If you would, turn to the book
of Jude. There's only one chapter, so. Book of Jude, right before Revelations. And I wanna begin reading, I'm
just gonna read two verses, verses 24 and 25. Jude, verse 24. 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. I've entitled this unto him that
is able. Because that's what we're here
to preach. Correction, that's who we are
here to preach. Him that is able. I want to point out here at first,
Very succinctly, very clearly, Jude is writing to believers. Verse one, 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. That's believers. I know it sounds odd to the religious
world, and I know I keep repeating this, but I'm gonna keep doing
it for a while, but there are no letters, there are no epistles,
and there are no gospels written to unbelievers. It's all addressed
to believers. Even when we preach what some
people might call or recognize as an evangelical sermon, That's only a sermon where we
call upon men and women who do believe. And we call upon them
who do believe to believe and to believe Him. The gospel does not make believers. It reveals believers. The gospel
preached has one job, and that's to manifest who to believe. And if you've done that, it's
successful, whether anybody believes it or not. Jesus Christ preached
the truth to some people and 5,000 walked away. He preached
the absolute positive truth, and they left him. Jude also writes in verse three,
beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the what? Common salvation. Literally, that translates as
the salvation, the same salvation, which is shared by all. Sanctified, preserved, and calm. Jude was not saying that salvation
is common. Jude was not saying that salvation
was ordinary or easy, but it is shared by all who believe. There is only one salvation, and it is of those who are sanctified
by God, preserved by Jesus Christ, and called. The salvation of
all those that are sanctified, those that are set apart, is
exactly the same because the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit are one. And there is only one way, and
that way is Jesus Christ. There's only one salvation, his
salvation. He has done it, he is doing it,
and he shall do it. his way. But to those who are saved, Jude
writes this now unto him that is able right now, right now. And I mean that right now in
2017, Jude wrote this in the year of whatever.
I don't know the year 35. I don't know. Doesn't matter,
because when he wrote it, the word he used was now, and it
meant right then. Now, I mean it, right now, it's
unto him that is able. We have no different message
than Jude did, because there is no different message than
what Jude said. There's only one gospel, only
one. only one right now under him. I want to say this correctly. The
reason I do want to emphasize this word now, because in a very,
if I can say this clearly in a very particular way, the past,
your past, my past doesn't matter. Okay. What am I talking about? Well, If you don't know Jesus
Christ right now, you never did. The scriptures are clear. The scriptures are clear. If
ye continue in my doctrine, if you continue following him, then
are you his disciples indeed. If you don't continue, he never
knew you. And you never knew him. That's the point. Now, unto him
now, right now, his sheep follow. They hear his voice and they
follow him. But then it's him that is able.
You gotta be following the right one. And there is only one, but you
gotta be following the right one. Oh, there are many Jesus's
preached. But here, Jude's writing about
him that's able. And really, when it comes down
to it, from my point of view, okay, now this is, as a man,
I don't know of a better word to use for my Lord Jesus Christ
than he's able. Able to do what? Able to do everything. You know? What? We got the book
here. This man gave sight to the blind. Now is that physical sight or
spiritual sight? Oh, I like those questions. The
answer is yes. I do like those questions. He
gave physical sight and he gave spiritual sight. Look at that
fellow that was blind from birth. You understand, Christ gave him
sight, physical sight, but he didn't leave him there. After
he had been kicked out by the Pharisees, he came to him and
said, how you doing? And the guy said, or just run
me out. And Christ said, do you believe on the Son of God? Do
you believe on the Christ, the Messiah that is to come? And
the man said, who is he that I might believe? And Jesus Christ
said, it's he that's talking to you right now. I'm the Son
of God. And guess what? That man believed. He gave him physical sight and
he gave him spiritual sight. because the Pharisees had physical
sight and they didn't see Christ. He is able to cast out evil spirits. The story of that Gadarene demoniac.
He is able to heal lepers, and not only heal lepers, he was
able to make them whole. To make them without disease.
To absolutely cure their physical bodies. He is able, Paul said
it, to perform everything he has what? Promised. He's able to raise the dead.
Ask Lazarus and his sisters. Lord, he's been dead for days,
four days to be precise. By now he stinks. That didn't
matter to him. Why? unto him who is able. He is able, and here's something
I find hard. He is able to finish what he
started. See this is the thing, most people around here preach
that Jesus Christ made a really good start. But it's up to you
to finish it. They don't say it that way, but
that's what they teach. They don't say it that way, but
that's what they preach. God's done all he can do, now it's
up to you. No, Jesus Christ is able to finish
what he started. And if he, he is in the business
of saving people, he is able to finish that business. His
ability is beyond question. So what do men do? We question
it. That's what we do naturally.
His ability is beyond belief. So what is it? Men don't believe. Like I said, he preached and
5,000 walked away. He said, marvel not when men
hate you. They hated me first. And yes, they did hate him. And yes, they do hate you. And
if they don't hate you, it's only because they don't know
you. That's it. They don't know who you believe.
Because I'll tell you what, when they find out who you believe,
we've been there, Walter, more than once. You've been there,
Mac, Paul. I mean, they find out who you
believe, they back off. And some of them back off quick,
and some of them back off with a fist cocked. They hate what? Him that is able. That's the one they hate. They
don't mind little Jesus in a manger. Because little Jesus in a manger
is dependent. And isn't he cute? Our Lord's
not cute. Our Lord is a consuming fire. Our God is so holy, Isaiah saw
him high and lifted up and he said, what? Woe is me. What? I'm undone. I'm a man of
unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean
lips. When's the last time you heard a preacher say anything
like that on television about seeing Jesus and saying, what,
woe is me? You don't hear that. But that
is our Lord Jesus Christ. That is him that is able. His
ability is beyond question, it's beyond belief. because his ability
is the ability of God, the only wise. But what is this ability
here, Jude, speaking of? In this particular case, unto
him that is able, what? To keep you from falling. We need to be kept from falling. Now, I will start by saying this
does not mean that you don't sin. I'm not saying you will not stumble. I'm not saying you will not be
in error sometimes. What I'm saying is he is able
to keep you from falling. And by that, I mean you may fall,
but you, if you believe, truly believe, and you know him, you
will not be utterly cast down. Why? Because he upholds us in
his hand. You may fall, but you're still
in his hand. He is able to keep you from falling. And see, this is the problem.
The old man is sinful. The old man is flesh. And you have his spirit within
you. We've got them both. There's
no way I can keep from Senate. But I have his promise here. He is able to keep me from falling. I'm not able to keep myself from
falling in any way. And you're not able to keep yourself
from falling in anyway. But he is able to keep you from
falling away from being utterly cast down He is able to keep
you from falling and being forsaken by God because of what he has
done. And I'm gonna tell you something,
to preach anything different, to preach that men can fall away,
fall out of Christ, fall from grace, fall out of salvation,
is to deny his ability right here. You're trying to make Jude a
liar. You're trying to make God a liar, because Jude's not the
only one that says this. This is just the part I'm using. He has promised those that believe
him that they have, have eternal life. Now how eternal is it if
you can lose it? And what was his promise worth?
that he said, you have eternal life. You have everlasting life. If I can throw it away, it ain't
everlasting. But he's able to keep me from
falling. He's able to keep you from falling. And he starts off, like I said,
in chapter one, talking about those, to them, that are sanctified
and preserved in Christ Jesus and called, but when he's speaking
here, he can keep you from falling. Makes it personal. It's not just the special ones
that don't get to fall. It's each and every individual
that he has chosen, that is what? Sanctified by God the Father. Preserved in Christ Jesus and
called Every single one He is able to keep you from falling
Unto him who is able to keep you from falling and here's the
point in God's sight That's what Jude's writing about here And to present you Guess what? The same you, he kept from falling.
He keeps from falling. The same you is gonna be presented.
Present you faultless before the presence of his glory. Man, that just sounds good, Mac. Why is Christ keeping his people? To present them. faultless before
his glory. You understand, in all actuality
and looking at the overall picture, salvation is the job of God. It's the work of God, Father,
Son, and Spirit. We're just the objects of it.
We're just the receptors of it. It's not about us, it's about
Him. He keeps us from falling and
He presents us. What? Before His glory. You, me, the sinner, saved by
grace, are going to be presented faultless. fallen sinful creatures
are going to be presented faultless before his glory. How is that possible? Well, it
takes the power of God through our Lord Jesus Christ and nothing
less will do and nothing we do can add to this. Not a thing. This is all his work. We are not worthy. We are not
worthy, but he is able unto him that
is able. I mean, myself, you, if we can
be faultless before man, that'd be something to say, because
I'm not even that. That'd be so, I mean, that would,
that would impress me. If I could find somebody I think was faultless,
but I'm a little too picky for most of the time. But you, you,
each and every one of his people, faultless before the presence
of his glory is a miracle of mercy and grace and love. Because it takes the work of
God Almighty in the flesh to make you faultless in God's sight,
in God's sight, before the presence of His glory. And we got a miracle of grace
and mercy and love in our Lord Jesus Christ. He came and took
away our sins. Talked about it the other day.
In his body on the tree, he was made to be sin. Who knew no sin? That we might be what? Made the
righteousness of God in him. That's how you're faultless.
In him. It's not that you're faultless,
it's not that I'm gonna be faultless, I'm faultless in him. And in
him, what? alone. And I am faultless and you are
faultless if you believe in God, the Father's sight, because he
is the one who forsook the son when he was on the tree. And
I'm not saying that God made him a sinner. He didn't. He made him to be sin. And yes,
he had our sins in his body on the tree. Why? Because that's
what the scripture says. That doesn't make him a sinner,
that made him to be sin. And the Lord, the Father above
forsook the son because of our sin that was in him. And the beauty of that is, That
debt is paid and we are going to be, we are now faultless and
righteous in God's sight, in his son, our Lord. All believers are faultless,
sinless, righteous, holy in God's sight. How is that possible? unto him who is able to keep
you from falling and to present you faultless before, what? The
presence of his glory. John 11 verse 40 says this, Jesus
saith unto her, this is talking to Lazarus' sister, said I not
unto thee that if thou wouldest believe, what? Thou, thou. This woman he's talking to, thou
shouldest see the glory of God. We are going to see the glory
of God. We are going to see Jesus Christ
as he is one day. We see him now, but we see through
a glass darkly. We see him now in his word. His witness, his spirit bears
witness with our spirit that this is the Son of God. That
this is his word. That this is who he is. But one day, we're gonna see
him face to face. We are going to be before the
presence of his glory. I don't know what that's gonna
be like, but I wanna see it, Mason. I wanna see that, I wanna
see that. All of his people shall see his
glory. The glory that he had from before
the world began. The glory he had before he came
into this world. The glory of God himself, we
will get to see him as he really is and that is a blessing divine. And these three words. With exceeding
joy. Jesus Christ has joy in his ability
to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before
the presence of his glory. With exceeding joy. There's rejoicing
in heaven over one sinner that repents. What's it gonna be like? when we are presented faultless
before the presence of His glory. Joy unspeakable and what? Full of glory. Full of glory. It pleased the Lord to make you
His people. It gave joy to the Lord to make
you His people. And it gives joy to the Lord
to present you faultless before the presence of His glory. This
is His victory, and we're gonna get to rejoice in it. But the exceeding joy is His. We are going to see Him as He
is, full of love, full of glory, full of grace, full of mercy,
and full of joy. Our salvation and our presentation
unto the presence of His glory pleases the Father. Because it's
the Son's work. And the Son always did what was
pleasing to the Father. Guess what the Son's still doing?
Everything that pleases the Father. Everything. To the only wise
God, our Savior, Be glory and majesty, dominion
and power, both now and ever. Amen. That's why I read one of
that song this morning. To God the only wise. Now, does
that mean that everyone else is dumb? Well, relatively speaking,
yes. Actually, it's not relatively
speaking. You're right, Walter. Yes. The only thing you know
wise, the only thing I know wise, is what he's revealed to me anyway. Because he's the only wise, because
he's the all wise. He is all wisdom. Our Lord Jesus
Christ is called the wisdom of God. The only wisdom we actually
have is the understanding of Christ. That's the only true
wisdom we have. Now, I'll grant you, you can
have a PhD, you can be a doctor, a physicist, an astrophysicist. You can understand, or at least
think you do, particle physics, quantum theory, string theory,
and guess what? That doesn't mean a thing to
God. Because that's who we're talking about here. You can impress
me all to death, but it ain't gonna do you a bit of good before
God. You understand? You can impress me all you want.
It's not gonna help you before God. He's the only wise. And
if you don't know him, you're a fool. That's what the scripture
says. Now, the world, I was listening
to Henry Mahan on the way up here, the world calls the preacher
a fool and the believer insane. That's what we are to him. But
the scripture says, if you don't know God, if you say no to God,
or if you say there is no God, you're a fool. And yes, you can think I'm a
fool for believing the scripture. You just go right ahead. I'm
going to keep right on believing because I can't stop. Because man by wisdom knows not
God. And if you don't know God, you
don't know anything. To the only wise God. Who is
our wise God? Our Savior. It took the wisdom of God to
save us. Not only the power, it took the
power of God. But it took the wisdom of God
to figure out this. and to set this up, and he set
it up exactly the way he wanted it. How? Because he has all wisdom. And our wise God is our Savior,
Jesus Christ. There is no other Savior. And
if you are sanctified, preserved, and called, he is your Savior. There is no other. There's no
other gospel, but he is your savior. And not only that, he
is your savior who will keep you from falling and present
you faultless before the presence of his glory. That is being saved. What did Peter say about it? We are kept by the power of God. Excuse me, who are kept by the
power of God? Through faith. What? Unto salvation. Unto salvation. Wait a minute,
I thought we were saved. We were. We are and we are being
and we shall be. We are kept by the power of God
through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last
time. What's that mean? That means
now unto him that is able to keep you from falling to present
you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. This is future still. We have
salvation. We are saved in Christ Jesus. Your salvation is secure because
he is our surety. But there is more to come because
this world is not everything. There's a world to come. Wherein
dwelleth righteousness. And you know where that righteousness
dwells? It's gonna dwell in the presence of his glory. And you're gonna be there faultless. Faultless. And you're gonna be
there because he's gonna keep you from falling. It's all his
work. To him be glory and majesty,
dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. Ain't nothing
else to say after that. But I do want to look at one
thing here. He talks about, because the first thing Jude mentions
is glory. Glory. See, John chapter 17 verse five
says this. This is Jesus Christ praying
to the father. And now, oh father, glorify thou
me with thine own self, with the glory, which I had with thee
before the world was. but he didn't stop there. I'm
not gonna read it all, but. Verse 22. And, still Christ speaking,
and the glory which thou gavest me I have given them. You got some
glory. That they may be one even as
we are one. I in them and thou in me, that's
I and my people and the father in me, that they may what? Be made perfect in one and that
the world may know that thou has sent me and that thou has
loved them as thou has loved me. Father, father, I will. that they also, whom thou hast
given me, be with me where I am. That, that they may behold my
glory, which thou hast given me. For thou lovest me before
the foundation of the world. Kept from falling present you
faultless what before the presence of his glory What's left to right after that
amen Yeah How can fallen frail men be presented faultless before
the presence of his glory with exceeding joy? There's only one
answer The only wise God Our Savior. I'm telling you, this
is why we got nothing new to preach, because there is nothing
new. Because He, He, Jesus Christ,
is the message. He's all the message, and He
better be your message. There is only Him. Now the only
wise God, our Savior, Jesus Christ. We, and I mean you, me, and every
single one of his chosen, redeemed, and converted people will be
presented to the father as his bride. I think that's what he's
talking about here. About before the presence of
his glory. There's gonna be a time that the son presents his bride
to the father. And you know something? The father
is gonna be as pleased in the bride as he is in the son. Why? Because the bride is in
his son. It's not because the bride's
so perfect, it's because the son is so perfect. And he is
going to make us faultless. The father will not have a problem
with his son's bride. because there won't be a problem
with his son's bride. The son's bride, the church,
is going to be perfect and complete when he presents it before the
presence of his glory. And it's gonna be perfect and
complete in him, our Savior. Because in him and by him, we
will be presented faultless before the father of lights. The one
who gave us, the father of lights, from whom comes what, every good
and perfect gift? He's the one who gave us his
son. The perfect gift. Our savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Our heavenly father, we are thankful
again for this time. Thankful for your word. that you have given to us. Your son who loved us and gave
himself for us. Thank you for all of our salvation,
even the part yet not hasn't come yet that we wait for. Be with Walter as he comes to
speak. Give us ears to hear, and him the words to speak, needful
to be heard. In Christ's name we pray, amen.