We're gonna look at what some have called the most neglected book of the Bible. Pastor mentioned it this morning in his sermon. I don't think it's been neglected here. A couple years ago, this was our church theme, the end of the book of Jude. Almost the last book. There are some passages of scripture that offer us some really spectacular views of God. We talked about those last Sunday night. Pastor talked about grand views. And some passages of scripture They're like viewing the Grand Canyon for the first time. You get out there and you're just so amazed at the wideness and breadth and height of the glory of what you are seeing that you even forget that you exist. And then as soon as you remember that you exist, you're like, man, I'm tiny. I'm insignificant. You see the Grand Canyon for the first time, or Niagara Falls, or maybe that first time you looked through a telescope and saw the moon. Or maybe it was when you got to hold your child for the first time. You're like, man, who am I? I am so small a piece of this amazing, wonderful, spectacular thing. There are some passages of scripture that are like that for me. I think of the end of Romans 8. It talks about, it starts with, you know, all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Then it goes on and describes the stages of A Christian being saved, called, justified, eventually glorified, and then it says, who shall separate us from the love of God? Shall tribulation or distress? And when you just think about the love of God, and you're like, man, I am so small, yet nothing is able to separate me from his love. Oh, what an amazing, what an amazing, exciting thing. Another passage is the book of Revelation. When you get to the end, after you've endured through all of these, um these terrible judgments that god is going to pour out on earth you know what i'm talking about you get to the end and you you you read revelation chapter 20 and and christ is coming back on his horse and he's bringing with him 10 000 of saints and who is that that's us we're coming along with jesus christ who's going to vanquish all of the enemies with a sword that comes out of his mouth, and he's going to judge, and we're going to be ruling alongside of him for a thousand years, and then after that, oh, it's such an amazing story, and you feel like, man, why am I allowed to be a part of this? The end of the book of Jude is like that for me as well, and we're gonna get to it, but before we get there, we're gonna have to push through some hard things. Jude is a battle cry for the church. And I think other than the specific context in which Jude was written, I don't think that there's been a more appropriate time for us to adopt the frame of mind that Jude suggests. In 1940, the British people faced crisis. The Nazi army, having conquered France, now had close access to the British Isles by plane. Over 300,000 troops had been rescued from the shores in an amazing operation called Operation Dynamo, where they distracted the Nazi forces and led them to believe that they would be gathering in another place and then use civilian boats in order to transfer the people back to safety. The British people were excited. They didn't expect to receive even 40,000 and 300,000 troops had been rescued, but there was a problem. Amidst all this excitement, they could easily forget how dangerous a predicament they faced. The prime minister at the time, Winston Churchill, wanted to address the people. He wanted to encourage them, but he also wanted them to focus on what was important. He said this in a speech to the House of Commons that was broadcast to all the people in Great Britain. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France. We shall fight on the seas and the oceans. We shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches. We shall fight on the landing grounds. We shall fight in the fields and in the streets. We shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British fleet would carry on the struggle until in God's good time, the new world with all its power and might steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old. And at that moment, there was an outpouring of spirit and fervor. Great Britain was no longer just on the defensive. No, the people were on the offensive, and they were ready to go out. We heard this morning the story of Demosthenes and how he rallied the people to fight against King Philip, who was trying to take over the Grecian Isles. For a nation to exist, it must be able to defend itself. else other nations will come in and completely take over. We understand this. It makes sense. A nation must have borders to exist. If there's no borders, then eventually there will be no more nation. It must defend itself. And here in the book of Jude, there is a predicament coming to the church. The borders of the church were being breached. They were being broken in. And Jude, with the Holy Spirit as his inspiration, wanted to call the church back to defending the things that are most important. God has a plan for the church. He has goals for it. But we must hold to those goals, else we cease to be a church. we know that our enemy is not truly the people that may influence us, right? It's not the people and the things that they do that are truly against God and his church. In Ephesians chapter six, we are reminded that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. We have to be aware. We're supposed to put on the armor of God. Peter talks about this in 1 Peter chapter five. He says, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. It's important to note that our adversary is the devil. Who is he trying to devour? Whom resists steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. A couple of items of background, and then we'll dive into the text. Jude was the half-brother of James. Well, not the half-brother, the full-brother of James, the half-brother of our Lord Jesus Christ. James was the pastor of the church in Jerusalem, and Jude, alongside of him, sought to minister to Israeli Christians. These men did not believe in Jesus's divinity until after his death. John 7 and Acts 1 make this clear. So let's dive into the text. Let's first pray and then we'll look at what Jude has to say for us. Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this small book of the Bible that is so appropriate for these times. I pray that you would encourage us with this truth and that we would stand firm and be ready to fight for you. In Jesus' name, amen. Here's the main point of the book of Jude. God intends for us, or for Christians, all people who are a part of his church, God intends for us to fight for his goals. And we'll start off here with this fight. It takes on several forms. The first one is defending the truth. God wants us to defend the truth. Verse one, Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ and called. That's you and I. We were called through the Holy Spirit, preserved in Jesus Christ and sanctified by God the Father. That sanctification sets us apart. We are not supposed to be the same as everyone else in the world. We're different. The preacher at the Harvest Rally put it this way yesterday. He said, there are some people that are under the tent. And we were under a tent for the preaching. And he said, there are some people who are outside of it. Let me tell you something a little bit controversial. Everybody is either outside the tent or under the tent. Oh wow, that makes sense. For us as Christians, there are people in the church and there are people outside the church. There is no in between. You're either saved or not. You are either sanctified by God the Father, set apart, preserved in Jesus Christ and called or not. Jude goes on, he says, mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied. This is religious arithmetic. This is what's supposed to be happening in our church. Mercy, and then upon that, peace, and then love multiplied as we are coming together. He goes on in verse three. Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. Remember, we're defending the truth. The truth of salvation, the doctrine of Jesus Christ, is worth fighting for. Amen? Is that the truth? Yes. Is it worth fighting for? He was going to write about how God's salvation is one salvation for all, the common salvation. As he was writing this, the Holy Spirit began to lead him in a different direction. He said, I was going to write this, but but it was needful for me instead to write unto you and exhort you that ye should earnestly, that means with fervor, without ceasing, to put all of your effort behind this one thing, to contend for the faith. That word faith there is not just talking about salvation itself, but all of the bodies of doctrine that accompany salvation. That includes the fact that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. That Jesus Christ is also completely human. That He is the only way for us to be saved. And that once you are saved, you will remain saved in Christ. These bodies of doctrine and many more come together and are known as, in Jude, the faith. And we are to fight for it. We are to defend it. Verse four, it was once delivered to the saints and then verse four, why? For there are certain men crept in unawares. who were before of old ordained to this condemnation. What are they? They are first ungodly men. What are they doing? They're turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness. Number three, and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. What are they doing? They are corrupting that faith. And so, Judah's exhorting the church, you need to be on your defenses, you need to be ready to fight, not these people, but the things that they are teaching. This is wrong. Certain men are crept in unawares. And you say, okay, Blue Lick Bible Church, we're safe, right? As far as we know, we don't have people teaching heresy in our church. We don't have people creeping in, trying to influence us in this way. But notice that it said, Unawares. Think about all of the touch points that our church may have. The books we read, the things we see on social media, the things we might look up. There's a lot of access points. We need to remember 1 Peter 5, we're sober and vigilant. Our adversary the devil is like a roaring lion. He's looking for the vulnerable. Think about the people in our church that may be vulnerable. Who are the vulnerable? Those who are spiritually immature, new Christians, or older Christians that should know better, right? Peter talks about those that, or Hebrews talks about those who should be eating meat, but instead they need milk. Immature Christians, Christians who are backsliding, Those who are not staying in the word of God. Those of us who let our guard down. We aren't putting on the armor of God. There are many vulnerable Christians in our midst, and we need to be able to come alongside, help encourage. We need to be aware, because there are people who are trying to creep in. If they have not crept in already, they're trying. What are they doing? They're ungodly people. People who are without God. They don't have God. They're ungodly. They're turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness. The freedom that you have in Christ, they are making it freedom to do sin. And lasciviousness is every kind of debauchery under the sun. The freedom to worship God, we should not use as license in order to cater to our flesh, yes? Also, they are denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. They're turning from salvation through Jesus Christ to something else. They're corrupting that doctrine. Remember Proverbs 16 verse 4. The Lord hath made all things for himself, yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. This idea is that God works out everything for his purposes. There are people who God is going to use their sinfulness eventually to lead them to destruction, and it's to his glory. It's their choice to sin against him, but he's gonna work all things together for good in the end. And he goes on and describes this. He says in verse five, and he starts using illustrations. These are vivid, especially for those of you who are very familiar with the Old Testament. This should call to mind things that you have read from the book of Genesis and Exodus and Leviticus and Numbers. Jude writes, I will therefore put you in remembrance. Think about this. Though once he knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. That's the first image, and then another. And the angels, which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness to the judgment of the great day. And then the last one. Even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them in like manner, just like the angels, they're giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh, are set forth as an example suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Okay? God, through three examples, shows that even people who are comfortable, who may in fact be serving God in a specific area, or called and set apart as God's people, can eventually be condemned by Him because of their sin. Right? Starts off with those that were saved out of the land of Egypt, the people of Israel. They thought that they were God's people, but there were some of them, okay? Though they had accepted God on the outward appearance by being a part of the children of Israel, had not accepted God on the inside. They were not the true children of Israel, right? They had not been personally saved. So they were destroyed and you could see throughout their examples throughout Exodus and Leviticus and Numbers and Deuteronomy how these people rejected God and God would deliver them over to judgment over and over and over again. Another example here is the angels which kept not their first estate. And there's some controversy over what specific thing is going on here, but we know this, God created angels to serve him. They have one job, it's to do what God says. And here, it's describing angels that are disobeying God, and they are turning from him, and we know that there are many demons who are serving Satan today, who have turned their back on God, and are instead serving someone else as their God. And some of them God has taken and put into everlasting chains under darkness and to the judgment of the great day. He's going to judge them eventually, but right now they are bound. And then verse 7, Sodom and Gomorrah. These people were in the fruitful land. It looked like God had been blessing them. Rains coming down the well-watered plain of Jordan, yet they were sinning against God over and over and over again, involved in all sorts of debauchery. And of course, God rained down fire and brimstone upon them. And they got the, what it says, the vengeance of eternal fire. They came from the fire of earth and now the sinful people were enduring the fires of hell. And in the same way, these men that were before of old ordained into this condemnation, verse 8, he calls them filthy dreamers. They have vile minds coming up with corrupt images and sensual thoughts. That they're pursuing goals that are usurping, they're using the church and the word of God in order to accomplish their own ends to follow after their lusts. What are they doing? They're defiling the flesh, despising dominion and speaking evil of dignitaries. fighting against every authority in their life, going from the dignitaries, the people and positions that God has put over them, and then dominion, okay, and that's the categories that God has placed in your life, and then last, the flesh, even their own body. They're not okay with the authority of God in their life. They feel like they have to defile their own flesh and go against God's authority. What God has said, who they are, they need to change it and be something else. And it makes me think about our culture today in many ways. There's an authority problem. When people are trying to get you to look to an authority other than God and his word, they are trying to, they're deceiving you. These are not the people we should be listening to. How did Michael the archangel deal with authority? Verse nine, yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil, he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, the Lord rebuke thee. But these speak evil of those things which they know not, but what they know naturally, as brute beasts in those things they corrupt themselves. Even Michael didn't accuse Satan but left it to God. Without knowing the spiritual big picture, these people corrupt themselves and they are ruining their lives and the lives of those around them. Verse 11, woe unto them, for they have gone in the way of Cain, Cain, who did not accept God's authority over how he should worship, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward. Balaam didn't accept God's authority when he specifically told him, you have to do this. Instead, he wanted money, and he wanted to prophesy the way he wanted to, and perished in the gainsaying of Korah. And Korah and his followers didn't accept the authority of Moses and Aaron in their life, and the earth swallowed them up, we read in the book of Numbers. Woe unto them. The truth of salvation is worth fighting for, but it's being attacked. And in today's day and age, we can think about our city. If we just travel down streets, we can go to places that call themselves churches, and they're not teaching the word of God. They're not teaching salvation the same way as us. There are other places, there are Bible-believing churches, yes, in our community, but there are many who are not. Men have crept in unawares, defiling the truth. So is salvation worth defending? Yes, we should be defending the truth. The second goal is that we're supposed to support the church. In military, as you fight, not only are you supposed to defend, but also support those who are fighting alongside of you. Verse 12 continues talking about these people who have crept in. He calls them spots in your feasts of charity when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear. And I want to stop there. That word spots, okay, it's actually talking about stones, rocks. Okay, and so think they're getting together as a church. They have these feasts of charity They call them they're getting together for a potluck. Okay, or bringing food together They're celebrating and he said there are like rocks in your feasts these people who are creeping in Okay, if you're on a ship you hit the rocks you're gonna sink if you're eating food and you bite into a rock You're gonna break a tooth no matter what it is. You're going to have a problem They are trying to corrupt you and eventually you're going to break your neck on it. Feeding themselves without fear, trying to lead themselves is the idea there. Clouds, they are without water. They don't actually accomplish anything. Carried about of winds, trees whose fruit withereth, thinking about trees in autumn, the leaves are starting to turn. They are, they're like as good as a tree in the autumn time. Without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots, now it's rotting and it's fallen down. Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame. You think about the waves, if you've ever walked along the beach, you see the things that it casts up. And those things, usually, they aren't valuable. Unless for some reason you find a complete conch shell, you know, you want to keep that, that might be valuable to you. But most of the time, the things the sea casts up are no good, and it talks about it as if their own shame is what's being vomited up by the sea. wandering stars or shooting stars, meteorites, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. What happens to a meteorite when it comes into the atmosphere? It burns up. That's the bright light that you see, and then it's gone. The blackness of darkness forever. So how does God deal with them? Verse 14, and Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, behold, the Lord cometh with 10,000 of his saints to execute judgment upon all and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against them. God is going to come and he is going to judge these people. You ask, okay, what is this about Enoch? We know in Genesis we read about Enoch who was the seventh from Adam. He was the great, great, great grandfather of Noah, I believe, and he was a godly man. He walked with God and then he was not, for God took him. raptured him up early before he died. He never died. And there's a book that the Jewish people have that they believe Enoch wrote, and this is one of the things that's written in there. The apostle Jude is not necessarily saying that He believes that all the words of Enoch are inspired. No. But instead he's referencing this, because this one thing Enoch got right, that the Lord is going to come, and specifically the Lord Jesus Christ, with his saints to execute judgment upon all, specifically those that are, in verse 15, four times it's mentioned, to convince all that are ungodly, okay, they are ungodly, to convince them of their ungodly deeds. He's gonna prove that they're ungodly, which they have ungodly committed. Not only did they do ungodly things, and God's gonna prove it, but he's also going to show that the way that they did it was ungodly, and of all their hard speeches, which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. The people that were with them. How are they described, verse 16? These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts, and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage. This is where it comes to the nitty gritty in the church. Not only are they like rocks that you're gonna break your teeth on, but these people are defiling everyone with their mouths. They're murmuring and complaining. In Philippians, Paul writes, we should do all things without murmuring and disputing, without complaining and arguing and fighting as church members. Think about how murmuring spreads. If you grow up in a, if you have any siblings growing up, I did, I know if one of us started complaining, it wasn't long before all of us started complaining. And that was something my parents would get on us for, especially my mom. Don't you start complaining. Make them all start complaining. Stop. No. Do all things without murmuring and disputing. In a church, it's the same way. There are some things that aren't worth complaining about. In fact, it's a mark of those who are ungodly. You might be a very godly person, but a spirit of complaining, a spirit of bitterness, a spirit of murmuring, and a critical eye is not a mark of a godly person. Remember in Romans chapter one, one of the things in the great list of all the debauchery of the world, you think about God giving people up to themselves to defile themselves with each other in a terrible way. In Romans chapter one, it says that they were lovers of their own selves and then it says they were unthankful and unholy. We need to have a spirit of gratitude, not a spirit of murmuring. Complainers walking after their own lusts, When it comes down to it, what is it that you want out of the world? Your own desires? The word lust there is just talking about desires. Are you chasing your own desires or God's? Their mouth speaketh great swelling words. They're proud, they boast. We don't talk about boasting all that much in church, but it's a problem. God doesn't like it. In fact, it's one of the things that he hates the most is pride, and it comes out through your mouth. Having men's person and admiration because of advantage, that's where you give preference to some people and not others. James talks about this some more. These are hallmarks of those that are ungodly with ungodly deeds, who have committed it in an ungodly way, and out of their mouths, ungodly sinners have spoken against them. Speaking against God. Verse 17, but beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, how that they told you there would be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. This is what was prophesied. Jesus talks about it. In the last time, perilous times shall come, it says in Timothy. Men shall be lovers of their own selves. And all of the things there, this is not new. This was expected. What's unexpected is that the church should be influenced by it. Verse 19, these be they who separate themselves. Okay, we're called to be sanctified, it says in verse one. Set apart, sanctified by God the Father, and these people are separating themselves from God. And yet the church somehow, we tend to go along with them. These terrible sins that we get involved with. They're sensual or natural. They're following after their flesh. They're not having the Spirit. They're following the flesh because they don't even have the Holy Spirit to follow. So we need to support the church. The church's position is being attacked. God is going to fight for his church, but the people are being influenced by those around them. And if there are people and influences and things that you're reading that are contrary to the word of God, we need to help support each other. We need to come alongside each other. That's goal number two. We're supposed to support the church. God wants us to defend the truth. He wants us to support the church. And then last, he wants us to rescue souls. Verse 20, but ye 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. Here's the call to action right here. Build up yourselves on your most holy faith. That faith is that doctrine we talked about earlier. We need to build it up. Know the doctrine. Study the word. Be well familiar with the truth of the word of God and grow in it little by little each day. Remember the Bereans in Acts. It says that they were They were better because they studied the scriptures daily to see whether the things Paul was preaching to them were true, whether it was so. And that should be our goal, daily going back to the word of God. David said in Psalm 1 that in his law doth he meditate day and night, talking about the man who's blessed. God commanded Joshua, be strong and of a good courage. And he said, this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night. Jesus said, ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. We need to know the truth in order to defend the truth, but also in order to pursue the souls that we're gonna get to in just a minute. Keep yourselves in the love of God, excuse me, building up yourselves the most holy faith, and then second, praying in the Holy Ghost. Not only are we supposed to know the doctrine and be building that doctrine in our lives, we also need to be praying in the Holy Ghost. As He reveals by His will and by His own tongue, we need to be in prayer. And we're given a great encouragement in Romans chapter eight, which is that the spirit is actually going to be praying on your behalf. And I'm gonna confess to you, I do not pray as I should. And I'm sure many of you would be with me and say, I know I don't pray like I should. I should pray more. I should pray more like God would have me pray. I should be praying the words of scripture back to him. And it just goes to show we are not as humble. We are more self-reliant than we claim to be. Praying in the Holy Ghost says keep yourself or defend yourself in the love of God. Surround yourself by the love of God. Don't turn from it to legalism or license. A true picture of the love of God will keep us completely balanced because on one side is man's complete sin. We are despicable in God's sight, because we have just rejected Him at every turn. From the beginning, when Adam and Eve first sinned, every human being since then has rejected God. And we don't have to do anything in order to become a sinner. John 3, verse 17. He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God. We are all in a pickle because we are condemned. And on the other side is God's complete grace and mercy offered to us through his love for us to become completely clean. Jesus would take our place. He died in our place so that he can receive all of our sin and so that we can be transformed into his image and become sons and daughters of God in order to receive all of the rewards, the hope of eternal life, to be clothed in white with all of the saints. What a wonderful thing. But a true picture of God's love has to see both sides. God is not turning a blind eye to our sin. No, He's offering us hope through His love. And we have to turn from our sin to the Savior. Real love, real love recognizes the truth. Keep yourselves in the love of God. Don't turn from it to legalism or license. There is no way you can work for that salvation. You have to go through God's love. At the same time, there's no way you can live your own life and not Do whatever you want without accepting Christ. You need to accept Him. And then last, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Here's the goal. We're looking forward. The mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. That compassion that He had. for others. Be watching and waiting on your own behalf and those of others. Why? Because there are souls in danger. And of some have compassion making a difference. We need to have the compassion of Jesus Christ who looked on the multitudes of people and saw sheep without a shepherd. Making a difference is this idea of reaching out to the people who are doubting, they're wavering. We also need to have A healthy fear, especially of those who are leading other people astray. Others, save with fear. Pulling them out of the fire. This fire here, as we learned this morning, is not the fires of hell. Instead, it's the fires of the deceit of Satan. But in reality, the deceitfulness of Satan eventually leads to the fires of hell. And as we reach in, we are trying to pull them out, but we don't wanna get burned because that deceitfulness of Satan, that sin, that carnality will destroy us. Why? Because it says here, we need to hate even the garment spotted by the flesh. And this is just such broad and bright imagery that we don't have time to go into tonight, but it's this idea, don't even mess with the external things, the other things that could pull you down. Those things that are corrupting and sinful, the things that are going to destroy other Christians, don't mess with those things. We need to reject them because those are the things that are going to pull others back. We need to hate those things, but we're supposed to love the sinner themselves. Their souls are in danger. I heard it put this way, and it was very helpful. The Greek is funny in these verses. It's this idea, we need to have compassion on this first group of people who are doubting, they're unsure, we need to make a difference in their life, the people that are potentially being deceived. And then on the other hand, we also need to have compassion on these people that we should have a healthy fear of, because they're deceiving people. And we need to have that compassion on them as well, pulling them out of the fire. There is nobody who is beyond God's forgiveness. We need to be working with God. It says in 2 Peter that He is long-suffering toward us. We're not willing that any, any, that means your worst enemy, it means the worst political activist, that means the person inside of the church who is spewing out the lies of Satan. God is not willing that even that person should perish. But that all should come to repentance. And that is our goal as Christians and believers. We are fighting to preserve the truth, to defend it. We are fighting for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. And then we are fighting for the souls of those who are doubting, being deceived, and deceiving others. And what's going to happen to us? Verse 24. This is the part that gets me so excited. Now unto Him, that is God, who is able to keep you from falling. That doesn't mean you won't fall, but God is able to keep you from falling. That's why we need to surround ourselves with His love. 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. What a wonderful thing. God is going to glorify us, make us into the image of Jesus Christ. One day we will stand before Him and we will be clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, those robes of white. We will be faultless before His glory with exceeding joy. And this is such a, you read Jude and you get like, you think about all the negative things. There's these people creeping into the church and we need to fight against the doctrines that they're saying. Then here it says we're supposed to have joy about this because we know we're on the winning side. Verse 25, to the only wise God our Savior be glory and majesty, dominion and power both now and forever. God will have all glory. and majesty. Those are those are characteristics of himself and dominion. Eventually he will be using his dominion. He will rule the world in a rod of iron and power. He is both God and our savior, because God, the father, is co equal and completely unified with God, the son and God, the Holy Spirit, and he will have all power. Isn't it interesting that it says both now and forever? And this is where we get down to our personal application. We need to give him dominion, power, glory, majesty in our life. You have that choice. You can reject God's rulership over your own heart. You can take that throne inside your heart and give it to your own flesh or your own desires, or you can give it to God. Who is able to keep you from falling? We need to be fighting. That means preparation, training, activity. We're already in the thick of it. Never is Satan resting. He's like a roaring lion. We cannot afford to rest ourselves. No, we need to be watching and fighting against him when we see. How do we do it? We build up in the word. We pray in the Holy Ghost. We find balance in the character of God and we watch for his work in the world. He is constantly showering mercy unto eternal life and we need to watch for it. We can be deceived, burned by the flesh's fire. And though we will be presented faultless one day, don't cater to those who are hurting the gospel, the church in our own souls. Don't do it. Instead, reach out to them with the truth. and make it a habit to meet with God and others for His sake. This is the Christian's mandate, indeed the secret to daily Christian living. God is everything, we are nothing. He must increase, I must decrease. He's going to get the glory, dominion, majesty, and power forever, and I must give it to Him now, for He will give me that exceeding joy and purpose. And if not, we will lose that which we have right now. You'll never lose your salvation but you'll lose that joy, you'll lose that wonderful opportunity to rescue souls and to encourage the body of Christ and to defend the truth. So what about you? What about me? You willing to do that? How exciting that we get to be this small part in God's big plan. to rescue the world. Let's bow in prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you so much for the book of Jude and what an encouragement it is to my life. I pray it's an encouragement to these as well. Help us to live for you this week. Lord, we are small, but your truth, when it's under attack, we have an opportunity to rise up and defend it. We have opportunities to encourage each other in the church to not go after murmuring or boasting people-pleasing, but instead to be focused on doctrine and reproof and correction and instruction in righteousness. I pray that we would be helpful to each other. And Lord, I pray that we'd go after souls, correct those who are wavering, and help share the gospel with those who need it the most. In Jesus' name, amen.