so much. I guess only one word to say after that. Beautiful. It's a joy to be here again this evening. Turn with me, if you will please, tonight to the next to the last book in your New Testament, the book of Jude. While you're turning, I can begin to introduce the message by saying, anyone who's familiar with God's Word, and familiar at all with the book of Jude, when you hear that book announced as a text or as a place from which the word of God is going to be preached, you probably first think of the theme of the book itself, where Jude writes and says, I intended to write and encourage you concerning the common salvation, But it was needful that I exhort you to earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints." And that, of course, is verse 3 of the book of Jude. But I don't want to preach from that verse tonight. I don't think you can consider the book without considering that point. Jude is writing concerning the apostasy that was arising toward the end of the New Testament era. And he sets forth in that third verse two or three important things. This faith which is once for all delivered to the saints. God has spoken. God has revealed Himself in His Word. And we are to contend that it was once delivered to the saints. Did you describe the situation in which we find ourselves? He had not been versed for certain men or women who were born to redeem this condom of a man. Nothing about Jesus' burning, His largeness, His heinousness, His compassion, or His restrained will can I can't make a case of being in that kind of a green knot, in which I'm not living any way more than the answer I reached out, but I know that the upturnings of our God into this, if I only look in our Lord Jesus Christ, there is an upturn that they reached out of, the deity, the authority of Lord Christ. And he goes ahead and describes it as 5 through 13 of their judgment. Verses 8 through 16 have a detailed description of Christ. Then in verse 19 he reads about the Apostles. And the Apostles themselves warned us of these lies becoming the truth. And then he does his tipping. Let me try to say this tonight in the context of New Testament. The Lord Jesus, Matthew 3.4, where He is bestowing, made this little statement, Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. Or I take you to Paul's words in 2 Timothy 3, where he begins, In the last days there will come perilous or dangerous times. And he describes the apostasy of the coming last days. And then beginning in verse 10, he turns to Timothy and twice, between verses 10 and 17, he uses the same little phrase. He says, but you have fling on my doctrine, my manner of life. And then he says again, in about verse 15, but you, continue in the things that you've learned and been assured of. In describing days of apostasy, Paul turns and writes to Timothy and exhorts Timothy as to how to live in those days. I could take you to 2 Peter 2, where Peter's talking about the coming of false teachers. And in 2 Peter 2, 7 and 8, he says, the Lord knows how. to deliver the godly out of temptation. That's a great encouragement, isn't it? That in days when there is all sorts of wickedness, and in days when there is denial of the Word of God, there is victory for a believer. Or he turns around in 2 Peter 3, does the same thing again. And in 2 Peter 3, he's talking about the scoffers coming in the last days, saying, where's the promise of His coming? And then he says, verse 11, You therefore, beloved, seeing you know these things before. Sorry, I'm quoting verse 17. You therefore, beloved, seeing you know these things before, beware lest you also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness. 2 Peter 3.11, what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conversation and godliness. And so Peter turns, and twice, chapter 2 and chapter 3, addresses the believer who's living in the last days. Now watch it, folks. 2 Timothy 3, 2 Peter 2, 2 Peter 3, look at Jude 20. You therefore are but you, beloved. Building up yourselves on your most holy faith. Praying in the Holy Ghost. Keep yourselves in the love of God. Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And then he goes on and says, And if some have compassion making a difference, and others saved with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garments spotted by the flesh. And now the verses that I want to use for a text tonight. 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 forever. Amen. And let us remember, folks, that Scripture speaks to us to encourage us in living for Christ in the last days. You and I are not here by mistake. The Lord knew what's going to happen. And God knew that there were believers who would be able to stand, who would be able to live for Him. And so in days of theological and moral defection, we must focus our attention, we must focus our affections on the God who revealed Himself. Put the end of the book with the first of the book. Earnestly contend for that faith that was once delivered to the saints. God has spoken. We have His Word. And we can focus our affection on Him. Keep yourselves in the love of God. We can focus our attention on Him who is able to keep us from falling. And so as we look into these two verses tonight, I want us to see that more than the focusing on what is around us, and we must be aware of it, More than focusing on the battles that we face, and there are great moral and spiritual battles to be fought in these days, we need to focus on the God who has revealed Himself to us. And so tonight, in these few minutes that we have, I want to spend some time speaking with you about the God of the faith. Who is it that we serve? How is it that we can live for Him in these last days? See first with me what Jude tells us about the power of God. These are two little verses. Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, 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 forever, Amen. Notice something with me. In two little verses, Jude uses three different words that describe God's power. The first one, I think, is pretty obvious for you as you look at your English text. Now unto Him that is able. to keep you from falling. That is a standard word for power. It's used throughout your New Testament. It is the word that the Apostle Paul uses in Romans chapter 1 and verse 16, probably most familiarly, where he says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. The idea of that word is exactly what Jude 24 conveys. He is able. God has the ability to keep us from falling. The second word is not so obvious to us. It does not, in our English translation, doesn't, what I want to say, doesn't wreak the idea of power, doesn't immediately jump at us with the idea of power. But notice in verse 25, to the only wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion. And then, of course, the third word, power. That word dominion, as the first word in verse 24, carries the idea of ability. The word dominion carries the idea of control. I imagine that I am speaking to some fellas that spend some time in the gym. And you know when you are lifting weights, pumping iron, working on a machine, whatever you're doing, To get the full benefit of what you're doing is not only the ability to get the weight up, or to move it in whatever direction you're going to move it, but then to control it as you return it to its original position. And I think the idea of that word dominion is the idea of control on a far larger scale than a dumbbell, on a far larger scale than a weighted thing on a weight machine. What we are talking about is God's ability to control the affairs of men and the course of history. and unto Him be glory and majesty, dominion, and then the third word there is the word power, very obvious, and that is the idea of authority. Jesus Christ said, All authority is given unto Me in heaven and on earth. Go and make disciples of all nations. And it is the word that will speak of His authority when He rules and reigns over this earth. We have a God who is able to keep us from falling. We have a God who is in control. We have a God who has the right to rule and to reign. We serve a God of power. And I want you to notice that not only does Jude tell us that God is a powerful God, but he describes two effects of that power in these two verses. Notice with me first, praise the Lord for it. This ought to encourage every one of us in this room tonight. The power of God is a protecting power. It is a preserving power. now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling. Put it in the context of the book. Certain men crept in unawares who denied the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. People who turn the grace of God into unbridled passion. And as we live in a world that has a thousand and one truth claims, a world where God is not given the place that He even once was in American culture, in a world that has no time, hardly any thought of Almighty God, in a world where there is, can I say it, an absence of a moral standard in a culture today? I think I'm being fair, am I not, in saying about like that? We have a God who is able to keep us from falling. Praise the Lord, we don't have to cave in to the wicked influences of the world around us. Thank the Lord, we do not have to cave in to the deceptive forces of the false teachers around us. As long as, by the way, the Lord does make the wrath of men to praise Him. And I'm not going to take time to tell the whole story. But a missionary lady and a couple of missionaries' kids in Kenya went out to a place to minister this weekend. And a man who was providing security in the place where they went to minister asked the missionary's wife, what is it with all of this end of the world stuff? The goofiness got to Kenya. But can I say something to the glory of God? Read it this afternoon. A missionary's wife stood there and led the men to Christ. When she gave them the truth. Except for that kind of a thing, there's almost no God-consciousness in our society today. And we live in a wicked world. what the networks deem into our homes for entertainment, worldview, the outright appeals, overt appeals to the base desires of the flesh. Ladies and gentlemen, morally, spiritually, we live in a wicked world. Unto Him that is able to guard you from falling. And it is a wonderful thing to know that we have that protection afforded to us. How do we have it? By the way, just to complete this idea before we move on. God spoke. He has given us that faith once revealed to the saints. You and I hold in our hands tonight the revelation that God's given us in His Word. He tells us in verse 20, build up yourselves on your most holy faith. Spend time in the Word of God. Pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourself in the love of God by looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And there's really in those two verses, verses 20 and 21, there's one command. Keep yourself in your love relationship with the Lord. How do you do it? By building up yourself on your most holy faith, by regular consistent prayer, by looking for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. And ladies and gentlemen, if we will walk with the Lord, if we will concentrate on keeping ourselves in that spiritual condition where our love relationship with Him is right, He will keep us from falling. That's an exciting thing to get a hold of, isn't it? He is able to keep us from falling. His power is a protective power, but there's a second side to that power. Not only is it a protective power, look at what else Jude says He will do. He is able, not only to keep us from falling, but in the second place, to present us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. The power of God will one day place every believer in the presence of the Lord spotless. Now there's a powerful word right there. He is able to keep us from falling, to present us faultless. And may I stop there for just a moment. It was a surprise to me when I found it. And again, I hope you can catch some of the thrill of it. That is the very same word that the author of the book of Hebrews uses in Hebrews chapter 9. He uses it in reference to the Lord Jesus Christ in Hebrews 9 and 14, and he says, How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Why could Jesus pay the penalty for your sins and for mine? Because He was sinless, He was perfect, He was without spot. And when He presents you and me, sinners, redeemed, In the presence of the Father, He will present us before the Father without spot. You and I are going to stand in the presence of the Father, redeemed by the blood of Christ, as blameless as He is. Now, I think you know your own sin nature. I know mine. I cannot imagine what it's going to be like in eternity where there is no time. And forgive me for speaking in terms of time when we're dealing with eternity. That's the only way we human beings can think. Can you imagine what the first day in the presence of the Lord without a sin nature will be like? That's going to be a glorious day, isn't it? And He will present us faultless before the presence of His glory. The power of God can keep us from falling. The power of God will present us before the Father faultless. So we see the power of God. By the way, one more thing about that. Notice He says He'll present us before the presence of His glory with And I know when you and I get to glory, we're going to be thrilled. I don't have any question about that. But I do not think that Jude is here talking about your joy and mine. I am absolutely convinced that Jude is talking about the joy of the Lord Jesus Christ in bringing folks to heaven whom He saved by His blood. Let me tell you why I believe that. Isaiah 53 and verse 10. After Isaiah tells us it pleased the Lord to bruise him and God made His soul an offering for sin, he says, the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. And in the very next verse, Isaiah 53, 11, Isaiah says, he shall see the travail of his soul and be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Jesus Christ will be satisfied by the salvation of precious souls. Wherefore, seeing we also are encompassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, And let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. Can any of you remember, I don't know if it's up there or not, can any of you remember how the next phrase goes in Hebrews chapter 12 verse, what is it, verse 2 there now? Looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, who for what? The joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and was set down at the right hand of the Father. Think of it, my friends. Jesus Christ went to the cross for the purpose of redeeming lost sinners. He went to the cross and endured it for the joy that was set before Him. Do you think when He presents blood-bought souls before the Lord that He will do it with joy? He's able to present us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. The power of God. It is a protecting power. It is a perfecting power. See with me in the second place tonight what Jude tells us about the person of God. This is a mighty statement as well. One little phrase. To the only wise God, our Savior. And when Jude talks to us about the God whom we serve, this God who has revealed Himself to us in His Word, He tells us He is the only God. He is the only wise God. And friends, that truth is foundational to Scripture. You go from Old Testament to New, and I'm highlighting it there. And you're going to see three or four major points up here as I walk through this. But I'm highlighting what's over and over and over again. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Almighty God demanded to be worshipped alone. I think of New Testament Christianity, when Paul and Barnabas, about to be worshipped for a miracle that they had performed in Lystra, in Acts 14, 25, and 26, they run in among that crowd and they say, We also are men of like passions as you. And we preach unto you, literally we preach good news to you, that you turn from these vanities to the true and living God. You cannot combine idol worship and the worship of the true and living God. You cannot do it. I think of Paul's statement, 1 Timothy chapter 6. And by the way, if New Testament Christians would have been willing to put the worship of Jesus Christ on the shelf with the other gods of the Roman Empire, I don't think they would ever have been persecuted. It was when they determined to worship Christ alone that the persecution came. And Paul says in his own time, 1 Timothy 6, He will show who is that blessed and only Sovereign, King of kings, Lord of lords, who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen nor can see, to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen. He alone is God. You see Isaiah preaching to the nation of Israel, or God speaking through Isaiah to the nation of Israel. Look unto Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is none else. over and over and over again. And Jude says when we come to the revealed truth, when we come to the Word of God, we are serving the God who is God alone. He is the God who is our Savior. And in a world that is turned to every idea, in a world that debunks the concept of the absolute, In a world where any worldview is open for discussion and acceptance, in a world that is bringing itself to moral and spiritual wreck and ruin, we have the privilege of preaching a radical message. It is the only message of hope. He is the only God. He is the God who has revealed Himself to us in His Word. So we see as we look at this tonight, first, the power of God. Second, the person of God. Turn with me in the third place to the praise of God. Notice how Jude finishes this little statement. To the only wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen. He is the God who is majestic. He is the God who is worthy of glory. Not only is He the God who is worthy of glory, He is the God who is honorable, to Him be glory, to Him be majesty, and then the dominion and the power. When we talk about that glory of God, I'm bringing together a quick outline that covers hundreds of passages of Scripture. You talk about God's glory, you're talking about His power. Paul says in Colossians chapter 1 that he wants us to be strengthened with might according to His glorious power or according to the power of His glory. And we could look at Ephesians 1. We could look at Ephesians 3. God reveals His glory when He reveals His power. When we talk about God's glory, we talk about His person. Honor and majesty are before Him. Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary. And the psalmist says, all the gods of the nations are idols. The Lord made the heavens. He is the Creator God. He is the personal God. When we speak of God's glory, we speak of His presence. That is so easily understood. I could give you scores of proof texts. I'm only going to give you one. That's the night the Lord Jesus Christ was born. There were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them. And what's the next phrase? The glory of the Lord shone round about them. That brilliant light that symbolizes God's presence with His people. The glory of God. The fourth truth. is the one that perhaps is the most emphasized, or it is the one where the glory of God becomes most practical to us. The glory of God is the praise that is due His name. Why should, as a believer, I live a separated life? Why should we hate sin? Why should we live in a way that pleases God. What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own, for you are bought with a price? Wherefore, glorify God with your body and with your spirit, which are God's. We ought to live in such a way that we bring praise and honor to our God by our lifestyle. Why do you serve the Lord? Whether it's in the music ministry, whether it's working with children, whether it's teaching an adult Sunday school class, I don't know what all goes on around Hillsdale Baptist Church. There are a lot of people involved and I know that. Why do you use your talents? Why do you use your abilities? What drives you? Listen to Peter. As every man hath received the gift, so minister one to another as good stewards of the manifold grant. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God. Can I put that really colloquial since that's a message to preachers? Don't get up and pop off your own ideas. Get up and say, Thus saith the Lord. If any man minister, if any man serve, whatever capacity you serve in, Let him do it as of the ability that God gives, that God may in all things be glorified in Jesus Christ. In my service, if I don't have that ability to be used, not just for ministry, not simply to attract attention to myself, but doing what I do in the service of the Lord, I ought to be patient to bring up to my God. Whosoever prayeth for life, to him that ordereth his steps aright, will I show the salvation of the Lord." You know, my friends, when the hard times, when the trials, when the heartaches come, God has a purpose for those. And I don't know what all the purpose is in your life when they come, but listen to this, that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than a gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, may be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. And one day, we will stand in eternity, look back over the trials of life, and give glory to the God who sustained us through the valleys." Everything we do, it's that old broom that gets in the corner Whether therefore you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. Who is the God we serve? He is the God of power. He is the only God. He is the God who is worthy of our praise. He is the God who is worthy of glory. And my life and yours ought to be, must be invested in bringing honor and praise to Him. My affection must be focused on Him. Keep yourselves in the love of God. My attention must be focused on Him. Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling. And as we go into this world and we're going to rub shoulders with unsafe people, we're going to meet people with great needs. We're going to meet people with heartaches. We're going to face trials. We're going to face temptation ourselves. Let's remember, He's able to keep us from falling. Keep your focus on Him. Keep your attention on Him. Let's stand and pray. Shall we please together? In a moment, our brother will come and lead us in a song as we close. There's a need in your life tonight if you're here and do not know Christ as your Savior. If as a believer, Maybe you need to take heart. Take courage. Maybe you need to say, Lord, I'm not going to give in to the pressures around me. By God's grace, I'm going to look to the God who's able to keep me from falling. Get your eyes on the Lord. If you need to come and pray here tonight, you do that. But as God's Spirit speaks, you come. Father, thank You tonight for Your Word. We thank You, Lord, for the privilege of opening it. I pray that the Spirit of God will take it and use it in our hearts for Your honor, for Your glory. We'll give You the praise for Jesus' sake. Amen.