Turn your Bibles again to the epistle of Jude as we finish this wonderful doxology and the incredible truths that are written here by Jude. A blessed two verses in my Conclude a message that I've entitled, A Praise to God's Preservation. A Praise to God's Preservation. We again began in verse 24 as we began to unpack this incredible benediction given to us, written by Jude by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Verse 24, now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. To God our savior, who alone is wise, or in some of your Bibles, to the only God our savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen. A question has to be asked as we look at these incredible two verses, and that question is, how does Jude arrive at this blessed outburst of praise to God, his savior? We know that there are other doxologies throughout the New Testament. It is that when we hear great truths, It invokes within us or provokes us to cry out in proclamation and glory to our God. Even as we sing songs that move our hearts and the spirit fills us and we cry out in humble admiration of and reverence for God. But what drives Jude, and we know the spirit of God is the ultimate source of these two verses and his proclamation, I should say, or exaltation, but we must look at the context of what is being said quickly to come to this glorious doxology, this glorious praise to the triune God. And since Jude is only just 25, divided into 25, verses, we begin by looking just quickly and briefly at the beginning. We again notice the author or the person who is writing, and we see that in verse one, it is none other than Jude, the brother of James. He identifies himself as the slave of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have come to understand that this is the Lord's half brother. He does not open up his letter by indicating that he is the brother of Christ. He says he's the brother of James. The ministry of Jesus concluded, he moves into heaven to continue his ongoing ministry. The relationship that he had with the Lord Jesus Christ while on earth, being his human brother, that relationship is finished. Now he ascends back to heaven, the son of God, as he always was, has all authority now, and Jude understands that. That relationship was for temporary purposes, now he is again his master, always his master, actually. And so he refers to him as Jesus Christ, and he his slave. But secondly notice, not only the person writing Jude, but I want you to notice secondly, the people who are receiving it. And I want you to notice closely who the recipients of this brief letter is to. Again, verse one, it says, to those who are, what, called. It is to the elect. It is to those who have been invited according to the will of God to participate in salvation, to participate in the culmination of time, to be with God, to worship him and serve him for eternity. The ones who have been selected and elected and chosen by God. It is clear again that the Bible is not written to unbelievers. It is written to those who are believers. Not only are they the recipients of this letter the call notice they are in some of your Bibles Beloved by God and others set apart by God the Father And he says also there in that verse, in the verse preserved here, is again, the beginning of his letter, he says what? They are preserved in Jesus Christ. They are called by the Father, handed to the Son, and the Son, by way of his sacrifice on the cross of Calvary, Jesus Christ preserves those who have been given to him from the Father. beloved by God the Father, preserved in Jesus Christ. The letter is written to those of us who are true believers because those of us who are the elect are the only one who are spirit energized and able and desire to obey God's command. We live in a time where people are not discerning as Chris read earlier. And this is the greatest threat I see quickly, the greatest threat I see, one of the greatest threats I see to the church is the, it has been infiltrated, and that is the problem we have here. We see the person's writing, we see the people receiving, we see their position, they're sanctified, and we see the church's problem. The church's problem that is given to us in verses three through verse four. I'll say verse 19. We see the problem in the church. What has happened is false teachers have infiltrated the church. You wonder why we continue to to feed the sheep of god. Number one, because we love the lord Jesus Christ. That's why we tell the truth. We make every effort if the spirit of god is dwelling in us to feed the sheep of god. Just as the lord Jesus Christ said in John twenty-one to Peter. Says, Peter, do you love me? Feed my sheep. Peter, do you love me? You take care of my lambs. Paul said they were purchased in Acts 20 with the blood, sacrifice, and death of the Lord Jesus Christ. So they belong to God. But the ever-present false teachers are always there. And so he says in verse 3, Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning your common, our common salvation, There are not multiple ways to be saved. There's only one gospel, one mode of salvation, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. Why? He wants to speak of the common salvation. He wants to speak in a sense on a positive note. But he has to address negative issues. The ever-present false teachers, they haven't gone, they are here today. And we are to earnestly contend for the faith. And he says in verse four, for certain men have crept in unnoticed, here they are, who long ago were marked out, ordained. For what? This condemnation. He tells us the characters of the men at the end of verse four. Ungodly, irreverent, unimpious men who turned God's kindness into moral decadence. filth, wanton behavior, immorality, debauchery. What the message is saying possibly here is they say you're saved and you can live immorally. The grace of God does not mean repentance and turning from sin. It means that now you're free to sin even more. Paul dashes this thought in Romans chapter six. Says that now that we're under grace, how can we continue to sin and sin and sin? God forbid, shall we sin now that we are under God's grace, his kindness, his benevolence? He says perish the thought, perish it. Using the most strong, it's one of the strongest negatives in scripture. No! With passion. But this is what they teach. He goes on to say that their condemnation awaits them. And in verses 5 through 15, he gives you examples of past condemnation of people like them. He gives example after example after example. He says in verse 8 of these, people who have infiltrated the church, that they're not preaching according to the energizing, indwelling work and inspired work of the spirit, it says that they are, likewise, these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. He says in verse 12, there are spots in your love feast while they feast with you, fearless, they have no reverence or fear from God, of God. They serve only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds. Late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots. They're not just, they're twice dead. Now that's a real dead tree. Raging waves of the sea foaming up their own shame. They're wandering stars, and look what is reserved for them. Darkness forever. The blackness of darkness forever. Here's the condemnation for these types of people. He speaks in verses 14 and 15 of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, quoting the apocryphal book of Enoch. says in verse 14, now Enoch the seventh from Adam prophesied about these men saying, behold, the Lord comes with 10,000 of his saints to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are irreverent and ungodly and impious among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly manner and of all the harsh things which these impious sinners have spoken against him. Here's the problem facing the church. Here's the problem facing individual leaders. These condemned men and women have infiltrated the church. He says, further these men, and I'm dealing with the problem. We've seen the person writing this book. We've seen the people receiving this book. We've seen the people position, they're sanctified, beloved of God. And, and, and, and really emphasize the beloved because we're going to see that in the doxology. How much God loves his saints, how much he loves us and how he preserves us and how he protects us. He says of these false teachers, And really these false teachers set the standard for the people who follow them. And we see in verses 16 through 19, look at their behavior and make sure that our behaviors, believe it is not comparable, similar. Look at the particulars here. These are grumblers and complainers. And look what drives them, not the spirit of God, their own internal passions. That's what drives them, the inside. And clearly, just quickly, that is why when Chris read what he read, you can see that their presentations are always fleshly and human. because it's not energized and originated from the spirit of God, but their own depraved spirit. They can see dreams that come from their depraved condition. That's why it has this worldly quality and characteristic that so attracts so many people. Because the people are not choosing spiritually to follow these wicked men, they are choosing with their own depraved passions, which are akin to the depraved passions of the false teachers. These big churches, and not all of them, but these ones that are hated by false teachers, the reason they're full is because the minister is conceiving of human means and using his own defiled character, his own defiled nature to produce that which appeals to people who are following their own deprived nature, depraved nature. Therefore, it draws people like himself. Again, in verse 16, quickly, these are grumblers, complainers walking according to their own desires. And the question I have to ask myself, am I a grumbler and a complainer? They're grumbling against God. They're grumbling against God. They do it subtly. Some are blatant, but many are subtle. Again, they mouth great swelling words, very articulate individuals, but what are they doing? Their messages are all geared to flatter people so that they gain the advantage. Paul says that these false teachers, that they are zealous for you, he told the Galatians. They're zealous for you so that in the future you will become zealous for them. They carry your water bottle now, but in the future you'll be carrying theirs. They feign a service and a brotherly kindness and a love towards you, but the ultimate end is that you now do them that way. It is a pseudo Love it is a pseudo compassion and kindness toward people they flatter people, but in order to gain the advantage on them Verse 17, but you beloved remember here's a reminder to us remember This is imperative to remember the words which were spoken before by the apostle of our lord jesus christ How they told you that there will be markers in the last times And the last time was the advent of Christ 2,000 years ago until his second coming. This is the last time. There are no more prophets coming to bring the word of God because the prophet has already come. Prior to the advent of Christ, prophets and seers came to the people. to declare the word of God. And they were nothing more than preludes to the coming prophet. And Jesus gave a parable of a man who loaned out his land to the people. And then he would send ambassadors to the people in order to receive some of the produce and fruit of the land for himself. And the people would reject those ambassadors, and he would send more, and they would beat some, kill some. And finally, he says, I send my only son, they will revere him. And when that son appeared, they looked at him and said, this is the only son, the only heir. We kill him. It'll all belong to us. Jesus Christ came just as prophesied, just as the parable indicates, and they did just that. Mockers who are mocking in the last time, and again, he indicates they walk according to their own what? Passions. The question again is, are we walking according to our passions, our desires, our lust, Or are we walking according to the Word of God? To the leading of the Spirit of God who will lead us into all righteousness is the Word of God, our instruction book. Are we the chosen, the elect, who are not complaining and grumbling against God? He tells again in verse 19, these are sensual people, which again shows you what is driving them. Their God is their belly. Their God is their flesh. They're being led by their flesh, verse 19. These are sensual people, and look, they cause division. Why? Because they're lost. They have not the spirit. But on the contrast, as we move right into the practice, But you, beloved, again he addresses the saints. You continue to build yourself up on your most holy faith. That's his first exhortation. emphatically to them, to you, in contrast to those who I just previously read, to you, you keep on, keep on persistently building yourself up on your most holy faith that you have in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we learn that from the Word of God. Faith comes by hearing, hearing the Word of God. It is so important that we dive into the Word of God and study it because faith is diametrically, not diametrically, but concurrent to how much we know. I use the right word. It is. The greater I understand of God's Word, the greater my faith is. It is rightful context. Now, it has to be in this rightful context, because obviously these people have taken it out of it, because they've actually said the grace of God, which is true, but they have a different dictionary. Their grace doesn't mean the grace of God that leads to righteous behavior. Their grace means immorality. Same word, five-letter word, grace, but it comes with a different meaning for them. And I told you I remember a young man who told me that God understood that it was all right to live in adultery. God wanted him to have fun and God understood. So the practice for us is to, but you beloved, building yourself up on your most holy faith. Keep yourselves in the love of God. How do I do that? Obeying. You keep yourself in that which God loves, which is obedience. Even Jesus says, I keep myself in the Father's love because I obey his every word, paraphrase. God loves obedience. He loves truth. And if you and I desire to remain in this love is to remain, what is to be obedient to his truth. This is what he's commanding them. But you know, with false teachers, there are victims and he addresses those. Let me finish verse 21. Keep yourselves. Here's the command. It's not a present tense. It's an heiress imperative. You need to keep yourself in God's love and anticipating and awaiting the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Do you know when Jesus comes to rapture the church, just as he did Enoch, just as he did Elijah, Do you know that Rahab was a picture of that as well? As he sent in the men, Joshua sent in the spies to find her and they evacuated all in her house to safety before wrath destroyed every other human being. pictures of God's Evacuating his people not to avoid the persecution of the world. He said you're going to be persecuted But the evacuation is because of the grace of God and the preservation of God we have avoided his wrath And next week I'll be talking about that global warning We have escaped the wrath of God through the grace and mercy of the triune God, effected by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross of Calvary, who redeemed us from our lawless deeds, Paul said in Titus, to make a people for his own people, zealous and jealous for good works. They desire to do good works. The victims are given here in verse 22, Well, some have compassion, making a distinction, but others say with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garments that are defiled by the flesh. In McCain James version, it appears to be two, but there are actually three groups of people here. You have the doubting, the endangered, and the devoted. All those teachers cause people to doubt. They doubt reality, they doubt the truth. They are those who believe that Christ does not persevere the saints. They do not believe in once saved, always saved because the false teachers have penetrated the mind. They've gotten in and they are doubting whether God's word is true. Jews doxology shows us clearly that Calvin's fifth grace, the perseverance of the saints is absolutely true. We know it as once saved, always saved. He says, this is what you do. You build up your faith first before you go dealing with them. He says, oh son, have mercy. It's imperative that you have compassion on them because they're doubting. Go to them with the truth. He says others, the endangered, the ones who are about to fall over the precipice, those who are just not more than just doubting, they're coming over to the point of being convinced. They're assimilating this false teaching. Therefore you need to go to them with fear. And I know this to be true. If you are not building up your faith, you better leave people who are now becoming convinced of false teaching alone. And he uses some graphic language here too on that last group. These are the devoted. These may be the false teachers themselves, or it may be those who have following them who are absolutely now committed to grace without righteousness. And he says, when you go deal with them, be extremely careful. I would not suggest if you don't understand scripture, leave, false teachers and their followers, devotees alone. Because he uses graphic language here when he says, even garments defiled by the flesh. Now I'm going somewhere, because I want to point you to why Jude breaks out in this exhortation, this doxology, this praise, this adulation of God. Defiled by the flesh. The illustration here is the garment worn underneath the tunic. It would be comparable to our underwear. And he says defiled by the flesh. This means the expulsions that come out of our body. If you know what I mean. And the last thing I need to be handling is somebody's filthy drawers. is to take their defiled garments and strap them on yourself. Put them close to you. That's nasty. That's real nasty. I don't even want to be defiled with my own underwear, much less putting yours on. There's one thing, see it's sanitized in here, Rose. It's sanitized. That is graphic. It is comparing, this is how dangerous these people are. And I am telling you from experience, they can be so convincing that you might think that what you believe is wrong. dangerous be very careful if you're not astute in the scriptures this is why you must build up your holy faith praying in the holy spirit keep yourselves in the love of god obey him remain steadfast immovable until he comes with his mercy unto eternal life now Why does Jude break out in this inspired doxology? Why, as true believers, we can trust that we will never lose our salvation? And the first point I want to make here as we break this doxology down is the reason that we can be assured and we can be comforted and we have this incredibly inspired, we can make this incredibly inspired praise to the Lord, to God, just as Jude does here, is because of the Lord's preservation. It almost seems like When he gets to verse 24, after verse 23, 22 and 23, and the other text, it seems like it's almost like it's out of context. He's been addressing what? Those who have infiltrated the church, leading people astray, undermining their faith. And then he, what? He goes to the one who preserves the true believer. And this is the assurance you and I have as believers. This is the assurance as true believers. He says, now to him who is what, able. Stop right there. Did you hear what he said? He says, in contrast to, when you go to help these others, when you go to help those who are doubting and endangered and devoted to false teaching, have committed themselves to it, part of our ministry, part of the ministry of the true believer, now to him who is able, He is the divine preserver. He says, and it's Christ. He will safeguard us against false teachers. He is the one who has given us our faith to believe in. And again, I have to emphasize the fact that the only reason that you can truly say that Jesus Christ is God in human flesh, that he is the son of God from heaven, that he is the bread of life that has come down from heaven, he is the light of the world, The only way you can know these great truths is because God has set you aside and chosen you to know his son in a saving way. It is impossible for you to know him unless there is divine intervention. The one who is able has to come and do his work. We don't think about that because it's not emphasized today. The only reason I can believe these great truths is because the Spirit of God has sealed me and energized me and opened the Word of God up to me where I see the great truths that glorify God alone. Jude falls back to the truth. Or I should say he ascends to the truth. Now to him who is able. Oh, I know you don't believe me. Go over to Luke chapter 22. And this is a very familiar story. These are the disciples gathered around the Lord Jesus Christ. And then imagine that we are sitting right there with them. Because it is actually written of them and to us. What can we glean from this story of Peter's denial? Well, we understand there'll be some negative because Peter, unfortunately, because of fear, human fear, would deny his Lord three times. It is though one time was sufficient, it is to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt, under his own human agency, he would never stand up and commit the crisis. And so we begin in verse 31, and I want you to notice that there's one particular point I want to make. Concerning what? Why we praise God for preservation. Verse 31, and the Lord said, Simon, Simon, indeed Satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat. but I have prayed for you that your faith will not fail. Did you hear what Jesus tells Peter? It also indicates in there that if Christ doesn't sustain your faith, you're done. You will be no different than the religious leaders in which Jesus said in John eight, 44, you are of your father, the devil. And you know what the desires of your father, you will do. If he tells you to worship an idol, you will. If he tells you to blaspheme Jesus Christ name out of name of the triune God, guess what you're going to do. If he tells you to worship an idol, an image, guess what you're going to do. And the greatest false God of all time is in the mirror when you look at it. He has supplanted the triune God, she has supplanted this triune God, and we worship that one in the mirror. When Satan sifts you like wheat, he will have you dishonor your parents. If Satan sifts you, He'll have you murdered. He'll have you hate. Jesus says, it has been said in the Beatitudes, thou shall not murder. But I tell you, if you hate someone for no reason, if you hate them, it's the same as murder. Jesus deals with the attitude. But Satan says, murder them, hate them. If Satan is sifting you, sexual immorality means nothing. Do it. Don't relegate it to marriage, as God said. You do it, shaking you down. Thou shalt not steal. Your pocket's packed with other people's stuff. He shakes you down. says thou shall not lie and slander other people. Slander them, malign their character, knowing it's not true. He'll sift you where you say thou shall not covet. And you want everything that everybody else got. and you're angry, and this is the worst thing is, now you're so jealous and envious of someone else who has something that you don't have. You feel you deserve it and they don't. And you actually take pleasure in seeing their downfall. This is what Satan desires. But look, verse 32, here's the positive, but I have prayed for you and your faith will not fail. You go back to Jude. Now with that in mind, now to him who is able, the preserver. The reason our faith is not failing through all the trials and the tribulations and the issues of life is because the Lord Jesus Christ is sustaining our faith. That's why we can't go anywhere else. We're in his hand, Priscilla, and no one can pluck us out of his hand. And it is he who sits at the right hand of his father who is making sure that we never leave to go and follow another Christ. Secondly, we see the preservation. We see who is the preserver, but we also see who are the preserved. Now to him was able to keep you from stumbling. The military word here means to God, to watch over. Did you hear? Christ is watching over you. Just as in Job, it says that God had a hedge around Job where Satan couldn't penetrate. It is though the Lord Jesus Christ is standing there with his arms folded. Don't anybody dare touch him. They cannot touch him because I am watching over him. I mean, we have God himself preserving our faith. In contrast to the false teachers who are leading people astray, true believers are preserved from falling into false teaching. Not in that sort of believing elements, but falling into believing a false messiah. They will never turn from Christ, and it's not because they have some innate ability of their own, it is because someone is watching over them, in a military fashion. I love the word when he uses military because that means that don't force God to set loose the armies of heaven upon the person who dares to offend and try to cause his true ones to stumble. You know, Jesus said in Luke 17, one, he says, he says, offenses must come, but woe to the one who causes it. Here we have those who are causing these groups of people in verse 22 and 23 to stumble. But it doesn't matter what they do and their master Satan does because the great preserver is persevering us. And that's why we don't desert and go to Buddha or Muhammad. Christa, and all the rest of these false gods. We do not go to a deficient Christ as preached by the Jehovah Witnesses, and the Mormons, and Catholicism. We build up our most holy faith on the true God, the Son of God, who is preserving us. And it is Him who is doing it, and that's why we can't abandon Him. Someone may put a threat in your life and you might deny him like Peter, but you're never going to be able to deny him here because he is holding onto your heart. He is sustaining your faith. He is praying for our faith and he is actually maintaining our faith from heaven. If any of us abandoned the Lord Jesus Christ, it's because you were never his. Not only do we see the preserve of the preservations, I want you to notice, secondly, the presentation. Faith is what pleases God, isn't it? Isn't that what the Hebrew writer said? Without faith, you can't please God. And the ultimate act of faith is what? Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm not talking about a feigned faith or a fickle faith. I'm talking about a capricious faith. I'm talking about actually genuine faith in Jesus Christ. That pleases the triune God. And look what it says. And he presents you what? Faultless. Faultless. The word means without blemish. morally, metaphorically morally, without sin. In order to present me before himself faultless, that means I had to have some faults. So he takes sinners, Mike, and present them faultless. The word presence there means before his face, before his eyes. without blemish. He presents them. It literally means to cause or to make one stand. To invite, to stand by. You and I are preserved blameless because only a blameless, sinless person can stand before a holy God. When people realize their sinfulness as Isaiah did, and they really see God for who he is, what do they do? They say, woe is me, for I'm undone. Peter in Luke 5, 8 understood the magnitude of the person standing on the boat with him, and he said, get away from me, for I am a sinner. Peter, James, and John standing on the mountain of transfiguration saw Jesus Christ, the glory, shine through his flesh. and heard the voice of his father, and they were terrified in the very presence, sinners in the presence of a holy God. Ezekiel in Ezekiel chapter one, the last verse in chapter one, he saw this image of God in his chariot man, and he say he fell down. And John in Revelation chapter one saw the glorified Christ and fell down as though dead. Roman soldiers at the resurrection of Christ in the just the sight of an angelic being called him to fall down as though dead. Battle-hardened soldiers can't even stand in the very presence of an angel who emits the chicana glory of God without being terrified. And yet he presents us here what? Faultless. And he goes on, not only does he present us faultless before his presence, but I want you to notice that he says there in verse 24, with exceeding. Now, to him who is able to keep you from falling once and for all, falling away from him into unbelief, faithlessness, and not only that, to present you blameless without sin, before his presence which is holy, the presence of his glory which entails all that he is, with exceeding joy. Let me tell you something, it's one thing to say joy, it's another thing to say exceeding. He puts an exceeding joy. He presents them, not only, number one, it's the exceeding joy for the joy that was set before Him in redeeming and dying for us. Demonstrating His great love for sinful, depraved men. who were incapable of coming to him. As Paul again says in Romans 3, they're not good, they're not righteous, they're sheep who've gone astray, they're worthless before God, there's none of them who are righteous, no, not one of them. And yet Romans 5 says that while we were our strength, he died for us. Our strength, the ability to come to him, we do not have the ability to make ourselves faultless and blameless before him, he does it. What a savior. Now you can get an idea now why this man is breaking out in his doxology. He understands the magnitude of the preserver. He understands the magnitude of the divine preservation. He understands that in the future, when he wrote this, and for us, we'll be presented before the Lord himself in the very throne room of God, looking into the eyes of Jesus as represented in Revelation chapter one when John sees him in his sinful flesh, but we won't be sinless, we won't be blamable, and we'll be able to see him as he is. We won't have to know his exceeding joy on our behalf. His joy led to our salvation. Now, because we're saved and we're blameless, we are going to be extremely joyful. The Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5, he talked about the care of the Lord. Here on earth, he says, do you understand that if you stand before God guilty, he is a terrifying person? He is a terrifying, a consuming fire, the Hebrew writer said. He is a consuming fire, he is terrifying. If you are lost, you will see him as John saw him, yet you will never have exceeding joy. You'll see his eyes aflame, his hair as wool, indicating his wisdom. His feet are bronze, meaning he is a judge. And you will be condemned as these false teachers to the eternal blackness of darkness forever. to be tormented day and night, but for you and I, because the preserver sustains our faith, and our faith pleases God, and our faith is in the Lord Jesus Christ, who makes us faultless and blameless, and presents us before himself. He presents us before himself. He cleans us and presents us. He does it all. Where are you involved in that? Well, you're the faultful. You're the one he had to keep from stumbling. You don't present yourself. You don't roll up on God. Hey, I'm here. I did it all. As a matter of fact, I'm not like that tax collector down there. He's a wicked man, but I did this and I did that and I did this and I did that. No, it's all the work of the Lord. This is why we sing. This is why we praise him. This is why we lift him up. This is why we glorify him, because this is our future. This is our future. Exceeding joy awaits us. Exceeding joy awaits me. It's almost like I can't wait to get up there, to receive the exceeding joy of being in the presence of my Lord. Fearless, blameless, exceeding joy. The Lord's preservation, the Lord's presentation. My third point that I went through without telling you what it was, the presence, to be in the very presence of the Lord. This is important, folks. Bump this stuff down here. Bump it. This is Negro talk. Bump this stuff down here. Negro, as I was born in that time when we were called Negroes. Bump this foolishness. I don't care about this. I don't care about this stuff no more. You keep it. When I leave, I don't care if Charlene ain't, if Charlene fight you for it, I'm gone. You know why? I ain't worried about it, because I'll be in exceeding joy. I'll be in the presence of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who presented me, who died for my sin, and made me faultless, and who sustained me through the trials and the tribulations of this world. Can't do nothing about this stuff. The Lord's presence, without fear, not terrified, welcomed in, well done, good and faithful servant, enter you into the joy of your Lord. Are you living for this? Are you in anticipation of this? No wonder we drop back to 21, keeping yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. The apostle Paul quickly, in 2 Timothy chapter four, just quickly, you don't have to turn, but I just want you to listen to what he said as he prepares to meet the Lord. Verse 17 of chapter four, 2 Timothy, he said, but the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, he never abandons us, so that the message might be preached fully through me and that all the Gentiles might hear. Also, I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for his heavenly kingdom. And then he breaks out and say, to him be glory forever and ever. Boy, those kinds of truths should invoke that type of praise. You ain't praising God, you a grumbler and a complainer and you're walking according to your own lusts. you ain't thanking him. Thanking him for everything. Be thankful always and for all things Paul wrote. Now, understand the beginning to understand. Be thankful for everything that he knows exactly where you are. Be content he said. And we get caught up and I'm getting hot now. I gotta go go old school. Man, I I mean, I'm not telling you something. I've been We need to be thankful folks. We need whatever you got, wherever you are. Quit complaining and grumbling. Man, we're blessed in America. Just keep remembering that we're blessed. Quit complaining about America. Better be, you know, it's not perfect, but I tell you what, it's better than most other places. And then finally, I want you to see the Lord's preservation, the Lord's presentation, the Lord's presence. But I want you to notice now, the Lord praised. Well, if you understand verse 24, if you understand the context of the passage in that he's protecting us, Chris, from falling under the sway of false teachers who will cause us to stumble away in unbelief to the Lord Jesus Christ. And he is preserving us. Verse 25. This is the invocation of one who understands what God has done for them. These are the supportive honors that God deserves. But you know what, one thing I wanted to cover, let me just step back just for a minute. In some Bibles, verse 24 again, some translations, now to him who is able to keep you It speaks of you and I individually, which is true, but in some translations, it's them. Now, to him who is able to keep them from stumbling. Now, who would that be? Well, that's the people back in verse 22 and 23. Though they may doubt, though they may go further into being endangered, and he'll pull people in these religions out. through the truth, through those who are faithful, exposit the message of the Lord Jesus Christ. So the verse can be true for both. Now to him who is able to keep you from falling, in the Greek word literally means you don't fall at all. Once Christ has you in your hand, the Greek word begins with an A, which means no, it's a negative. No, you're not gonna even fall. You're not gonna fall at all. Boy, you heard that? That's a rhyme. You're not gonna fall at all. And all of his would never fall. Now is this praiseworthy? Does Christ deserve glory? that the triune God deserves glory. The father has chosen and handed to the son to redeem and die for so that they might be blameless and the spirit of God seals them until the day of redemption. The triune God at work in unity on behalf of the ones who are now blamable but who are now blameless in the eyes of God. He says, to God our Savior. To the divinity, who is the Savior? God. God is the only Savior. And in some translation, to the only God our Savior. There's no other God, and he is the Savior. We're going to heaven because of the only God. We have God the Father involved in our salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ is God who put on human flesh without ceasing to be divine. And this is why in our song we sang Emmanuel, God with us. So Jesus Christ God in his humanity gave his life for our sins to redeem us. He ascends back to heaven and he doesn't leave us orphans and he sends back God the spirit to seal us, to empower us. This is why Paul said to the true elect, In chapter one, he calls them the ones predestined, chosen by God, according to the will of God. And he said to them, don't be drunk with wine, but be filled with spirit. And he goes on to then give you practice. Husbands, love your wives. Wives, submit yourself to your husbands. It's not addressed to unbelievers. Unbelievers have no desire to do that. They have no power to do it. It is the, you know, and as we say this, unbelievers can love their wives in a human way, but not in a godly way. The type of commands are given to true believers because they have the indwelling spirit. Children, obey your parents. Do right according to your employers. Don't let filthy stuff come out of your mouth. See, all these instructions imitate God as dear children. This is all Ephesians. Don't snow in the church. Good thing there's no window there, boy, because he just fells right out of it. I love my baby. Eutychus, that's Eutychus back there. To God our Savior, to the only God our Savior, and how did he do it? Through Jesus Christ our Lord, as some of you have in your translation, but I like the King James translation as well. To God our Savior, who alone is wise. This is the kind of proclamations and exaltations and that come out of the true believer's mouth. He glorifies the Lord. He knows he alone is wise. He noticed through Jesus Christ that he has saved and he noticed that he concludes, he says, be glory to the only God, our savior, who alone is wise to him, be what glory. He says he is omniscient, he is all wise, redemptive, he is the savior. Hebrews 7.25 says that he can save all who come to him to the uttermost, thoroughly, completely. All that come to him. glory represents his superlative honor. He deserves for all that he is and all that he has done. All of his totality of his attributes. We fully understand the mercy shown by God. That's his attribute. It is glorious. His mercy is what? It is to be esteemed and held in high honor. Oh God, your glory, your mercy, your glory of your grace, the glory of your forgiveness, the glory of your love. Yes, your love is immense. Your mercy is immense. I believe some of the adjectives that precede his attributes are deserving. Like exceeding joy. Majesty represents the dignity and splendor he deserves as the supreme monarch of the creation. His dominion is the unchallenged sway, which is his by sovereign prerogatives, sovereign right. And his authority is his power. To him be glory and majesty, dominion, and authority. Jesus said his father has handed all authority over to the son. God is authority. You know what, what's, what, what touches me and I may do a message on it was Nebuchadnezzar's praise. He had a doxology too. He had a praise for the Lord after having been out there eating grass for seven years. That'll make you give God a doxology. In Daniel chapter four in verse 34, listen to Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven and my understanding returned to me and I blessed the most high and praised and honored him who lives forever. Do you know his dominion is an everlasting dominion? and his kingdom is from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. And he does according to his will in the army of heaven. And among the inhabitants of the earth, no one can restrain his hand or say to him, what have you done? This is the man whose eyes were opened And he says his dominion, as we conclude here, his eternality. We see the praise of his divinity, his redemption, his omniscience, his glory, his majesty, his dominion, his authority, his eternality. Because look, at the end, both now and forever. Present tense, always, and forever. now to him who's able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy to god our savior who alone is wise to god the only god our savior through jesus christ our lord be glory and majesty dominion and power both now and forever and he says amen let it be now you see why he comes with this wonderful doxology the lord preserved him from falling. into false teachings to believe another savior. He deserves all the glory and we're not only that present us faultless. I close with a. With an excerpt. From a David of a good God. And it says, is it conceivable that in spite of all this, Christians may still fall away and be lost? Is it possible for God to predestine us to holiness and yet we do not become holy? Can he adopt us as children and then disown us? Can he give us a guarantee of salvation and then renege on his promise? Is the human will so strong as to overcome divine power? Surely not. What more does God need to say to assure us that he will uphold us to the end? Close quote.