Beloved congregation, in the Lord Jesus Christ, one of the most difficult issues that many people deal with in the Christian life is the assurance of their salvation. You know, when we sin, we sin against God, and when we sin against God, we are rocked in our assurance of our salvation. Maybe it's at times when you go through the trials and the difficulties of life that you begin questioning whether or not you are truly a child of the true and living God. It rocks the assurance of your salvation. And this is something that we need to have as believers if we are going to live the Christian life and honor and glorify God through all the trials and difficulties of life. You see, when we don't have the assurance that we are His child, when we don't have that assurance that we are in His hand, then you think that when discipline comes upon you because of sin, or when sickness comes upon you and you don't understand the reasons why, you begin questioning the love of God, and it rocks the assurance of your salvation that you are truly a child of God. And it's only the remedy of Scripture that we can find that solid rock assurance of salvation in Jesus Christ. It's important for us to have that. The Scripture calls us to make our calling and our election sure. It's not an option for the believer to be wondering whether or not you're a child of God. You need to know that you are a sheep of Christ's pasture. You need to know that you have been brought in from the wilderness. You need to know that you are part of the body of Christ, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, and have the imputed righteousness of Christ given to your account, and that God's favor and blessing is upon you in Jesus Christ, and He is conforming you daily in the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. You need to know that, beloved. It's an essential truth of the life of the believer, is to know that you are redeemed by Christ, and you can never be snatched out of His hand. Didn't we see that in our Scripture reading this morning? Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and He lays down His life for His sheep. Notice that He does not lay down His life for goats. He lays down His life for all those that were given to Him by His Father, John 6. There was an elect number of individuals given to the Lord Jesus Christ by the Father to redeem. He was to live and to die in their place as their substitute that they might then be reconciled to God through the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ. And Jesus said in John 10, I give them eternal life. And notice, they will never perish. Well, how is it then, in the Word of Christ, that we are given life everlasting in Him and we will never perish, we will never be cast out of the hands of God, and Jesus said that no one can snatch them out of the hands of God. How is it then that some in the Christian church talk about the believer losing their salvation? You cannot be born again from the Spirit of God, raised up to newness of life, given a new disposition, the love of God shed abroad in your heart. You now have the peace of God in your soul, because the Prince of Peace now resides in you, and lose that. That would not be eternal life. That would be some type of concoction of temporal, eternal life, which absolutely makes nonsense out of the teaching of Scripture. Jesus calls His own by name. Notice how He gathers up His sheep? He gathers them by His Word. They hear His Word. They not only hear His Word, but notice the synonym they follow. If you are one that hears, not just with the outward ears, not an audible sound, but you hear Jesus Christ speaking through His Word, you demonstrate that by following after Him. We as believers in this day don't have Christ here on this earth, but we have the Spirit of Christ who dwells within us as the church. And we hear the voice of Christ by those whom He has called and commissioned to preach His Word, and that's the obligation to preach the Word that the people might hear the voice of the Good Shepherd and consistently and continually follow after Him. This gives us assurance, doesn't it? It gives you assurance to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd. What else could calm your soul but the voice of the Good Shepherd? You know, the hospital visit that I've done over the years, just coming in, and one of the favorite psalms, Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not be in want. I shall not lack anything. Why? Because the Lord provides for me. He leads me in righteousness. He leads me in green pastures. He restores my soul. He leads me by the rivers of living water. It's the Lord Jesus Christ that we need to hear, and He's the shepherd of the psalm, isn't it? We need to hear His voice. This brings us the assurance. You know, the Scriptures speak about this assurance. Jesus said, He who hears my word and believes in Him who sent me has everlasting life and will never more come into condemnation and has passed from death into life. You'll never come into condemnation. Paul said in Romans 8, there is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Jesus is the Good Shepherd, redeems His people. We read in Romans chapter 8, that I am persuaded that neither life, nor death, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Beloved, you cannot lose your salvation, and you need to have that rooted down into your soul as we walk in this life, this veil of tears, this troubled life that we go through. Now, if you have your Bibles, you'd like to follow along here. I want you to look quickly at verse 1 in Jude. And notice what Jude says, Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who are called and sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ. This is what he says in his opening words. He's writing to those who are the called and sanctified. Being sanctified is being set apart more and more into the image of Jesus Christ, the holy ones of God. And they are revealed by their speech and by their action. These are the called of God. You are preserved in Christ Jesus. Now, I've mentioned this before, to be preserved is something that you think about the canning of vegetables or fruits in the summer time for the winter time eating. And you pop off the top and they're as fresh when you open them in January as they were in July when you canned them and you preserved them. You preserve them so they wouldn't be spoiled. We are preserved in Christ Jesus from being spoiled. Why? Because there's a consummation of a wedding feast coming, and it's impossible that those whom God has preserved should be spoiled, because we are those who are invited, are the guests of the bridegroom when he comes. And so, we are preserved in Christ Jesus. The Greek term there, tereo, means to guard. And it has more of a symbolism of a watching of the eye. We sing the hymn, don't we? His eye is on the sparrow, and I know that He watches me. That's the Lord with His people. He watches His people. The Heidelberg Catechism in Question and Answer 51 speaks of Him as guarding and protecting and preserving them unto everlasting life. This is what the Lord Jesus Christ does. He preserves us as His people. You think about Psalm 121, and in that psalm, He preserves our soul. He keeps us from being robbed, from being snatched away from them. It's the Lord who keeps us. Psalm 125, the Lord surrounds His people even as the mountains surround Jerusalem from this time forth, even forevermore. That imagery brings me to Job. And in Job, it is said that Satan in his dialogue with the Lord, when the Lord said to Satan, if you consider My servant Job, yeah, but you set a hedge around him. I can't get at Him. That's the idea. God preserves His people. There's nothing, therefore, there's nothing that can come upon us that doesn't first come through the hands of our loving Heavenly Father, who loves us with a paternal love, with an eternal, infinite love in Jesus Christ. God preserves His people. And it's the same thing. The Hebrew term shamar there in Psalm 121 and 125 means to guard, it means to protect, it means to hedge about. Now look at our text this morning. Jude verses 24 and 25. This could be considered as a doxology to praise to God. It's a comfort to the soul of the believer. Jude begins writing about defense of the faith. He first wanted to speak about their common salvation in our common confession of the Lord Jesus Christ. But there are so many that creep in with false doctrine. and need to be resisted, he said, I need to speak about the defense of the faith. And when he concludes this, he says, now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling. Keep you from falling is what it means. Now unto Him who 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 and dominion and honor both now and forevermore." This is the call of the believer to worship God and to worship Him and knowing Him and knowing His character. Notice what he says there, to Him, to God. God is the one who is able. What a blessed word there. God is able. It speaks of power. It's actually the Greek term dunamai. It means God has power to keep us from falling. God is the omnipotent one. Is there anything too hard for the Lord? This is what was said to Sarah. You know, when the Lord came to Abraham and He said, you know, this time next year, I'm going to come back and Sarah is going to have a son. And you're going to name him Isaac. And Sarah's back in the tent laughing. Are you kidding me? I'm 90 years old. How's that going to happen? So the Lord confronts her with that, doesn't He? Is there anything too hard for the Lord? What is it that the Lord cannot do? The Lord can do all of His pleasure. Sarah, why did you doubt? Oh, I didn't doubt. Why did you laugh? I didn't laugh, but you did laugh. And you know, next year at this time, the laugh is going to be on you, because you're going to name your son Isaac, which means laughter. Is there anything too hard for the Lord? God is able. Nebuchadnezzar learned that lesson, didn't he? God is able to raise up and God is able to cast down. He is the one who is able. Listen to these Scripture references. 2 Corinthians 9 verse 8, God is able to make all grace abound to you. God is able to do this. Job 42.2, I know that you can do everything and no purpose of yours can be withheld from you. Matthew 3.9, God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. God is able. Beloved, when we talk about the assurance of salvation, God is able to preserve His people. He is able to keep His people from falling, from stumbling. He is the one who watches over us with that eternal love. Notice the word keep there. To keep them simply means to watch over His people. He's got His eyes upon the righteous. He's got His eyes upon the love and the apple of His eye, Jesus Christ, and we are in Jesus Christ, and therefore He loves us in this manner. You know how critical it is to understand this? When Saul of Tarsus was attacking the church, Jesus came to him, and He knocked him to the ground, and He said, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? Who was He persecuting? He was persecuting believers. He was persecuting the church. And Jesus is essentially saying, when you persecute them, you are coming against Me, because they are My body. They are the sheep of My pasture. I am the head. And when you come against My church, you come against Me. And you come against Me, you cannot win. Because Jesus Christ is the omnipotent One. And so God's eyes are upon His church. He loves His church for the sake of His Son. He preserves His church. Even through the flood, the church was sustained. All throughout the trials you read of the Old Covenant, God sustains His people. We don't sustain ourselves, He sustains us. Yes, we plan. Yes, we walk. Yes, we read. Yes, we do these things. And through that, God preserves us, but our faith and our confidence is not in our doing, it's in what Jesus has done. If your faith and your confidence Because in what you do, you're going to fall. You're going to have a hard fall. Our confidence must be in the one who keeps us, not in our abilities. You remember 1 Corinthians 10, 13. No temptation has overtaken you except that which is common to man, and the Lord is faithful. He will always provide a way of escape that we might be able to bear up under it. And he says, he who thinks he stands, take heed lest you fall. What are you trusting in this morning? What is your confidence in this morning? Are you trusting in the God who has called you from darkness to light through the gospel and the working of the Holy Spirit? Is your faith in Him, in Him alone? Are you looking to Him? Is your confidence that He is the One who has granted to you perfection in His Son? That He looks upon you as the apple of His eye in Jesus Christ? Are you looking to Him this morning? Is your confidence in what you do as a church member? Some service for the church? Your faith? Your reading of Scripture? Your giving of your tithes and your offering? What is it that you're trusting in, beloved? Are you an idolater? Are you worshipping the creature? Or are you worshipping the Creator, God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who has redeemed you and is able to keep you from falling? That's a question we ask, don't it? And it's a question we have to ask ourselves. Is your confidence that you came here to worship in you that you came here to worship? Or do you know that you came out of obedience and out of a love for a God who has redeemed you, and you know that He is the one who holds your breath in His hands? And without His will, you cannot so much as move. Do you know that Jesus is the Good Shepherd who came and laid down His life for His sheep? Do you know that if He would not have come and laid down His life for His sheep, we would be lost eternally? You kids, are you trusting in Jesus? Are you looking to the Savior Jesus Christ? This is what the text says, He's able to keep you from stumbling, from falling. Falling there means to fall out of His hands into perdition. This text right here teaches that you can't lose salvation. Those that went out from the congregation, it's simple, the fact is that they were never of the congregation. They were those, as the Apostle says, that there are not all those who are Israel are truly Israel. Not all those who are simply attached to the covenant community are truly covenant members. And you need to examine your heart. Why? Because the Apostle Paul calls us to examine our heart. 2 Corinthians 13, examine yourselves to see whether or not you are in the faith. Whether or not Jesus Christ dwells in you. If you're in the faith, Christ dwells in you. Christ dwells in you, you hear His Word. You hear His Word, you follow after Him. You follow after Him by hearing His Word and you are conformed in His image. And this is what happens, it's progressive in the life of the Christian. It's not a been there, done that, one time event. It's a keep on, keeping on, depending upon, looking upon Jesus, who is the author and the finisher of our faith. Our hope is in Him, beloved. Are you looking to Him? God is able to keep us by His mighty power. He is the Omnipotent One. And notice what He's able to do. He's able to glorify us. What a glorious text this is. And to present you faultless. Oh, to be faultless before God. To have all the sins that I know that so easily cling to me in this life to be completely erased from my record. Well, they have been in Jesus Christ, haven't they? When He died for His people, His blood has washed us white as snow. And now we're viewed as if we had kept all the commandments perfectly. He is able to present us faultless, and this is exactly what Jesus is doing. Ephesians 5, the Apostle Paul speaks in this way, that he is washing his church with the water of the Word. He told His disciples, you are not all clean, because I know those who have been given to Me. He's talking about Judas Iscariot. He says, but the rest of you are clean from the Word which I have spoken to you. It's the Word which has cleansed our souls. And He keeps on doing that to present us before Himself a spotless, faultless Bride of Jesus Christ. What a blessing and a joy when we go through the difficulties of life, isn't it? It's a sacrificial language. We're presented to the Lord. We're brought before the Lord as a spotless bride. That's what Jesus Christ is doing in the life of His church. He's cleansing us from our sins. He is in this life, as I told you, salvation speaks in three different aspects in the Greek text. There is an understanding of the past salvation, present salvation, and a future salvation. Past, you have been saved by Jesus Christ. Present, you are being saved by Jesus Christ. And in the future, you shall be saved by Jesus Christ. Now, when we speak about salvation, it doesn't simply refer to justification, it runs the whole gamut from justification through glorification and all the aspects within. Adoption, conversion, preservation, being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, growth in grace, all of that aspect. And that is continually happening in our lives right now. We are being saved in this life from the power of sin in our life. Now, if that's the case, beloved, it has to be seen in our life. There has to be growth in grace. There has to be a putting off of the old. There has to be a conviction of sin. There has to be a continual keep on repenting of our sins. Why? Because we have been saved from the guilt and the consequences of our sins, and we're being saved from the power of sin in the Christian life, and we shall be saved from the presence of sin in eternal life, in heaven, in glory, at glorification. Christ is the one who presents us to God as the spotless bride, washed from all the defilement. It's an active work of Christ in the church, isn't it? You know, Christ is presented in Revelation to John as one who walks in the midst of the church. He is the light of the church. The candlestick that's removed is the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. When the gospel is removed, when the preaching is no longer in the church, where Christ is no longer proclaimed, and you have book reviews, and you have puppet shows, and you have skits, and you have plays, and you have little ditties, and you do not have the proclamation of the word, you do not have the church. The candlestick has been removed. That's the light of the gospel. It's Christ who dwells in the midst of His church. And beloved, you must hear His Word, and you must rejoice in His Word, because that's the work of Christ in the midst of the church, is washing His body continually with the Word. Now how does that happen when the Word is not proclaimed? How is the bride being continually washed spotless to be presented before God by the work of Christ? Who is the bridegroom? How will that happen as a chaste virgin if He is not working in the midst of His church through the preaching and teaching of the Word? See how essential that is? I mean, I don't understand when people are jettisoning the preaching of the Word. People despise the preaching of the word. Well, that doesn't happen in the church, that it's no longer a church. This is essential, because this is how Christ presents us faultless. It's a marvelous concept. Christ presents us faultless because of his propitiatory work. You know what the Scriptures teach. He who knew no sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. That is how you are presented before God. As righteous and holy as the Bride of Christ. And so Christ continues to do His work. before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. That day is coming where we're going to be presented before God with great joy because we have trusted in the work of Jesus Christ. There'll be those who won't have great joy. There'll be those who will hear the awful words of Jesus Christ. Depart from me, you worker of iniquity, I never knew you. You think about the text of the ten virgins. Five wise, five foolish. And you think about the fact that all were dressed in wedding clothes. All went out to meet the bridegroom. All gathered at one place. All were carrying lanterns. All slumbered and slept. All heard the voice of the bridegroom. Behold, the bridegroom cometh. Go out to meet him. And only five had oil in their lanterns. The other five says, give to us also. No, we can't give it to you. The imagery there is the oil has reference to the Spirit of God in the scriptures. Five of them were truly redeemed and had the light of Christ within. The Spirit is willing and the flesh is weak. They slept and they slumbered as He delayed His coming. But when they heard His voice, they went out to meet Him. And they weren't able to go out to meet Him. They were presented before Him because they were part of His body, which He had been working in them to cleanse them by the washing of the Word. And the other five went into the towns to try to buy some type of oil and then came to where they were having the consummation of the wedding feast. And they stood outside knocking. Lord, open to us also. I don't know You. I never knew You. Depart from me, You workers of iniquity, into the everlasting fire, where there'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth." You know what he says in Matthew 25? When I was hungry, You did not feed me. When I was thirsty, You did not give me drink. When I was naked, You did not clothe me. When I was sick, You did not come to me. When I was in prison, You did not visit me. When did we not do that, Lord? You've done it not unto the least of these My brethren. You have not done it unto Me. You have not cared for the church. You have not cared for Me. If you care for Me, Jesus says, you care for My church. Now let me speak to the officers of the church. If you're an officer in the church, you care for the church of Christ, and you're under obligation to make sure that the church is washed with the Word of God. No exceptions, no exclusions, no additions. The Word, the whole Word, and nothing but the Word is the cleansing agent for the church. And that's the responsibility and we need to hear it. And you come and you don't hear that you're a neat person and God accepts you because you're a neat person. You hear this, God accepts you because of Christ's satisfaction and that alone. And if you're trusting in anything instead of or beside the one true God who has revealed Himself in His Word, you are in idolatry and you are under the wrath and curse of God. Flee to Christ. Repent and look unto Him. Because He is able. He's able to present us before Himself as a spotless bride. The glory goes to God. Look at verse 25. To God, our Savior. In the New Testament, Christ is the Savior. In the Old Testament, God is referred to as the Savior. But you know the teaching of Scripture in the Confessions is that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. One God revealed in three Persons. One essence in three Persons. One nature, three Persons. but is referred to as God is going to redeem His people, and God comes in the person of Jesus Christ as the shepherd of the sheep, the one who lays down His life for the people. Christ is the Savior who is referred to in the New Testament. John 14, you know the text. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by Me. In Luke chapter 2, Jesus is the one who is born the Savior. My eyes have beheld your salvation," Simeon said. We know the prayer of Anna that was waiting for the consolation, the coming of the righteous one, the Savior that God would give. Matthew 1.21, you will call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. Notice Titus 1.4, 2.13, 3.4, 3.6, Jesus is called in all of those texts the Savior. This is who Jesus is. Heedlongs, all the glory and honor and praise. If you look for God anywhere other than Jesus Christ, you're an idolater. He is the express image of the true and living God, who has tabernacled Himself among us. God dwells with His people. That's the covenantal promise, is that God is dwelling in the midst of His people. You look in the Old Testament with Israel, and where they camped was all around the meeting, the tabernacle, the temple of the Lord. They all camped all around. God was in the midst of her. And Jesus Christ comes, and John 1, the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. tabernacled among us. And that's who He is. He dwells amongst His people. He is the Savior. There is no other. This is not popular in a politically correct world where everybody's concerned about offending everybody else, but nobody's concerned about offending God. I'm concerned about that. I'm concerned about offending God. I don't care who's offended by me proclaiming the truth of God's Word. I absolutely do not care. I've done this enough and I've irritated enough people and I will continue until God and God alone takes my breath from me. God is the only Savior and He's revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. And our call is to trust in Him. There is no other Savior. There is no Savior in Islam. There is no Savior in Confucian. There is no Savior in Buddha. There is no Savior in Hinduism. There is no other Savior. There is only one name given under heaven among men by which we must be saved, and His name is Jesus. And have you heard His voice? And have you come to Him to show yourself as a disciple, a sheep of His pasture? If you are, notice what you do. You give Him praise as the only one who alone is wise. God alone is wise. God alone has wisdom. We're foolish. We're ignorant. We're ridiculous in some of the things that we say and do. We're ridiculous in the church and how we behave at times. God alone is wise. Do you want wisdom? Go to the Lord. Read the book of Job. Where can wisdom be found? He's searching high and low. Wisdom not in me. Wisdom not in me. Wisdom can be found only in the Lord. Man is a fool. The world is a foolishness. God alone is wise. And that's what you do. If you are being one who is washed by the water of the Word, you give Him praise as the only wise God. You're not adding to Him. You're simply declaring His attributes. You're declaring who He is. To Him alone be glory. To God be glory, majesty, dominion, and power. God alone be exalted. Boast in the Lord. Glory in God. Rejoice in the truth of Scripture. Rejoice in the Savior. Tremble at His Word. Fall prostate before Him. Come and give of your tithes and your offerings and your worship and your song. Give of yourself to the Lord. That's presenting yourself as a living sacrifice to the One who is able to present you faultless. before the power for the throne of His grace. That's the Lord. This establishes our assurance of salvation. That Jesus has paid it all. All that I need is found in Him. Our confession states that in Jesus Christ you have all that is necessary unto salvation. That's the assurance, beloved. looking unto Jesus, keeping your eyes fixed upon Him. knowing that He lived, He died, He rose, and He sits enthroned in heaven at the right hand of God, and all power and all authority has been given unto Him, and He has redeemed me, and He has called me His own, and He says, nothing, nothing will ever separate you from My love. I am washing you, I have cleansed you, I continue to cleanse you, and I will present you thoughtless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, you have my word on it." And God cannot lie. Trust Him. Our hope is in Christ alone. Amen. Shall we pray?