This is God's holy inspired word. This is the one book you can
read and not have to wonder, is it so? This is the ones commands you
can read and not have to wonder, is it right? This is the ones
promises you can read and not have to wonder, will it happen?
It'll happen. We sang a few moments ago, Leaning
on the Everlasting Arms. And the second stanza of that
song went like this, Oh, how sweet to walk in this pilgrim
way. And that's what this life is.
It's a pilgrim way. We're on a journey. The next line said, oh, how bright
the path grows from day to day. Now, it's not growing brighter
in that the trials and the struggles and the heartaches are any less
than they've ever been. But the path grows brighter in that God's Preservation has not
failed to this present hour. Oh, how bright the path grows
from day to day. So that's our message today,
the bright path of God's preservation. The bright path of God's preservation. I marvel at all the times through
the years It has seemed like we were going under, never to
rise again, but God. I'm still here, not because of
myself, but God. You're still here, not because
of yourself, but God. And if you think that you're
making it on your own, You need to stay away from people like
me. Because I can't make it on my own. A lot of people think the more
prominent position one has in the work of the Lord, the easier
it is. That's not the case. That is
not the case. Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the
great preacher he was, they say that he battled with tremendous
bouts of depression. feelings of failure. And he never recovered himself
from those places, those low places. But the Lord would lift
him up. I have read from him, he would
try to read and sometimes it would just be black words on
white paper. He couldn't get the first base.
Been there, done that. But he said after a while, sometime,
the Lord would speak through a line, through a word, and the
Lord would lift him out of those low places as he does all of
us. In verse 1, we see the work of
God concerning our eternal destiny. Jude writes to these believers
who are sanctified, which means set apart by the Word of God. Now, when I was young, growing
up, the only time I ever heard that word sanctified is when
I went with a friend of mine to the Church of God. And what
it meant to them was that they didn't smoke and women didn't
wear britches and they were sanctified. That's not what it means at all.
It means set apart. sanctified by God the Father. Well, when did he do that? In
eternity past. Preserved in Jesus Christ, before
this world was ever created, God chose a people from among
Adam's fallen race, which wasn't even created yet, and gave them
to his son. preserved in Jesus Christ, not
just by Jesus Christ, but in Jesus Christ. Our salvation is
not just through Him and by Him, it is Him. And called, called saints, called
the children of God in eternity, and then called effectually in
time by the convicting and the regenerating work of the Holy
Ghost. Now in verse 25 when Jude says,
to the only wise God our Savior. God our Savior is none other
than the Lord Jesus Christ. Men tend to think of God our
Creator as one and Christ our Savior as another. But Jesus
Christ, God the Son, is God our Savior. He's God in human flesh. Emmanuel, which being interpreted
is God with us. He it is who came to save his
people from their sins. When Jude says in verse 24, now
unto him. Now unto him, the him, Jesus
Christ, was Jude's half-brother in the flesh. Jude has written from his heart
and he has magnified the fact, not that he's a half-brother
after the flesh of the Lord Jesus, but that he is a servant of Jesus
Christ in the Spirit. Writing from his heart, Jude
has precisely worded this brief epistle to warn believers of
the danger of falling. It is impossible for anyone sanctified
by God the Father, preserved in Jesus Christ, affectionately
called by the Holy Spirit, it's impossible for that person to
perish and go to hell. But he's warning believers of
the danger of losing heart, losing desire to serve God, just going along with the wishes
of the devil in this world and making no mention of God anymore. Jude exhorts believers in his
day. And since this scripture is inspired
of God, the Holy Spirit would exhort you and I as well. There's
a whole lot of people that are living, but they're not living. He exhorts us in verse three
that we should earnestly contend for the faith which was once
delivered unto the saints. Now this is not talking about
somebody talking somebody else into making a profession, not
at all. This is talking about the faith which was once delivered
unto the saints. It is a sovereign act when the
God of glory delivers saving faith to the heart of a sinner. It's called in Titus 1-1 the
faith of God's elect, the effectual, the powerful, the saving faith
given God's people. And Jude says we ought not take
it for granted, but we should earnestly contend, not slightly
contend, but earnestly contend for it. A lot of folks say, well,
they don't believe exactly like we do. They have different beliefs.
No, they have a different God than what we do. God is our Savior. Contend earnestly for the faith,
the doctrine, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Greek
word for contend here means to struggle for, to fight for, to be in combat, on guard, for the faith of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
But now the specific contending referred to here, Jude is not
talking about publicly on the street corner, waving signs. That's not what he's talking
about. The real contending that you and I need is in the secrecy
of our own hearts. Be careful that you don't sit
in church every Sunday and take lightly the preciousness of God's
gospel in Christ. Do not consider the light you
have, the life you're given, the longing God has graciously
put in your heart, don't consider it a common thing, lest you lose
it, lest you lose heart, lest you lose desire to even continue
with the Lord at all. And I know a lot of people right
on the verge of that very thing. Now after Jude has done his best
with words, he knows the power of preservation and perseverance
belongs not to himself, but to the Lord. So he says here in
verse 24, now unto him, him who is really able to keep you from
falling. Him who is given all power in
heaven and earth, He is able. He is not lacking in ability
to keep His own in the world. That's what makes the path bright
for me. Oh, how bright the path grows
from day to day. That's what makes it bright.
Not that I won't fail, but that he won't fail. Not that I'm able to keep myself,
but that he's able. Not that I'm so committed to
him, but that he's so committed to me. That's what brightens
my path. Not looking at my track record,
but looking at his. That's what brightens my path.
Not that I'm such a faithful sheep, but that he's such a faithful
shepherd. That's what brightens my path.
Ephesians 3.20, he is able to do exceeding abundantly above
all that we ask or think. Hebrews 7.25, he is able also
to save to the uttermost. That is, to the farthest extent. those that come unto God by Him. I'm reading to you out of the
Word of God. This is where our strength is. This is where our help is. This
is where our hope is. You're not going to get out of
the dumps watching Channel 16. Count on it. You're not going
to get out of the dumps reading the Times News. Count on it. This is God's Word. This is God's
Word. This is what we need. John 17,
12, Christ declares and lays claim to His own faithfulness
and success. Praying to the Father, He said,
Those that thou gavest Me, I have kept. John 10, 28, I give unto them
eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall any
man pluck them out of my hand." 1 Peter 1.5, we are kept by the
power of God, not by our own power, not by our own ingenuity
and craftiness, but by the power of God through faith unto salvation. And here in the text, Jude says
Christ is able to keep you from falling. You say, oh, I know
that. I've read that. I've heard that.
Yeah, but you better dwell on that. You better chew on that. God is able. You say, well, you
don't know what I'm going through. Well, you don't know what I'm
going through. Well, you don't know what I'm facing. No, but
He does. He knows what you're facing. He knows where you've
been. He knows where you're going. And He's big enough to turn yesterday into day after
tomorrow, or vice versa. He's God. He's God. Now, backing up to verses 5,
6, and 7, Jude gives three examples of some people who did fall,
and some of them which were false professors and fell forever.
Three examples. First in verse 5, it's an entire
generation of Israelites that came out of Egypt. Look what
he said, verse 5. I will therefore put you in remembrance,
though you once knew this, you understood this once and for
all, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land
of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. Now the word saved there is not
soul salvation, but having delivered the people out of the land of
Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. They had been delivered from
Egyptian bondage and stood on the shore of the
Red Sea and sang praises to God for that deliverance. They said,
He, the Lord, hath triumphed gloriously. The horse and his
rider hath he thrown into the sea. Talking about Pharaoh's
army that God drowned. If there ever was a crowd you
would think would be faithful and run well for God all their
days, this is the crowd. But the problem was, though they
had been delivered from the physical bondage of Egypt, they had not
been delivered from the bondage of unbelief in their hearts. And that's what this verse said.
They perished through unbelief. In just a few days, they're crying
to go back to Egypt, just like they'd cried to get out of Egypt.
Can you imagine that? In just a few more days, they
are ready to fire Moses and appoint a new leader to take him back. In just a few more days, they
made a golden calf, bow down before it and say, These be thy
gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of Egypt. Can you imagine people doing
that? after having experienced the visible miracles of God in
leading them out, parting the Red Sea. Well, you know the story,
God pronounced judgment, and all but two of that generation
died in the wilderness. Unbelief, it says here in verse
5, was their problem. They couldn't believe God. They couldn't afford to trust
God. with their lives. They couldn't. They couldn't. The religious
world today hounds people because they won't believe. They won't
tell them the truth that they can't believe. Unless God grants them faith
to believe. Is that not what our Lord said, John 6, verse
44? No man can come unto me, except
the Father which hath sent me. Draw him. You see, it's not just that sinners
won't believe. It's that they can't. That they
can't. Old Brother Jonah had it right.
Salvation is of the Lord. Not just from the Lord, but of
the Lord. If he don't do it, there's not
any. There's not any. They couldn't trust God with
their lives. I know a lot of church folks
so well off they can't believe God. So well off they can't afford
to trust God. They know more than God does about everything. about how to keep their own heart, about how they ought to live,
about how much they need to come to church. They know more than
God does about how to keep their marriage intact, about how to
keep their children straight, how to manage their money. They
don't need God hardly at all until, until their world falls
apart. Then it's a different story.
These Israelites were dead a long time before they died. They wandered in that wilderness
now on to 40 years, playing religion, singing on Jordan's stormy banks,
I stand and cast a wishful eye No, their wishful eye went blind
a long time ago looking back into Egypt. That's what it'll
do for you. God got them out of Egypt, but
he never got Egypt out of them. Let's just be honest about it
this morning. He got me out of the world, thank God, but he
hadn't got the world out of me. He's working on it. You get it done. But I've not
arrived like some folks I know claim to have arrived. He gives
a second example in verse 6. And the angels, which kept not
their first estate, but left their own habitation He hath
reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment
of the great day." Their problem was pride accompanied
with ingratitude and discontentment with God's appointment. When you're discontented with
God's appointment in your life, you're in real trouble. These angels created to minister
in the very presence of God and called holy angels. That wasn't
enough for them. They would be gods themselves. Led by Lucifer, they left their
first estate. Isaiah chapter 14 tells us about it. Isaiah 14,
12 to 15, How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of
the morning? How art thou cut down to the
ground, which didst weaken the nations? For thou hast said in
thine heart, I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne
above the stars of God. I will sit also upon the mount
of the congregation in the sides of the north. I will ascend above
the heights of the clouds. I will be like the Most High. Did you hear that? I will be
like the Most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down
to hell to the sides of the pit. That title, name for God, the
Most High. The Most High. It points not
only to God as Creator, but as Possessor, controller, sovereign
ruler of all things. And these angels led by Satan
said, we'll have it all. And they left their first estate. It was the same lie that Satan
fed Eve. Why should God be sovereign?
Why should He have all the authority? Eat this fruit. Challenge God,
disobey God, and you shall become as gods. You'll be your own god.
And so Eve fell, and then Adam fell, just as these angels fell. Was God not able to keep these
angels from falling? Yes, but he didn't. Was God not able to covenant?
with himself, in himself, and by himself a redemption for these
angels? Yes, but he didn't. He reserved them, this verse
said, in everlasting chains under darkness, under the judgment
of the great day. Pride, discontented with God's
appointment. We need to be careful. A third
example Jude gives in verse 7, even as Sodom and Gomorrah and
the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over
to fornication and going after strange flesh, are set forth
for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. The root of Sodom's condition is recorded in the book of Ezekiel
chapter 16. The Lord charges Judah and he
calls Judah Sodom's sister. And he says some things about
Sodom. As I live, saith the Lord God, Sodom thy sister hath not
done, she nor her daughters as thou hast done thou and thy daughters. He charges his people Judah with
being weakener than Sodom. Behold, this was the iniquity
of thy sister Sodom." And he names some things. Pride, fullness of bread, abundance of idleness was in
her and in her daughters. Neither did she strengthen the
hand of the poor and needy. Now does that sound like any
society you know? Pride, plenty to eat, abundance of idleness, no concern for the poor and needy, the luxurious living, the well-watered
plains of Sodom. very productive, very prosperous. They loved it. But that luxurious
style, Las Vegas style, led to many things, including giving
themselves over to extreme fleshly lust, sins in the flesh. You say, oh, I'd never go there.
Well, let me ask you a question. Where have you gone that you
said you'd never go? Go back over the years. Where
have you gone that you said you'd never go? I'm simply saying we're no match
for our adversary, the devil, but our Redeemer is. We're preserved in Jesus Christ. He is the only reason that any
one of us can lift our head this morning. The sun went down on Sodom that
evening as usual. The people were merry and full
of laughter. Plenty of corn in the cribs.
cattle in the stalls and money in the bank. The dining rooms and the dance
halls were lit up. Luxurious living was in full
swing. They lacked nothing materially.
But the sun went down on Sodom that evening, never to rise again. Early in the morning, God having
rescued Lot and his daughters, rained down fire and brimstone
on Sodom. So great was it, so awful was
it, that Abraham, far to the east, rose up in the morning
and looked towards Sodom and saw the cloud of smoke and knew
that God had done what he said he would do. Could not God have
changed the Sodomites? Yes, but He didn't. Could not
God have waited a little longer? Yes, but He didn't. Jude gave
these three examples of judgment upon those who fail. But then
in verse 24, he points us to one who is able to keep us from
falling. As God's children, we'll never
fall totally, eternally, because of verse 1. We're set apart by God the Father.
We're preserved in Jesus Christ. We're called saints. I'll tell you, that blows free
will plum out of the water. If Christ never did something
effectually for us, totally apart from us, before we ever got here,
we're all sunk. But he did. But he did. One of my favorite writers, old
Thomas Bradbury, he gave this little poetic line. Others have
said it. It might not have been original, but I read it from
him. He said this. If ever it could come to pass
that sheep of Christ might fall away, my fickle, feeble soul,
alas, would fall a thousand times a day. That's me. This is good news for those of
us who can't qualify ourselves for heaven. This is good news for those of
us who can't keep ourselves qualified for heaven. He did it from eternity and in
eternity. Then in time he is able to keep. The eternal God is thy refuge
and underneath are the everlasting arms. As thy days, so shall thy
strength. In closing, let me read from
2 Peter 1. What is the Lord's instruction
to us through the Apostle Peter as to our cooperation with Him
in keeping us from falling? 2 Peter 1, verse 1, Simon Peter,
a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained
like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and
our Savior, Jesus Christ. He's talking to the redeemed.
He's not trying to cram this down the world's throat. No.
But to God's children, he says, grace and peace be multiplied
unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,
according as his divine power is given unto us all things that
pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of him
that hath called us to glory and virtue, whereby are given
unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these you might
be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption
that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving
all diligence, add to your faith virtue and the virtue knowledge,
and the knowledge temperance, and the temperance patience,
and the patience godliness, and the godliness brotherly kindness,
and the brotherly kindness charity. If these things be in you and
abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful
in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh
these things is blind. He that never opens his Bible
is blind. He that never prays, never thinks
on God is blind. He that lacketh these things
is blind. and cannot see afar off, and
hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore,
the rather brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election
sure. For if you do these things, you shall never fall. For so
an abundance shall be ministered unto you abundantly. Let me start that verse again. For
so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the
everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Wherefore, I will not be negligent
to put you always in remembrance of these things, though you know
them and be established in the present truth." Oh, how bright
the path grows from day to day. As we see ourselves approaching
the finish line, as these bodies weaken with the years, more and
more we see our own strength as insufficient. But more and
more we see God, who is faithful to his promises, faithful to
his people. That's the brightness of my path.
Not that I'll do any better tomorrow. I may do worse. But that he'll do as well tomorrow
as he did today. He's our preserver. He's our
preservation. It's the brightness of his glory
and power and faithfulness that brightens the path for me. As they say, the darkest hour
might be just before dawn. But thank God, dawn will come
for his children. If our last day in this world
be our worst day, it's really the best day. Because when it's
over, we'll be in the presence of the Lord forever. So we're
just passing through here. Oh, how bright the path grows
from day to day. You say, boy, don't look too
bright to me. You're looking in the wrong place. The faithfulness of God, the
preservation of God that has kept somebody like you through
all the garbage you've got yourself into, that God Almighty still
has you under control, in your right mind, able to lift your
head, come to church and sing praise
unto Him and listen to His Word, that God Almighty has done that
for you. That brightens the path. That
brightens the path. That's His preservation, His
power, His keeping. Bless His holy name. Stand with
us.