Power and Glory Forever (Part A)

He alone, no one else, can turn us from self-destruction, from the judgment to come. That is, He helps us in this life and after this life.

Again, regardless of what experts might say to the contrary. There are experts who think they know life better than the Scripture in the world, and then there are those in Christodom that also have infiltrated and think they know better than the Word. This is Cross-Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of Jude. Please stay with us after today's message to hear how you can get more information about Cross-Reference Radio.

Specifically, how you can get a free copy of this teaching. But for now, let's join Pastor Rick in the book of Jude as he begins his message, Power and Glory Forever. Jude, verse 24. Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power both now and forever.

Amen. The power and the glory forever. That is how he wraps up this explosive letter that was so necessary. After dealing with all of those who troubled the church, he turns his attention to the believers and he lays out this blessing. And it mirrors what the Lord taught us as an example in praying. Deliver us from the evil one, for yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory. And this section that we have before us, known as a doxology, a praise, is the principal meal, the pièce de résistance. I don't get to say that often.

Feels like you bring so much unnecessary attention to yourself to say it. But anyway, this man Jude, his message in the end of this letter is a statement, of course. It's loaded with doctrine because man, his objective is to be to get to heaven. And of course the believers know this. This is what we preach. The question is how.

How does a man get to heaven? Jeremiah the prophet, in dealing with a nation that was determined to mix into their faith spiritual contraband, those things that God had forbidden, they were determined to bring them. And the experts came along and said, you know, it's not good enough to just worship Yahweh, the invisible God. You should have a statue. Or you should have this.

You should do that. The prognosticators and the soothsayers and all of the false teachers, they arose in Israel and they were supported by the Israelites. And God raised up the prophets to counter them, to shut them off.

And this struggle has been going on to this day and it will go on to the end. But in Jeremiah 9, God speaks to the prophet and says this, thus says Yahweh, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches, but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am Yahweh, exercising loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight, says Yahweh. Very intense, that we should know and understand God. That's the wisdom that comes from above.

That's what we are looking for. And as I mentioned, these last two verses are packed with information to understand and to know God. We may take it for granted, some of the things that are said in this final message from Jude. And as we look at the world, burn itself down in preparation for antichrist, we preach the power and the glory of Christ forever. In the face of all these things, we're not supposed to, oh, it's getting scary out, let me stop preaching the gospel. That is the time especially to preach the good news of Christ, who God is, what he died to do for those who sin.

That would be all of us. Does this mean anything to the believer? Does it mean anything to you? In these days of exalted darkness, does the gospel message the power and the glory forever, does it mean anything, is it real to you?

Or are you just too busy fretting? Now we look at that 24th verse. 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. I think, you know, Jude, we know he started out, he wanted to write to them about our common salvation. Verse 3, if you have Jude's letter before you, look at verse 3, Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. And so he was redirected. He was moved to just say, I want to talk about the love of Christ, our beautiful faith and salvation. But the Holy Spirit laid upon me that there were other things I have to deal with first. And then he of course lets it go.

He lets it fly. But now at the end, the Spirit of God says, okay, Jude, now you can go back to what you wanted to say because what you wanted to say initially is very good, very helpful. And so I believe he grants Jude this desire to speak about our common salvation, which in these words he reveals the character of God, which is everything. The character of God has everything to do with our salvation. Without that character of God, there would be no open door to heaven. There'd be no way in.

We'd be shut out if his character were dark and wicked. But it is not. He says here, now to him who is able, and that is a fact of Christianity. God is able. He is very much able. He alone, no one else, can turn us from self-destruction, from the judgment to come. That is, he helps us in this life and after this life.

Again, regardless of what experts might say to the contrary. There are experts that think they know life better than the Scripture in the world and then there are those in Christodom that also have infiltrated and think they know better than the Word. And just like the Jews did in the days of Jeremiah and the prophets, they mingle in things that don't belong.

Sadly, those who love the salvation of Christ, many of them, gobble it up. Say, oh pastor, can you just agree with the experts? Can you just admit that they know what they're talking about? After all, they have the degrees.

They have the licenses. They're intelligent, well-meaning people. Can you just stop disagreeing with them? And the answer is no, not at all, without hesitation. I defy their efforts to creep into the church, to mingle into Christianity, things that don't belong. I defy them to come along and say, when it comes to how you behave as a human being, the Bible is not enough. I defy that.

I reject it categorically. Listen, Christian or not Christian, you're going to suffer in life. There's no way around it. You're going to feel some of you will deal with depression. Deal with it.

You will prevail. You will get better at dealing with it if you deal with it and if you run to the world. Because if you run to them, you're going to find yourself stuck. No matter how appealing and charming, they are dupes for Satan.

They're not intending to do this, but they are. If they were to come along and say, listen, you have magnetic convertibabilator syndrome. Many of you would lock onto that. Yes, I do. I do. I've got MCB. My kid has MCB.

That's why they're so dumb. I mean, just some excuse. I've got something. What did you get for Christmas?

I got MCB, magnetic convertibabilator. And don't you dare, pastor. Don't you dare try to tell me the Bible has a cure for that. I will not have it. I will enjoy it. You will celebrate it with me.

And we will both live happily, miserably ever after. You make enemies saying this stuff. Paul said to the Galatians, have I therefore become your enemy?

Because I tell you the truth. Evidently, he was saying things to them that was true and they knew it, but somebody else came along, whispered in their ear, you've got MCB. And they fell for it. And he had to deal with this junk, the entire Galatian letter.

Even if we or somebody else comes preaching any other Christ, let them go to hell. That's what his message was. Peter said, as his divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life. I'm reading it. I want you to know I'm reading it.

I'm not paraphrasing it. His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and to godliness. To life and to godliness. That's the godly life. And he continues, through the knowledge of him who called us by glory and virtue. I believe that pastor, but you do know I have MCB, don't you?

You do know I get a pass. You do know there are times where I can be mean to other people because I've got this condition that they've told me I've got because the experts are right. And you better learn how to mingle it into your preaching or else I'm going to find another church. They do this and pastors capitulate because they don't want to lose people.

Well, I can't find them and I can't lose them. That's the Lord's word. He adds to the church daily such as of being saved.

But our young people and our older people alike oftentimes are in cahoots together with this. 2 Peter chapter 2, while they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. How are you overcome? When someone takes you from Christ in your thinking, in your approach to life. When you say he is not able.

Well, my Bible says he is able. I'm going to side with that in the face of those who don't because there's no other way to save them. The alternative is to snuff out my light so theirs can burn brighter. Jesus said you can't hide that fire. If you do, if you try, if you put it under a sofa, we'll snuff it out or set it on fire. I choose to set it on fire. And there is a place for being a pyro in Christianity. There's a place to set fires. He is totally able and he is willing to keep us from stumbling and the stumble leads to a fall. I like the old King James Version, to keep us from falling. He holds us up.

He's able to do this. Yeah, again, you're going to have times in life where you feel miserable. Those times in life can last a long time, decades. But you keep fighting and you will build a testimony.

You keep fighting and you will come out of it. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 13, in him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation in whom also having believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. You know how much theology is built into that. In him you trusted when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, the very thing Jude wanted to talk to them about, the gospel of our salvation. I wanted to write to you about our common salvation.

Well, here it is. He is able and there's more coming. He is able to save. Hebrews 7 25, therefore he is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through him since he always lives to make intercession for them.

Do you believe that? Do you believe that Christ Jesus always makes intercession for you personally, by name, by soul? That he has drilled it down to you. That he is so vast and great that he can single you out and every other person at the same time and not even break a sweat. He is able to establish, Romans 16 25, he is able to aid those who attempted, Hebrews 2 18. He is able to subdue, Philippians 3 21. He is able to keep that which is committed to him, 2 Timothy 1 12. He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, Ephesians 3 20.

If you say you're a Christian, you say you believe these things. You might have a hard time entering them, but you cling, you hold to them, you leave the unexplained in the hands of him who is able. Because you suffer, you understand that your suffering does not diminish the glory, the power, the eternity that belongs to God, the love of God. Our suffering does not diminish these things. That's why we hold the martyrs up so high. Because they went out glorifying God in spite of their suffering.

And that's just a fact. To do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. How can I know or understand God without God helping me?

You can't. But he's pledged to help us. Jeremiah 10 6, in as much as there is none like you, O Yahweh, you are great and your name is great in might. When everybody else was disagreeing with Jeremiah, this was his message. In their face, he suffered for it.

He suffered big too. But you cannot help but love the man. If you read the prophecy of Jeremiah, you cannot help but be endeared to this man for his commitment to God, his honesty to God. I'm sick and tired of suffering for preaching the truth to a people that hate me for preaching the truth, he said. I'm not going to preach it anymore.

And then he preached it more. Because he is able to keep you from stumbling, which means he is able to hold us up. This does not mean that I am faultless. He is able to keep me from falling.

It does not mean that I am faultless. It means that he is able to undo the damage. My suffering again, he can put meaning on it. Not only does it not take away his glory of who he is, but he can put meaning on my suffering and my pain and my misery.

So that when you struggle with depression and you face somebody in the world who struggles with depression, you now see eye to eye with them. You know what you mean? Christ is still my Lord. I still trust him. It doesn't matter whether he delivers me today or tomorrow. Whether he gets me out of the furnace today or not at all. I'm still not bowing down to the junk gods that surround us all.

This is the attitude of love. I love the Lord and I do not want to embrace those things that cause me to be suspicious of him. Hebrews 12, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith.

So, so, so what? Are you saying to me that he is not a good author and he didn't finish well when he put my faith together? Because he did not deliver me. I know I get to these places in my personal time where I say, Lord, I'm going to preach that. And I hold it back and I don't say it until I get ready to preach the topical. But the Holy Spirit comes along and redirects. And so you get to the age of preaching over the years, you say, Lord, I put so much into ministry.

I put so much into the preaching of the word, to the preparation, to the delivery. And I'm not satisfied with the harvest. I'm just being honest. I'm not the only one.

I think we should have gotten more bang for this buck. God said to me, in this usual gentleman-like tone, So are you in it for the fame? Are you in it for the numbers? Just help me out here. Or are you in it for me? That's the easy one. Well, then act like it.

Well, that set me straight. I don't care what the outcome is, as long as I am right. As long as I am in line with the scripture and I understand that He is able to keep me from falling and to present me faultless. I don't care about anything else after that. If I can just maintain that altitude.

If I dip, I'll get back up. And Satan knows it. Satan is afraid that when you lose altitude that you recover. There are those that did not keep their bright place with the Lord. We read about them in verse 6. Those are the unfallen angels that Jude singled out.

Not only them, but he used them as an example. Then there are those who are to keep, that is us. We have our responsibility and our faith. Look with me at verse 21. Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

Do this to the end, brother, because it's going to be endless. And now here in verse 24, He is able to keep you from falling. That's what the 23rd Psalm is all about.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He says here, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory. Serious enough to die the crucifixion. That's how serious Christ is about presenting you faultless with all your faults and all my faults.

In fact, I'd like to give you some of my faults so I can have less of them. But it does not work that way, and it does not have to, because again, He is serious enough about presenting you faultless in spite of your faults to die the crucifixion. Paul could say to Philemon about Onesimus, he says, who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me. That's what Jesus is going to do with us.

You were once unprofitable, but now you are very much a benefit. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. If Christ could make, could not, if He is not going to make me blameless, then I'm toast.

Because I am not going to get there on my own. I can promise God that. I can promise me and anybody else I will not be blameless, but He's going to make me so. And I'm going to receive it. And that loud howl that you hear in heaven will be me in delight that I'm in, if you can hear it over your own howls. Colossians 1, and you.

I love that. They single us out. When you read it, and you, it's a finger pointing, but it's not condemnation. Who were once alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He is reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in His sight. He did not die for nothing. He did not die for you to mess it up.

He knows you're going to mess it up. That's why you have this magnificent death and resurrection. Every benefit that He speaks of is a benefit, belonging to the man or the woman who is part of His kingdom, because they want to be, and not to those outside. We have no right to apply these blessings to those who are in a state of rebellion and rejection.

We have a right to offer them, but we don't apply yet until the offer is received. But for those who receive it, there is therefore now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. But He who does evil has not seen God.

This is not license to sin, 1 Peter chapter 2, as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as slaves of God. It goes on to say He can present us faultless with exceeding joy. He's ecstatic over this.

This is a superlative. He's delighted to cleanse us, to bring us into the kingdom. It's what He wants to do. Otherwise He never would have died the crucifixion to be shamed publicly. Who wants to be killed out in the open square? Right there in the town square, who wants to be crucified?

I wouldn't want to be crucified in private. But the shame of being dealt with this way for doing good, He did it. Despising the shame, but for the joy that was set before Him, which is your face and mine. That's the gospel message.

Jesus preached, He said, Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. It's what God wants to do. But then why am I so miserable? Because it's the curse of sin.

What am I going to do about it? Get into the Word, get into the life. Fight it in the faith, not with the experts. Don't side with that team.

Don't be caught with that uniform on. Verse 25, To God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen. This is how He ends. He goes out in a blaze of praise to God.

He uses his outburst. It's enough to go back to verse 24. Now to Him.

He sums it up. Now to Him who is able to keep you from falling and present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. To God our Savior. God is the only Savior of souls from hell's judgment.

There is no other. Men, we can save each other from various things, from various troubles, but not the soul. We can be part of the process.

We are part of the process. We have fellowship with God in this very process. Jesus is repeatedly acknowledged in Scripture as the Savior. And the Scripture repeatedly says there is no Savior but God.

Therefore, Jesus Christ is God the Son, equal with the Father. Don't stop. We don't get tired of saying that because the others that challenge it don't get tired of challenging it. Thanks for listening to Cross Reference Radio today. Cross Reference is the teaching ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Virginia. If you're interested in more information about this ministry, you can visit our website, crossreferenceradio.com.

You'll find more of Pastor Rick's teachings available there. We also encourage you to subscribe to our podcast. By doing so, you'll become aware of each new edition of Cross Reference Radio. Just search for Cross Reference Radio in iTunes, Google Play Music, or your favorite podcast app. You can also follow the links at crossreferenceradio.com. We're glad we were able to spend time with you today. Tune in next time to continue learning more from this series, Truth, Love and Testimony. Here on Cross Reference Radio.