discard that. You decided to use this, you
decided to discard that. Sanctification is God Almighty
setting apart some people for his glory to be made holy
like Christ, to save them. The rest leave to themselves. That's sanctification in a nutshell.
To them that are sanctified. How are they sanctified? Verse
1 says, By God. He's the one that does it. And
they're preserved, it says, in Jesus Christ. Preserved. Any
of you ladies make preserves? Strawberry preserves? Blackberry
preserves? Do the blackberries preserve
themselves? You pick them, you wash them,
you put them in a vessel for safekeeping, added the right
ingredients, sealed it, and they're yours until the time you open
them up and use them. That is a good illustration of
being preserved in Jesus Christ. All that God Almighty set apart,
chose, picked, chose, he washed in the blood of Christ, put in
Christ by faith, sealed them by his Spirit for safekeeping,
they are preserved in Christ until that great day in which
he reveals all his people, and they are made completely and
one hundred percent like Christ in that great day, we are set
free completely. Preserved in Jesus Christ and
called. What is a call? It's not an invitation.
It's not asking you to do anything. It's just telling you what God
has done. It's notifying you. That's what it is. That's what
this call is. It's a notification to all God's people. You've been
called. You've been chosen. You've been
preserved. made holy by Christ, and they
believe. They believe, because they're
called, called by the gospel, by the gospel. All right? So
this is—you see who this is written to? See who it's written to? See who he's telling to keep
yourselves? You see? Man, natural man, can't
keep himself. He's dead. He is dead in trespass
and sin. This is written to regenerated
believers, those who are alive unto God. The word responsible
comes from the word respond. You are not responsible unless
you are able to respond. Response to. Those who are able
to respond are those who have been made alive by God. Now,
verse 2, he says, Mercy unto you, and peace and love be multiplied. Multiply! Oh, my, we don't fully
understand just how merciful God is and shall be to us. Peace of God. Someday we'll see
what God is going to do to this world. My, my. And thank him
forever for Reconciling us in the love, we're going to see
the anger and the wrath of God unleashed upon this world. And
we're going to cry out with heartfelt thanks for loving us, because
we were no different. Multiply. Verse 3. Beloved, he said, I gave all
diligence to write unto you, meaning it was difficult for
them to write a letter back then. They couldn't send an email.
They didn't have stationery. It was very difficult to write
a letter and to get it delivered. This is God's Word, and nothing
and no one could stop it from getting to its destination. I
gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation.
Common salvation? Meaning it's the salvation all
God's people have in common. All God's people believe the
same thing. They all believe the same thing. They're all taught
of God. They shall all be taught of God,
Christ said. They all believe the same thing.
They have this faith that was once delivered to the saints.
That's what he said in verse 3. They have that in common.
They all have that in common. Everyone doesn't. believe the
same thing, well, then they're not sanctified and called and
so forth. God's people all believe the
same way. Oh, yes. That's what Ephesians 4 says.
One father, they have one father. One calling, one Lord, one thing. One thing. All right, read on. He says, It was needful for me
to write unto you and exhort you that you should earnestly
contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saint."
The old-fashioned faith, in other words. Now, he's talking to people
2,000 years ago, and he's saying, it's needful for me to write
to you to earnestly contend for the faith that was once delivered
to Elijah and Abel and way back then, because he's going to go
on to tell us A bunch of creeps have come in, false apostles
and so forth, false prophets have come in. Back then, even
2,000 years ago, it had already started. That's what John said.
He said the mystery of iniquity is already working. Even now,
there are many antichrists in the world. That was 2,000 years
ago. What about now, 2,000 years later? Well, it's multiplied
a hundredfold, a thousand, a millionfold. So he said, now listen carefully. I hope I'm learning that preaching
the gospel and preaching is not made up mostly of tearing down
and renouncing error. You've got
to feed the people. You've got to preach Christ.
I know that. But here he said, and it's needful. Didn't it? It's just needful
for me to write to you and exhort you to earnestly contend. And. It's even more needful now, things
are worse than they were then. To earnestly contend for the
faith, to not give an inch. To not give an inch, not compromise
anything, because now Paul said this to young Timothy when he
wrote to him. He said, in the latter times,
some shall depart from thee faith. There will be a great departure
from thee faith. Up in Ashland for the Bible school
this June, the five of us are going to do a series of messages
on the Watchwords of the Reformation. Some of you probably don't even
know what the Reformation was. And that's sad, really, because
the Lord, back several hundred years ago, delivered this world, as it were,
this world from darkness, the dark ages in which men and women
did not have Bibles. The Reformation was all about,
really. Men and women, young people, did not have Bibles.
They were chained up in a monastery that only a fellow, one man,
had access to, and they didn't believe it and wouldn't let the
people have it, because the truth sets people free, and they wanted
people under bondage to their rules and regulations and so
on. Well, God Almighty raised up
men like Martin Luther and others who He taught the scriptures
in a monastery, yet they, then by his Spirit,
revealed the truth to them. And they, in turn, went out and
began to preach it to the people, and to make a long story short,
began to print Bibles for the people to have. They wanted everybody
to have a Bible, a copy of God's Word themselves. Well, that's
what's called a Reformation, is what they called that. Catholicism
was the dominant, ruling religion, all right? People were under
absolute bondage to these wicked, perverse men who demanded payment
and all sorts of things. People didn't have the Word.
They were just in darkness and ignorance and bondage, and God
raised up faithful men to preach the truth to translate the scripture. Well, that Reformation was founded
on basically four or five statements. Four or five statements. All
right? Number one was the scriptures
alone. These men stood up and said,
It's God's word alone that we are to believe and follow our
rule of practice and faith. God's word alone. Not what some
man says up there. That's what some body of religion
tells us to do. God's Word alone. Scripture's
alone. Grace alone. Watch words of the Reformed.
Grace alone. Martin Luther stood before all those bunch of fellows
and said it's by God's grace alone. Salvation is by grace
alone, not by us doing penance or us paying indulgences or us
doing this and that and the other. It's by God's grace alone. Thirdly was Christ alone. We
don't need a pope. We don't need a priest. We have
one, Jesus Christ alone. We are going to come to God one
way, not through a man down here on an earthly throne, but through
the God-man on the heavenly one. Christ alone. Faith alone. Faith alone. Not works, faith. And lastly, it's all for God's
glory alone. These were the watchwords of
the record. This is the faith once delivered to the Saints.
And delivered to us. You say, we don't have that to
contend with. Oh, wait a minute. Every one of those
watchwords are being violated. This is the exact same faith
we're to contend for today. Scriptures alone. Brother Ron,
they are perverting this book. They're perverting this. Go in
any so-called Christian bookstore and you'll find as many as a
hundred versions of this one book. And they're perversions. Perversion. The more you translate something,
the more you keep interpreting it, it begins to take on, you take it away, take away from
them. Let's go on. So he said, let's
contend. We need to earnestly contend
for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. There
are certain men crept in who were before of old ordained to
this condemnation. That's reprobate. I'm not going
to apologize for that. That's what God's word said.
They were ordained to this, just like Judas and just like Pharaoh. They were raised up for this.
There must be Pharisees among you, Christ said. Jesus Christ chose Judas. to
do his work. Judas did what he willed to do,
what his evil person wanted to do and willed to do, but he did
what God determined before to be done. Is that what this says,
Brother Copeland? We don't apologize for God's
Word. Anybody that does and tries to explain it away doesn't believe
it. And they're one of these fellows
he's talking about. All right, let's go on. It says, They turned
the grace of our God into lasciviousness. wicked religious practices, denying
the Lord God, our Lord Jesus Christ, denying the person, the
power, the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. This
is it in a nutshell. This is what is going on today.
Now more than ever, God is not God. They are not preaching God
as God. They deny this person completely. Completely. Jesus Christ's blood
doesn't save a flea. They denied it completely. They
trodden it underfoot. It's a common thing now. It doesn't
save anybody. They put the almighty will of
man and his decision up on the pedestal. Haven't they, Brother
John? That's the capstone that men
have laid on top of the crying, free will, free will. No, let's
contend for the faith now. The capstone is grace. Grace. Christ alone, earnestly content. They deny our Lord, they deny
him, and we need now more than ever to confess him, who he is,
what he has done. Read on. He said, I want to put
you in remembrance, remind you, you have known this, he said,
The Lord saved the people out of the land of Egypt and afterward
destroyed them that believed not." He is speaking of those
that contended against Moses, those that believed not. Down
in verse 6, he says, angels. He reminded us of the angels
that kept not their first estate. Now, they are preserved in chains.
Verse 7, Solomon Gamara, that gave themselves over to strange
flesh to set forth in his Does that not have any relevance now,
Sodom and Gomorrah, to remind us? I was talking to one of the
brothers, Wesley and I were talking the other day about this homosexuality
stuff that's going on today. It's a national or at least a
Hollywood agenda to make you sympathize with this stuff. It's an agenda of the media in
our country to make this an acceptable lifestyle. And Scripture says,
now this is to us, Scripture says it's a shame to even speak
of those things done by them in secret. Nothing funny about
it. There should be no sympathy concerning
it. And this is our example. And
the fact is, and this is the reason that These false preachers
never mention the judgment of God, never mention how God's
going to burn this planet up. He's going to literally, actually
burn this planet up with more people on it than ever before. People, persons. Destroy it. Why? The preachers are themselves
like that. and firelings, and we'll see
that in a moment. But he tells us now, I'm warning
you, it's needful to warn. It's needful for us. There's
nothing cute about that, people. It's going to damn people's souls.
All right, let's go on. These filthy dreamers, verse
8 and 9, filthy dreamers, speak evil of dignities. They despise
dominion and speak evil of dignity. That's these devil bashers. And
there's one on every little storefront in every little storefront building.
That's what they do mostly. They get up and brag about how
they got the victory over the devil. Sons of Siva, all of them. They don't even know what they're
talking about. They're doing his bidding. to do his bidding. Satan's greatest
captivity is in religion. That's where he does his grace
works, in religion. That's where he has more people
held captive, in religion. Well, verse 9 says, Michael,
even Michael, wouldn't bring accusation against the devil
himself, but said, The Lord rebuketh thee, Satan. And they speak evil
of things they know not. They are just brute beasts. Woe
unto them! Verse 11, this is our message on the radio. Verse
11 says they have gone the way of Cain. That is, works religion. They have ran greedily after
the heir of Balaam. It is all about money. It is
all about money. And they have perished in the
gang-saving of Korah. That is, they backtalk, they
hate, they despise the true preachers. The sons of Korah rebelled against
Moses. God had one true man, Moses,
and they said, no, you're not the only one. You think you're
right and everybody else is wrong. Well, we know some things, too. God killed them. All right, I'll go on. It says,
there's spots in your feasts of charity. Well, I've eaten
with a few of them. If I'm not laughing at that,
I'm laughing at what Brother Barnard did one time. Brother
Milton and I were talking about some of Old Brother Barnard's
antics. But that man was bold in his
day. Oh, how he was bold, and we need
more of it. One time he was invited to one of these prayer breakfasts
by these local preachers. He was holding a meeting somewhere,
and a preacher was part of that. drug Brother Barnard down to
this prayer breakfast, and I get invited to them all the time. Brother Barnard went, reluctantly,
and he went, and they made the mistake of asking him to pray
for them. They said, Brother Barnard, would
you pray for us? Well, they all bowed their heads,
and Barnard actually said that. He said, Lord, they want me to
pray for them. They're butchering your gospel.
They're lying on you. I'm not going to pray for them.
He said, I'll pray for myself. Lord, bless me. Amen. I like that. Don't you? What if the prophets of Baal,
850 of them, Elijah was the only one against them. The only one.
Surely all these fellows can't be wrong. Yes, they were. What if all of them said, Brother
Elijah, pray for us? He'd have said the exact same
thing. Guilty dreamers. Jude calls them
dreamers. Why do they call them dreamers?
Because that's what they tell. I was going to have you turn
to Jeremiah, but I'm not going to do it. Look it up for yourselves
sometime. Jeremiah 23. Just write that
down. Just read that chapter. It talks
about those who tell their dreams. They have a dream and everybody
wants to hear it. It sounds good. But that's not
what the true preacher is called to do. Tell a dream. God doesn't
speak through dreams and visions inside. He speaks through his
Word. And he said there in Jeremiah 23, To conclude, he said, he
to have his dream, a dream, let him tell his dream. What's that
chap to the wheat? It's not going to mean a thing.
It's not going to bring about anything. It's not going to profit
my people at all. But he to have my word, let him
tell my word faithfully. It is not my word as a hammer. My word is what I'm going to
use. All right? So Jude warns us about
these fellows, filthy dreamers. Empty dreamers. It says they're
sensual. Let me just skip on down here,
okay, to get to the heart of it. Down in verse 19, Peter wrote
about them, too. They're mockers. They're making
a mockery of God today. It angers me. It absolutely angers
me. You all tell me what's written
on these signs, and I really don't tell them to me anymore.
I see them. I can't help but see them. Right
down the road, in the car, and they're everywhere, you know,
these billboards. And it's absolutely abominable,
the things they're putting on these signs. It's proof what
they believe on the inside. But anything other than God's
Word on their sign, Mark it off. Mark it off. It's because they
believe their word is more powerful than God's. That's exactly right. There's a big place out here
on 220 that says, Where the Word Reigns Supreme. Big old circus
tent. Everybody knows it. Their motto
is, Where the Word Reigns Supreme. Have they ever had a verse of
scripture on their board? Not once. They're a bunch of
liars. They draw near with their lips.
If they don't believe God's word, if they did, they'd put it on
their side. If the word reigned supreme, that's what they'd preach.
They sure wouldn't fill up that tent. That's tough. As you listen to me, this is
what Jesus is warning the people about. They're sensual. Sensual, what
does that mean? Flesh. It's all about the flesh.
Make you feel good. Impress you with what they're
doing. It's all flesh. I'll tell you another Barnard
story. You can't get away. Barnard held a meeting somewhere
and some little gal got up and grabbed the mic and looked into
heavenward, you know, and blew this number like they love to
do. Folks, they're not doing that for the glory of God, they're
glorifying themselves. They're trying to show you how
spiritual they are. A true spiritual, meek and lowly
person doesn't even want to be up there in the first place. They don't want to be singing
in front of people in the first place. Anyway, this little gal got up
and did her little number, and sat down, and Berner got up,
and he used to wear glasses like this, and he looked at her. and said that wasn't nothing
but the flesh. I like that. That needs to be
told more people today. All this stuff going on in religion
today ain't nothing but the flesh. I'm preaching to you this morning
word for word from God's Word. That's all we're doing. He that
hath my word, let him preach and teach my word faithfully."
This is what delivers from captivity. This is what sets people free
from these dreamers. This is what keeps people from
following these filthy dreams. All right, let's go on. I've
got to hurry. It says in verse 20, "'But you, beloved,' all
right, I don't think you have, forget these fellows, I've wasted
enough breath on them. I had to do it, didn't I?' It
tells us, too, it's necessary. that we contend. It's needful
for me to write on these. It's needful for me to preach
these things to you. Maybe somebody in here is taken by what's going
on today. Maybe this will open somebody's
eyes to see what's going on. It's needful. Now, here's the food. Verse 20. But you, beloved, and
old Paul said in Hebrews 6, he said, I'm persuaded better things
of I'm so thankful that salvation
is of the Lord and how he keeps his people. I'm so thankful.
I couldn't keep them. Brother Todd Nyberg, my dad said
to him in the preacher's class one time, there was a young man in there
with us who had all kinds of talents. big head full of hair,
he just had it all, humanly speaking. And my dad looked at him and
said, so-and-so, you're going to have to watch it now. God
doesn't use your talents and your looks and this and that
and the other. God uses his Word. God doesn't use the flesh. God
doesn't use men. He uses his Word. He said, now
Todd over here, he doesn't have anything to worry about. That young, good-looking man
is denied the gospel, and he's out of the ministry. The Lord
bless the top man. Faithful exposition of the Lord.
That's it. That's what God uses. No place
is going to glory in his presence. And why did I say that? I said
that because I'm so thankful it's not up to me to keep you.
I'm so thankful it's not up to me to win people. and keep people, not up to my
personality, because I don't have a very good one. My name's
Mahan. Those of you who have known him for a while may not
understand. I'm so thankful that God has
a people, a sheep, that he calls by his great, and nothing and
no one can drive them away. I'm so thankful. I'm persuaded better things have
happened. And they won't follow a stranger's voice, they won't
follow. I'm so glad, because if it was between me and that
clown out there, you'd be following him. You're a lot better speakers
than I am, a lot smarter fellow. I'm so glad that Christ said,
my sheep are going to hear my voice and follow me. And Paul
said that I've persuaded better things of you, brethren, things
that accompany salvation, because you're not going to go there.
So, beloved, he says, building up yourselves. After this strong
warning, he gives us a strong exhortation. Build up yourselves. What does that mean? Well, you
know you didn't build yourself to begin with, did you? You know
that. Scripture says you are God's
building, a spiritual house, except the Lord built the house
by labor and vain. You're God's building. You're
God's tabernacle. You're God's church. Feed the
church of God which he purchased. God's building, God's tabernacle,
God's church is a people of his making, his building. He's built
it. He's the one that built it. He's
the one that established it. He's the one that grounded and
settled it on Christ the solid rock. You see, this is what his
church is built on. No other foundation can no man
lay. Then that which is laid, has been laid, God himself laid
it. That chief cornerstone being
Christ himself on this rock. I'll build my church, not Peter,
but on Christ the solid rock. We stand. All other ground, we
know, is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand.
On Christ the solid rock we stand. He built his church, this house
on this rock, and it will not be moved, come hell or high water. It won't be moved. All this other
shit, thin sand religion is going to be washed away, and not his
church. So you're God's building. You
know that, don't you? If you're God's building, you
know that. If you don't, you don't believe that, you're not
in the building. All God's people are established upon Christ's
solid faith of Christ. So he's writing to those who
are already built on Christ. OK? And he's saying the same
thing that Peter said when Peter said, Grow in grace in the knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's an exhortation. It's a mandate,
a commandment. Grow in grace in the knowledge
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Build up yourself. How do you
do that? How do you build up yourselves
on this most holy thing, this God-given holy thing? How do you build up yourself?
Well, Paul said this, bodily exercise profiteth little, meaning
ceremonies and things. outward religious observances.
They don't do anything for anybody. No, no, no. That's bodily exercise. That means outward ceremonies
and things you go through. Well, let's get people excited. Let's give us a ball
team. That'll get people in through. My dad one time went down to
a local bank and was doing some bank business down there in a
local loan officer was a real religious fellow, and he was talking to him about what
all they were doing for the Lord. Bragging, of course. Everybody's
got to tell the preacher how religious they are and what they're
doing, what their church does. Well, he was bragging on what
all they were doing for the Lord. He said, We've got us a ball
team. They said, Hold on here. If I could call his name, every
one of you ought to know it. He said, what does a ball team
have to do with the work of the Lord? What does basketball or softball
have anything to do with preaching the Word of God, which alone
is the power of God? These things, these bodily exercises,
all this stuff, that doesn't—all of the social things. social
thing. And when all that socializing
is gone, when you've lost everybody's interest, they'll go someplace
in search of something better. But if God's people hear Christ
preach, his people hear the shepherd's voice, the sheep hear the gospel
of Christ, and they come and they hear the gospel, And that's
what they're grounded and settled on. That's what they're run by.
That's what they're fed by, convicted by, encouraged by, strengthened
by, given peace, hope, help, comfort, salvation comes. And
that's all they want from that day forward. That's how you know
it. That's all they want. And they're
built up by that. Now, here it is. Here it is.
How are you built up? on your most holy faith. Faith
cometh how? Those Romans 10 say, faith cometh
by what? One thing, hearing. Hearing what? The word of God. Now, it's not
just preaching the Bible. It's preaching the gospel. Peter
said it. We're born again by the incorruptible.
which is the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. And
this is the word preached by the gospel we preach unto you. It's got to be the gospel, we're
not preaching the word. It's the word incarnate in the
word written, word preached. Christ the word. Faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the word. All right, how do you build
faith? Same way. How do you build up
yourselves on this most holy fact? Turn with me real quickly, Acts
20. Acts chapter 20. And we'll see
it. We'll compare scripture with
scripture. This will tell us plainly how
we're built up. Acts 20. You have it? Hurry,
I just have to keep moving. Verse 32. Now, Paul is leaving
Ephesus. You'll never see him again. Here's
his last message to him. What does he tell her? Verse
32. Brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of his grace,
the gospel of his sovereign grace. That's what he's saying. I commend
you to that which is able to build you up. Stay right there under the gospel.
He's talking to the elders at Ephesus. You preach the gospel,
fellas, and nothing else. Don't get caught up in any of
this other stuff. Don't do it. Don't get sidetracked. You've
got one mission. Preach the gospel. People, go to hear the gospel.
That's the only thing that will build you up. I commend you to
that. Stay right there. Don't get carried away with every
wind of doctrine, every newfangled thing that comes along. You stay
right there. It will build you up on this most holy thing. here in the Gospel. Now, it says,
build yourselves up. Believers are responsible human
beings now. A child of God, responsible to
be at the table when his supper is called. Right? Sure. Miss a meal, you miss that
nutrition. Miss Amelia, that might be the
best meal you ever tasted in your life. Everything in this world tears
us down. Everything in this world is opposite
to what we're doing here. Everything in it. Everyone in
it. People in this world are not seeking God, not following
Christ, not following his word. They don't have the mind, the
opinion, the thoughts, anything, the principles. None of this
is the same. They're going exactly the opposite
of the way we're being led. Following the evil communications
to put up good manner. All we're doing is tearing down
what this is what we're trying to do here, build up. And this
one sort of thing. John wrote in length about it. That which is of the world is
not of God. Everything in this world tears
us down, breaks us down, brings you down. It brings you down.
Tell me, is it so with you? When you come in here, you're
all just, this world, the sin, self, everything about it, down. It weighs you down. You come
in here to get back up again. You leave here, it's like two
steps back. Come in here, you make a baby step forward. And you go out from under it.
You keep yourselves out from under it. And you digress. You digress. So he says, build yourselves
up on this most holy thing. How? Faith cometh out by hearing. How do you build yourself up?
The more you hear. The more you hear,
the more you believe. Right? The more you hear, the
more you know. The more you know. Everything in this world brings
us down. One thing builds us up. Hearing, desiring, reading
God's word. Reading God's Word, hearing,
desiring, studying God's Son. We're here to study God's Son.
Now, look at what he says here in verse 20. He says, Pray. Pray. Pray in the Holy Ghost. Pray. Prayer simply is this. Prayer is not a religious exercise. Prayer is simply calling on God
to help you. He won't come here unless you
ask him to bring you. Huh? I don't know how many of you
have told me many times, I didn't feel like coming. I was so tired
on Wednesday night. I was so tired, I didn't feel
like coming. Prayed in the Holy Ghost, Lord, help me. I left
to myself. I just laid aside completely. Help me. Praying in the Holy
Ghost is praying in his will, praying for faith in Christ,
praying for a clear knowledge of Christ. Look at the next thing. I've got to quit. It says in
verse 21, keep yourselves in the love of God. Keep yourselves
in the love of God. You know, people, you know that whoever God loves, it's
for him. He said, I have loved him with
an everlasting love, Jeremiah 31, 3. An everlasting love. God's love is sovereign. God's
love is saving. It's effectual. God's love is
keeping. He will keep all those he loves. Not one of them will perish.
God's love is eternal. What does he mean, keep yourselves
in the love of God? He said the same thing he just
said. The love of God is in Christ Jesus our Lord, Romans 8.39.
The love of God is found in the gospel. If you want to experience the
love of God, now, if you want to know the love of God, if you
want to feel the love of God, if you want the assurance of
the love of God, you've got to be under the sound of the gospel.
Otherwise, you're for the frown of God. Is that so? Was it that way with you and
your parents? You knew when you were, you know, not where you
were supposed to be. How do you stay in good graces
with your parents? You can feel the favor of the
Heavenly Father. The prodigal. God brought the prodigal to him,
saying, look what are you doing? Feeding on husks. Go back and
eat at the table. Look, you wanted to go out and
sell your own, but you hadn't done anything but digress. You'd become a prog. Why? You were away from the Father. You were away from the table.
Did the Father love him? Oh, yeah. It was the love of
the Father that brought him back. The son didn't know it. The son didn't feel it. The son felt
nothing but guilt. and weak and helpless. He said,
I need to know. Keep yourself in the love of
God, or else you'll feel estranged from the Father. Does that make
sense? Let's hope. To keep yourself
in the love of God is to meditate on the love of God. Oh, my. There's
nothing that will grant repentance like this. Nothing will make
you I appreciate the gospel like this. If you keep in mind, God
Almighty loves me. Loved me while I was yet a sinner. Loved me. Set His love on me.
Not my brother, not my sister, not this person, that person,
but me. An old, no good Republican sinner,
a prodigal. God loved me. Oh, my. Isn't that wonderful? Meditate
and think on it. That will kindle your love. for
him. Keep yourself in the love of
God is to avoid those things and people that don't love him. And again, these things and persons
will dampen your love for him. Seek out those who do love him.
Well, Kimberly, those who do love the Lord, those who do love
God, well, Kimberly would not. Rub shoulders with them. That's
who you need to go fishing with. Right? That'll do you good. That'll
do you good. Sometime, some point, it'll come
around to talking about the love of God. So you keep yourself
in the love of God. Commune with it. Keep yourselves
in the love of God. He said, draw nigh unto me, and I'll draw nigh to you. How do you get to love somebody? The more you have them in your
home, the more you're around them, the more you get to love
them. The more you get to know them, the more you love them.
Right? You don't really love somebody
that you're never around. He said, draw nigh unto me. God loves those that love his
Son. And there's a married supper
of the Lamb A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A.
A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A.
A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A.
A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A.
A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A.
A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. Looking for that mercy of our
Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Set your affection on things
above. Paul said, Look for that city, he said. Look in unto Jesus,
the author and finisher of our faith. Read on verse 24, Now
unto him that is able to keep you from falling. See, all glory
belongs to him. If you're kept, he's the one
that's going to keep you. And he's able and he's willing, and
he will keep you from falling. Thank God. were kept by the power
of God. Huh, Kelly? Thank God. I can't
keep myself. Keep you from falling and present
you faultless. Imagine that. Before the presence
of His glory and glory, it's going to be a happy time. Exceeding
happy. The reason we're not overjoyed
right now is I hadn't seen, you hadn't heard, hadn't entered
into our hearts completely. This is all to the only wise
God, our Savior, for his glory, majesty, and declaration of his
dominion and power now and forever. What do you say to that? Amen. Brother Gay, if you'll
come up, we'll sing a closing hymn, number 314. In number three hundred fourteen
in the Green Book. And I stand as we say three fourteen. I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard
Thy voice, and it told my love to Thee. But I long to ride in Thee
on some plain, and behold Your throne to me. There are gifts of love that
I cannot know. me. Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed
Lord, to the cross where Thou hast died. Draw me nearer, nearer,
nearer, blessed Lord, to Thy precious pleading side. I.

Building Up And Keeping Yourselves

What does the Bible say about keeping ourselves in the love of God?

How do we know God's sovereign grace is true?

Why is contending for the faith important for Christians?

How does God keep His people from falling?

Why should Christians meditate on God's love?

Sermon Transcript

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Building Up And Keeping Yourselves

What does the Bible say about keeping ourselves in the love of God?

How do we know God's sovereign grace is true?

Why is contending for the faith important for Christians?

How does God keep His people from falling?

Why should Christians meditate on God's love?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

Comments

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