Victory in the Ring - Part A

Paul said if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart we will be saved. So that's past tense.

Done deal. If you've trusted him you are saved. But there is a second aspect in which you are saved. You are being saved.

Present tense. Not from the penalty of sin but now from the power of sin, the grip of sin. Victory over sin isn't just about your future salvation.

It's a victory you can experience here and now. And today on Connect with Skip, Pastor Skip begins a message to show you that you can have victory today. Now we want to tell you about a resource that will help your children know God's Word and understand and defend His truth. Attention moms, dads, and anyone who's looking to help children understand the message of the Bible. This month we're offering the book Soaring Through the Bible for Kids.

God's Word can be a challenge to read and understand, even for adults. And this kid-friendly version of Pastor Skip Heitzig's popular book, The Bible from 30,000 Feet, gives young children and tweens a panoramic overview of all 66 books of the Bible, helping them see the context and significance of each. Soaring Through the Bible is a travel guide from Genesis through Revelation for kids. Each chapter provides a flight plan for exploring a portion of the Bible, along with a brief synopsis that shows what the chapters are about and language kids can understand. Creatively designed with kids in mind, Soaring Through the Bible also features fun illustrations and fascinating facts to keep young minds and hearts engaged and interested. Soaring Through the Bible for Kids will prepare a child for takeoff on a lifelong journey of learning and loving God's Word. We will send you a copy of this unique book along with a booklet for you by Skip titled Why Truth Matters. Simply make a donation to support and expand this radio program with a gift of $50 or more.

Call 1-800-922-1888 or order online at connectwithskip.com. Now let's turn to Jude 1 as we tune in to Skip's lesson today. You've all heard the name Muhammad Ali. He's considered one of the greatest fighters of all time. In fact, the Associated Press said that he was the greatest heavyweight champion of the 20th century. Not only was Muhammad Ali a great fighter, he was pretty skilled at self-promotion, if you know what I mean. He was very confident, let's put it that way.

You could probably use other words to describe him, but confident would certainly fit there. And he liked clever axioms that he would come up with for his audience. For example, in 1965 when he fought that classic match between he and Sonny Liston, he said that he was going to float like a butterfly but sting like a bee. And he said that Liston's hands can't hit what his eyes can't see.

And he was just good at that kind of stuff. Of course, he stepped into the ring against Sonny Liston and he won the fight. But not everybody who steps into the boxer's ring wins the fight. There's always the other guy, the guy that gets knocked out or the guy that loses by points. And we call that person the loser. One boxer boasted this way. He said, during my boxing career, I was the second best boxer in the country. I fought over a hundred fights and I came in second every time.

Now that's called spin. That's a nice way of saying I'm a loser. I lost every fight that I engaged in. What I want you to know is you do not have to come in second. You do not have to be the loser.

In fact, you can be the champion. You should be able to look back on your life without regret. Too many people live their lives, fight the good fight, but they look back over their lives with deep regret. Wish I could have done things differently.

Wish I could have done things better. Now I'm going to move you from 1965 back a little bit to 1954. Before I was born, there was a movie, a classic film, see if any of you have heard of this, called On the Waterfront. Remember that film, On the Waterfront?

Black and white movie starring Marlon Brando, who played the role of a fighter, a boxer. And there's a famous line, he's in the back seat of the car, he's talking to his brother Charlie, and he says to him, I could have had class. I could have been a contender. What he meant is I could have been somebody in my fighting career, but I gave it away. I sold out. I gave it away.

I sold out. And he's looking back with regret. You can be more than a contender. You can be a victor. You can be a conqueror. In fact, Paul said you can be more than a conqueror.

And the key to that victory is realizing who is in your corner. Who is your coach? Who is your trainer? Do you realize that David, when he wrote Psalm 144, spoke about the Lord as the one who trains my hands for war. God is your trainer, trains you to fight. By the way, did you know the term throwing in the towel is actually a boxing term? What it means is if the trainer in the corner feels like his man in the ring is going to get pummeled or something bad is going to happen, if he wants to end the fight, he'll throw in the towel. And when he throws in the towel, the fight is ended. Your God will never throw in the towel. He will enable you.

He will help you to go another round. Now I'm going to take you back even further than 1965 or 1954, back to the mid-1800s. And I'm confident nobody here can remember that. There was a boxer, American boxer, named Jim Corbett. He went by the name Gentleman Jim. Great name for a boxer, right? Gentleman Jim Corbett. And Gentleman Jim Corbett in the mid-1800s was the heavyweight boxing champion for five straight years.

Somebody interviewed him and asked him his secret. And these were his words. He said, fight one more round. When your feet are so tired that you have to shuffle back to the center of the ring, fight one more round. When your arms are so tired that you can hardly lift your hands to come on guard, fight one more round. When your nose is bleeding and your eyes are black, fight one more round. When you're so tired that you wish your opponent would crack you on the jaw and put you to sleep, fight one more round. Always remembering that the man who fights one more round is never whipped. He's always battling one more round.

I want to show you today how to go one more round. And that will take us to the last two verses in this little book of Jude where we have three promises, three promises that God gives to us. He'll protect us. He will preserve us. He will present us.

Let's look at our text. 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, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever.

Amen. Now what I would like to do is take you back to verse 25. I'm going to sort of begin backwards. I'm going to begin with God as our savior, our protector, our deliverer, because that's where salvation begins. Everything begins in our walk with the Lord the day when we are saved. And so I just want you to look at verse 25, to God our savior who alone is wise. Now let me give you a few words about these last two verses. The last two verses of the book of Jude are what we call a doxology. And you maybe have heard the term doxology in reference to a song that we sing, the doxology. The word doxology comes from two Greek words, doxa, which means praise or glory, and logos, which means word.

A doxology is a word of praise or a word of giving God glory. It's a short little hymn of praise. And that's what we have in verse 24 and 25.

It's a two-verse utterance or word of praise. One author said this, the one in Jude, is universally recognized as one of the fullest and most beautiful doxologies in all of scripture. Now you get some of these little doxologies smattered throughout the Bible. For example, the book of Psalms, there are five doxologies. The whole 150 Psalm book is filled with praise, but Psalms is divided up into five distinct sections, five books of Psalms in 150, and those five books all end with a doxology. In the New Testament, we also have several doxologies.

In fact, you can find 21 of them to be exact. Just a little short hymn of praise, usually followed by that word, amen. But Jude's purpose in including this doxology isn't just to give you a nice ending.

It's not just to give you a liturgical form, a doxological procedure. Rather, I believe he wants to assure his readers that God is going to help you go one more round. It's Jude's way of saying it's always too soon to quit, and he does that by moving the battle to a higher level. The battle that we go through on earth, the battle in this case the book of Jude, all the things he talked about with the apostates, those who fall away from the faith, that battle.

He moves the battle on earth to the heavenly realm, and I want you to see that. These closing verses are all about God. They're not about them. They're not about the apostates. They're not about you and I. They're about God.

Now, most of this letter has been about them. That's the purpose of his writing. I wanted to write to you about our common salvation, but I thought it necessary to tell you to contend earnestly for the faith once for all, delivery to the saints. That's verse three. Then he launches in to talk and all about those guys, them, these grumblers, etc.

I want you to see how this letter flows. Go back to verse four. He says, for certain men have crept in unnoticed who long ago were marked out for this condemnation. Verse eight, likewise also, these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, speak evil of dignitaries. Verse 10, but these speak evil of whatever they do not know. Verse 11, woe to them, for they have gone out gone in the way of Cain. Verse 12, these are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves.

They are clouds without water. Verse 14, now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men. Verse 16, these are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage.

The whole book is about them. This short little letter is about them, the apostates, the defectors, the detractors, those who fall away and some that are still among the congregation. But then Jude pivots slightly and he goes from them to you, his audience. Look at verse 17, but you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse 20, but you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit. Now in verse 24, there's another pivot. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior who alone is wise, be glory, majesty, dominion, power both now and forever.

Amen. You see the flow? First he points outward to them, then he points inward to us, now he points upward to God. And he's saying he's ending with our trainer, the one who is going to see us through, make us get through this. Now I want you to notice something in verse 25. Notice he puts the word God next to Savior. We know that Jesus is our Savior.

He saves us from sin. He is regularly called Savior in the Bible. Here Jude puts God next to Savior to show us that Jesus is God.

In fact, some translations even add the phrase through Jesus Christ our Lord. This is Jude's way our Lord. This is Jude's way of equating Savior with God. Jesus the Savior is God in human flesh.

Now hold that thought. We learned in our very first study of this little book of Jude that Jude himself was related to Jesus physically. He was the half brother of Jesus. That Jude was one of the children of Joseph and Mary. And we also learned that Jude did not believe that Jesus was the Savior at first. But later on he became convinced that Jesus was the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of the world.

And we looked at that at the resurrection. After the resurrection of Jesus, Jude became a believer. Now I think that this adds weight to Jude's testimony and here's why. Jude watched Jesus up close. Little Jude was at the dinner table with Jesus for years. Little Jude was out playing whatever they played in those days in the streets of Nazareth. He watched the whole life of Jesus unfold and then when Jesus Christ grew up and started his ministry, Jude heard about it. Maybe even heard a sermon or two. We know that Jude tried to rescue Jesus. He thought he was crazy because he wasn't eating properly.

We remember that little story in our first study of this book. But maybe he even saw a miracle Jesus did. But he did not believe till after the resurrection. Now I say this adds weight to his testimony. Here's why. How many of us would ever say of our brother, he's God?

I've had three older brothers. I wouldn't even say they're godly, let alone God. So for Jude to equate Jesus, his half brother, as being God, our savior, is monumental. But that's where it all begins for us when Jesus becomes our savior, when he saves us, delivers us. That's why I say he protects us. It's that salvation that protects us. Now let me color this in a little bit.

I'm going to fill in the blanks. Did you know that the Bible speaks of salvation? Did you know that the Bible speaks of salvation three ways, past, present, and future? We call these the three tenses of salvation.

I just want to briefly explain that. We are saved past tense. We have been saved from the penalty of sin. The moment you believe in Christ, the penalty, the eternal penalty, is lifted from off your life. We have been saved from the penalty of sin. Paul said, if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart, we will be saved. So that's past tense.

Done deal. If you've trusted him, you are saved. But there is a second aspect in which you are saved. You are being saved.

Present tense. Not from the penalty of sin, but now from the power of sin, the grip of sin. Hopefully the more you follow Jesus, you sin less and less. You're not perfect, but you sin less and less. And the reason you're not perfect, we know that because it says in John 1 9, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He's writing to believers who still blow it, still sin, and still need confession. But he is saving us from the grip, the power of sin.

So past tense from the penalty, present tense from the power, there's a third tense. One day we will be saved from the very presence of sin. We won't be able to commit a sin. We'll be in glorified bodies in the presence of God. We'll get to that in a minute here in this last little couple of verses. But that is when our salvation is complete. Now I'm maybe belaboring this point because I want you to remember that you are saved if you are.

Remember that when you step into the ring to fight. Remember when you're in a battle, I'm saved. I'm saved.

When you're being attacked by outsiders. When you are the subject of dissenters and bloggers and cancel culture warriors and tweeters and instagramers who want to make you think like you're a loser. You're not the loser. You're the winner. You're saved. That battle has been won. They're the losers if they're not saved. Not you.

You are the winner. In Romans 8 32, one of my favorite verses in the New Testament. He who did not spare his own son but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely give us all things? If he was willing to die for you, to save you, to bring you eternal protection, then there's more coming.

He's not going to stop with that. He's going to freely give you whatever you need, which takes us to the second. After he protects us, now he preserves us. Now I take you back to verse 24. The beginning of the beginning of this doxology, now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling.

The word stumbling means apostatizing. That's what he's been talking about this whole book, right? He's been talking about those who had fallen away, those who had walked away, those those who had defected from the faith. And Jude is saying that does not have to happen to you.

You don't have to be a casualty. He who saved you will be he who sustains you. He keeps you. This happens to be one of the great promises in scripture. And the reason he is so animate that he will keep you is because he was the one who saved you. You had nothing to do with salvation. All you did is accept it, receive it, believe.

So if you had nothing to do with that, then you'll really have nothing to do with this. He who saved you is the one who keeps you. Now let's just kind of look at it from two different angles. The road to heaven has always been dangerous from a human perspective. Our journey from earth to heaven has always been a dangerous journey.

There are potholes in the road. There are there's litter and there's road blocks. There's all sorts of things that happen to the Christian. We have trials. We have temptations.

We have accusations. We can be subject to false teaching. So it seems to be a very perilous journey because we are special targets of Satan.

Even Paul, when he spoke to the people of Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch in the book of Acts, we are told strengthen the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, saying we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God. Speaking about all the potholes in the road from a human perspective, this is a dangerous journey. But from God's perspective, this is a very safe and secure journey.

From God's perspective, the road is totally safe and absolutely secure. We don't keep ourselves. He keeps us any more than we save ourselves. Now that word in verse 24, keep, is a military term. It means to guard or to watch over. And the picture that is painted by the word is that God is at his post. He is standing guard over you, over your soul, to ensure sure eternal safety. That's Skip Heitzig with a message from the series Fight for the House.

Find the full message as well as books, booklets, and full teaching series at connectwithskip.com. Now, here's Skip with an invitation for you to join he and Lenya Heitzig on a Holy Land tour next year. Hey, our 2024 Israel tour is coming up.

This is Pastor Skip, and we still have space on this trip that Lenya and I are hosting. We will be touring Israel from May 1st through May 12th. I hope that you'll join us firsthand to see some incredible sights like the Sea of Galilee.

I'm sure you've always wanted to see that. The Temple Mount in Jerusalem and the Garden Tomb, the place many people believe is where Jesus rose from the dead. The final deadline for registration is December 31st, so there's still time to take action and join Lenya and I for the trip of a lifetime.

Find full Israel information at connectwithskip.com. We're glad you've joined us today. Connect with Skip Heitzig exists to bring more people into God's family and connect listeners like you to his unchanging truth. That's why we make teachings like this one today available to you and others on air and online.

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Thank you. Be sure you're here tomorrow for the conclusion of Skip's message, Victory in the Ring, to discover the ultimate purpose of your salvation. Make a connection, make a connection at the foot of the cross and cast all burdens on his word. Make a connection, connection. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.