Thanks for listening to the latest podcast from Him We Proclaim with Pastor John Fonville. In this special series, we'll explore how the gospel speaks to our identity, our calling, and our confidence in Christ. Drawing from passages in Luke, Matthew, Ephesians, 1 Peter, and Jude, Pastor John unpacks themes like grace and vocation. The power of God's Word and the unshakable assurance we have in Christ's favor and goodness. Whether you're struggling with your calling, seeking clarity on your role in the church, or simply needing encouragement.
These messages will remind you of the sufficiency of Christ and the hope we have in the gospel. Stay tuned as we dive into today's message called God is Able. All right.
Well, as you heard, open up your Bibles and turn to the book of Jude. The book of Jude, Jude 24 and 25. June 24 and 25. This is what Jerry Bridges writes in his. Uh book he says God Hate.
Thin. That's a powerful statement. To start your chapter in, God hates sin. The psalmist said, the arrogant cannot stand in your presence. You hate all who do wrong.
God is a righteous judge, a God who expresses his wrath. Every day. Psalm 5, 5, and Psalm 7, 11. He writes this: We have all failed miserably to obey God's law. We disobeyed in Adam and we have every day of our lives disobeyed in our own persons.
Therefore, all of us stand condemned before God's law, fully liable to his curse and punishment. Listen to the psalmist he writes in Psalm 130, verse 3, who asks, Isn't you, oh Lord? Tapped up. a record of our sins. Oh Lord, who could stand?
If God kept If God can record of our sins, a terrifying thought. The psalmist asked, who could stand? The answer is: none of us could successfully stand before God's bar. of judgment. writes Jerry Bridges.
What a comforting thought to start this morning, right? Yeah. Here's the question. What? Are we to expect?
when we stand before God. In the day of judgment. Lots of people think a judgment day is not coming. It's coming. As you'll see, it is coming.
And the question is this. On that final day, When God comes again in judgment. As we confess each week in Nicene Creed, right, he's coming to judge both the living. and the dead. When he comes again on that day, on that final day.
And we have to stand. face to face before the living God. Aren't we to expect? Jude's doxology answers that question for us. Let's get some context.
We can look at it. The book of Jude focuses, the whole book basically focuses on the danger of false teachers in the church.
Okay. And so, what it does is it explains the serious condition of a church or church's, or not quite sure if it was a church or church's, that he wrote this letter to, but it doesn't matter. But it explains the serious condition of a church. A church is infected with false teachers. And he says that these false teachers were trying to lead these believers.
Astray. trying to get them to forsake Christ, forsake the apostolic faith that had been given to them. and to just walk away from it. Listen to this. And the interim two.
Ungodly lifestyles. And so the bulk of Jude is an exhortation. Look at, look at, for example, look at verse. Uh three, look at verse three. The bulk of Jude is an invitation, is an exhortation to do this, is to contend.
earnestly for the faith Right? Earnestly for it, which was once for all handed down to the saints. Look at verse 4. Why contend earnestly? Verse 4, because certain persons have crept.
You have crept in. Look at what he says. Unnoticed. And these people that have crept in, they're false teachers who had crept into the church that he's writing to.
Now, back in the first century, this is a huge problem because you had basically like these traveling evangelists. Right? They would come into a town and they would come into a church and say, hey, we're here to teach you the Bible. And that's what happened here, and they just kind of crept in unnoticed. And so being established in the faith was a particular concern of the early church because.
the the first century church just like we do today. They face the assaults Thr through persecution or not quite like that, but A big chunk of the church is facing daily persecution. for their faith. But they faced the assaults of persecution, and they faced the assaults of false teachers who were constantly coming to the churches. False teaching.
They constantly face the salt of Yeah. Moral temptation. And also a satanic attack. And so, after this brief introduction to this letter that he gives, just in verses one and two. He quickly shifts to the focus.
of these false teachers. He makes a series of four charges about them. And just very quickly, as we get the context, this is what he says: he says, The scriptures condemn them. Second, he says they're godless. Quite a statement.
And he says they take God's gospel, they change it into. A license for immorality. And fourth, he says they deny Jesus as the Christ, who is the sovereign. Master Mm hord. Christ.
And so, because they do this, he says that God will bring them into judgment. And he says that those who follow after them and their teaching, God will bring them into judgment. And because of this, He says, as in his letter, they're not able to stand. and the day of judgment.
Now, here's the context. That's the context of Jude. But what Jude is showing us is that the danger of such people in our churches. Is this that these false teachers who come into the church exert negative influence? upon believers in the church.
Negative. harmful influence. We've seen this, for example, if you've been paying attention in the evangelical world, the IHOP controversy, right? The IOP controversy needs so-called self- self-proclaimed prophets who have crept into the church and They led people astray and they Seriously, it harmed believers and brought great negative effects and harm to the church. And so this is what Jude's talking about.
Nothing has changed since the first century. False teachers come into the church and they create confusion. They create doubt. They cause us to question our faith. They make us feel uncertain.
They fill us with questions that keep us The keeper said Anxious. The Apostle Paul says to the Ephesian elders in Acts chapter 20, verse 30, that false teachers who come into the church seek to draw disciples away to follow them. And so here's what happens as a result. result of this negative influence. What happens is that some tragically within the visible church forsake the faith and follow after them.
And that's the problem. And that's what was happening here with this church or churches that Jude is writing to. in these churches and listen to these false teachers. And they started to follow them. They began to forsake the faith and enter into these godless lifestyles.
We have seen this happen since COVID. I have seen this happen here in this church. Which has been heartbreaking for me to experience that. And to try and go after them, as Jude says later, he says, go after them and try to pluck them out from the fire. And you watch these people deny Christ and just plunge themselves into gross immorality and sin.
And you go after them and say, what are you doing? Come back. That's exactly what Jude's talking about here. And so this apostasy has devastating effects upon the church. It hurts those who stay back behind in the churches.
So we see this, for example, all the time. I just read this past week about an ex-evangelical. Have you guys heard that term, ex-vangelical? I used to be an evangelical, but I have deconstructed and now I'm wiser and I have greater insight. I'm an ex-vangelical.
You know. And they just come out and they just bash the Christian faith. Come on. There New lifestyle. And what happens is this: those of us who stay back in the church.
We look at those people, and sometimes we know those people, and we begin to think, gosh, am I going to be able to finish? There's many that seem to be falling away from the faith. I begin to think, gosh, am I going to be strong enough to make it to the end? Can I overcome the opposition that is coming against me, these constant attacks that I have against my faith? I distinctly remember that in 1997 to 2000, I had massive questions about the faith, so much so that I I walked away from the church for three years.
Because I was so confused and I was at so many questions and I didn't know the gospel and I didn't know the answers to my questions. That's what happens when you get bad teaching. You just become confused and doubting and fearful. What will the outcome be for me? Gosh, if so-and-so couldn't make it, what about me?
Am I gonna fall away? Am I going to be able to stand before God in the day of judgment and survive it? What's going to happen? What should I expect? Listen carefully.
If left to our own strength, the answer is no. You. Cannot make it. Because You're not and I'm not strong enough to overcome and endure to the end. The assaults that that we have to face daily in our lives.
We can't make it. We're not strong enough. We can't stand, we're not able to stand before God on the final day of judgment and survive it. We cannot. But Here is the good news today.
The doxology of Jude. Jude tells us that we're not left to our own. Own strength. We're not left to our ability, which is nothing. Look what Jude says in this doxology.
Let's go to it now. That's the context. This doxology provides this fitting conclusion to this brief letter. And it serves as a countermeasure against the false teachers by directing our faith from our assaults. To the solution to listen to the God who is able.
In verses 24 and 25, Jude tells us that God is worthy of eternal praise because of two things: great things that He does for us. Let's look at those two great things this morning. Look at the first one. Look at verse 24. God is able, Jesus, to keep you from stumbling.
Look at verse 24. This is so encouraging.
Now to him, now to him who is Abel God is able. Say that with me right there. God is able. What is he able to do? What kind of power does he have?
God is able. Listen, to keep you. From Umway. Jude praises God for his keeping power. And so what is this idea?
The idea is to guard and protect. It's like Luke chapter 2, verse 8, where the shepherds were in the fields guarding their flock by night, right? protecting their sheep. It's like someone who protects their property. From an intruder.
And so, in the context of what does June have in mind, God's protection against the assaults of false teachers. He's saying God can protect his people against the assaults of false teachers and false teaching that creeps into the church. Who who's who's that? aim is to lead them from Christ to an ungodly lifestyle. God can protect you from that.
God can keep you from that. And he says that verses 22 and 23, he says that some have left, some have fallen away.
Something hasn't been. led astray by these false teachers. But Jude says, in contrast, he says, God is able to keep his people from stumbling. What does it mean to stumble? It doesn't mean to keep you from sinning.
Right? He keeps you from sinning, but not... Perfection because all of us continue to sin.
So, what is he talking about? The context, he's talking about rejecting Christ, rejecting the faith, walking away from Christ's visible church, plunging yourself into this godless lifestyle. That's what he says God can keep you from, God can protect you from. He can protect you and keep you from committing apostasy. This is exactly what the Apostle John says in 1 John.
As we come back to finish it one of these days, we're coming back, I promise you. John says the exact identical thing to those believers who were experiencing the exact same thing here. John says that to those believers, he says, you cannot practice sin. He's talking about the sin of apostasy. Because God's seed abides in you.
And he prevents you, he keeps you from doing that. And listen carefully. Jude does not view these false teachers as all-powerful. He doesn't believe that apostasy is an. In the evident.
For your life. He's confident that God can protect you. Listen to the psalmist from our scripture reading today. Psalm 56 verse 13, which read me watch just a few moments ago. This is what the psalmist says.
He says, for you have delivered my soul from death. Listen, indeed my feet from Stumbling. You have done this. You have delivered my feet from stumbling, from falling away, from committing apostasy, from rejecting you, from rejecting the faith, from blowing it, not making it to the end. You have kept me and preserved me.
Why?
So that I might walk before God in the light of the living.
So, how does this encourage us? Let me fill our weaknesses. Who fills their weaknesses all the time? I do. Let me feel our weaknesses.
When we feel the assaults coming against us from false teaching that makes us question the faith, When we fail, there's also moral temptation that is just everywhere in our culture. Let me see all the satanic attacks that come from the evil one who shoots his fiery darts at us, Paul says in Ephesians 6, to cause us to doubt our salvation, lose our assurance. This is what Jude says. Jude reminds us, and he says, look, we're not kept by our ability, but by God, who is our Savior. He says to God our Savior who is Abel, what does that mean?
He's all-powerful, he's omnipotent, he has all-power. And he exercises all of his power. to keep us faithful to the end. to protect us. to guard us.
Look at verse 1 of Jude. Look how he begins this letter. He says, Jude says that believers are who? He says, Those who are called and Capture. Those who are called in kept.
Beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ, called beloved and kept. John 17, verse 12, Jesus prays to his father. He says, And while I was with them, I was Keeping men. You hear that? I was keeping in your name, which you have given me.
And I guarded them. Listen. And not one of them perished.
So we're overwhelmed by the assaults of false teachers, moral temptation, satanic attacks, Jude says, let us remember that our perseverance is not a matter of the size of our faith. It's a matter of the size and power of our God whose faith is in. It's not up to our faith, our commitment, our resolve, our keeping, our ability. God is able. Say it with me.
God is able. He's able. Look at 121. This is an amazing psalm. Listen to the psalmist.
He said, as the Lord is the keeper of Israel, he's the keeper of his people. He says, I will lift up my eyes to the mountains. From where shall my help? come from. My help comes from who?
The Lord, who made heaven and earth? That's power. Creation. power He will not allow your foot to slip. You see that?
He's not going to let you stumble. Look, he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper. The Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The sun will not smite you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will protect you from all evil. He will take it. Heap. Your soul.
The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever. He will keep you. That's where this comes from. June says, God is able. to keep you from stumbling.
So Jude says, listen. When you feel weak, when you feel like the assaults are just too much and you're not going to make it, Jude says, lift up your eyes to the mountain of God who's all-powerful, God our Savior. He's able to keep you from falling away. He's able to guard you and protect you now and forever. Second news.
Look at the second thing that Jude praises God for. He says, God is able not just to keep you from stumbling, falling away. He says, look at verse 24, the second part of verse 24. God is able to make you stand. In the presence of his glory.
Look at this blameless with great joy. Jude's answer to this question. What are we to expect? On the day when we stand before God, a holy God. Face to face.
June's answer is surprising and astonishing. Jude offers eternal praise to God our Savior because he's able to protect his people. And second, he's able to purify his people so that in the final judgment, You're able to stand before God, a holy God, face to face. and be overwhelmed. with joy.
I just can't even imagine that. If the Bible did not say that, I would never believe something to be that good. That is good news, isn't it? God is able, say it again with me, God is able to make you. Stand.
God is able to Keep you from stumbling.
So the contrast here, instead of you're in the race and I'm running, and boom. Face plant, and I'm not getting up. That's stumbling. No, you can run and you're tired. And you're going, oh, I don't know if we're going to make it.
God is able. And you're running, God is able. Because he is sustaining you, he is persevering in you, he's preserving you, he's protecting you, he's guarding you, he's empowering you, he's purifying you to the very end. Keep looking up. Where does my help come from?
The song that says, My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. God is able. In the final judgment, unlike these false teachers and those who follow and stumble, believers do not need to fear or dread God's investigation. Because you're going to be found blameless. And in the end, you're going to be overwhelmed.
with joy. Isn't that amazing? Do you know what Judah is doing here?
Well, maybe not. I'm going to tell you. Yeah. It is the complete reversal of Eden. It is a hundred and eighty-degree complete reversal of Eden.
Why?
Because Adam and Eve, after having broken God's law, what were they overwhelmed with? Fear in the presence of God. God created them, and He created us to live in joyful, intimate. relationship with our Creator. God never intended for us to be afraid of him.
Never. But tragically, the Bible says in Genesis 3 that Adam and Eve turned their backs on their covenant Lord in a self-worth. act of idolatrous rebellion. And consequently, Genesis chapter 3, verses 7 and 8, it says that their relationship with God is marked by three things. Separation.
Fear And dread. Because they're overwhelmed with guilt and shame for their sin. And as in chapter 3, verse 8, when they hear the sound, the Hebrew word is coal, that could be translated voice. They heard the voice of God. They aren't the word of God.
Walking in the garden in the cool of the day, they immediately hid themselves in fear from his presence. And while hiding, God calls. Out in judgment to Adam. You've heard this before. Adam, where are you?
Where are you in relationship to me now that you have broken my law? How do you stand before me, Adam? And listen to Adam's reply. I heard the sound, I heard the voice of you in the garden. And I was afraid.
I heard your voice and I was afraid. I heard the word of the Lord. And God's word put fear into my soul. And so I hid. Because why?
I was naked. What does that mean? I was fully exposed to your holy presence, my guilt and sin, and I. had nowhere to hide.
So I hid myself. Tragically, Adam's fearful response has become the reply of every human conscience in the presence of God. And here, Jude announces the complete reversal of this horrible condition. Rather than being overwhelmed by our sin. By our grief, by our shame, by our guilt, by our despair, by our fear in the presence of God.
Jude says God is able to make us stand in his presence. Blameless. With great joy. The exact opposite of everything that happened in the garden.
Now, here's the question: How can we stand in God's presence and be overwhelmed with joy? Jude makes this extraordinary claim that will be found blameless, that is without defect. Before God. There's nothing before God that is defective. There's nothing to be found that is blameworthy.
This term blameless goes back to the Mosaic covenant where it talked about sacrificial animals had to be flawless. Listen, which came to me in the New Testament. That you are a hundred percent morally blameless. The author of Hebrews picks up on this, where Jesus fulfills the old covenant. shadows and pictures.
And he said the other Hebrew says that In chapter 9, Jesus offered himself as this unblemished sacrifice for our sins. How can we be blameless? Because Jesus took our blame and he cleansed it. Listen. Four, if the blood of bulls and goats the ashes of a heifer Sprinkle those who have been defiled, sanctified for the cleansing of the flesh.
How much? Much more. You see, well, the blood of Christ. who through the eternal spirit offered himself without blemish to God. cleanse your conscience from bad works.
to serve the living God. Here's how Paul says it in the book of Ephesians chapter 5, verses 25 through 27. Christ loved the church. And he gave himself up for her. Why?
So that he might sanctify her. Having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word. Why?
So that he might present to himself the church in all her glory. We're destined for glory, church. He is going to present us collectively as His bride in glory. He gave himself because he loved us, so he gave himself to sanctify and to cleanse us so that he can present us in glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that we would be holy. Holy and blameless.
One day. All of us. for Christ's sake, will be found blameless before God. Is it that good news? We will stand before a holy God cleansed.
Through the blood of Christ. without any defect. having no fault. having no spots, no wrinkles, nothing. perfectly holy and blameless.
What does Jude have? He has a clear view of the transforming power of God in the life of a Christian. And what is he calling us to do? When you feel the assaults coming, When you felt the weakness taking over. He says, place your faith in God's ability to transform you and to present you blameless.
Trust God not just to justify you, save you from the guilt of sin. Trust God to sanctify you and to deliver you and save you from the power of sin. Trust God to transform you into holiness, into a blameless life. Trust him for that. The contrast is vivid.
Jude says these false teachers and those who follow them will be condemned. They cannot stand in the day of judgment. Because of their dreadful deeds, because of their Immoral and simple. It says, in contrast, those who through faith in Christ, who have held on and contended earnestly for the faith, who have held on to the gospel and trusted Christ not for justification, but for sanctification, for the whole package of salvation. These believers will stand faultless before God.
And so Jude says, the final evaluation of our lives. Guess what it would result in? Look what he says. Great joy. Great joy.
Unbridled jubilation. A party A banquet scene where there's great joy, laughter. There's enlightenment, there's freedom, there's happiness, there's rejoicing. It's a It's a banquet. It's a party.
And Jude says. On that last day, this is what will characterize God's people. great unbridled jubilation. Exaltation, rejoicing. Listen to Psalm 96 and verses 11 through 13.
The psalmist looking forward to this final day when the Lord comes in judgment. This is what the psalmist says. He says, Let the heavens be glad. Let the earth rejoice. Let the sea roar and all it contains.
Let the field exult and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy. Where? Before the Lord. You see that?
the presence of God, they'll sing for joy. For he is coming. For he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness. His coming again for God's people is cause for great joy and celebration.
It's not a cause for fear. Listen to Isaiah, Isaiah 25, 6-9. He prophesies that this coming great joy, last day. And guess how he compares it? What he compares it to?
A gray banquet. Feasting. Joy. celebration. happiness, rejoicing.
Something that is infinitely better than what happens this night for our National Super Bowl holiday. Right. Whichever team wins, go San Francisco. This is my team tonight. If they win, I'll have a lot of jubilation, but it won't compare to the final day when Christ returns.
And listen to what Isaiah says. The Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet. For all the peoples on this mountain. A banquet of aged wine. Choice pieces with marrow, refined aged wine.
And on this mountain, he will swallow up the covering that is death, which is over all peoples. Even the veil which is stretched over all nations, he will swallow up death for all time, and the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces. He will remove the reproach, the fault. Right, the blameworthiness. He'll remove the reproach of his people from all the earth.
For the Lord has spoken. And it will be said in that day, Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that he might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited. Let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation. And so as we reflect on Jude's doxology this morning, let us note how he bookends this letter.
With God's keeping power. These believers were facing great assaults against them. And they were deeply troubled and thinking, can we make it? And Jude begins this letter. He says, you are those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ.
You've got the same commendation as God the Son has, the beloved. You're called, you're beloved, and you're kept. And then he ends his letter by assuring us that God is able to keep us from stumbling and to make us stand in the presence of his glory blameless with great joy. And so, what does his doxology do? It redirects our faith from the assault to the solution.
Mainly Jude says, take your eyes off the assaults. And put your eyes, Psalm 121, lift up your eyes. to the God our Savior who is able. God is able. So, what does Jude do?
The windows are thrown open to see the glory of God here. To see the glory of God. And he says, and his glory transcends all others in all time.
So what is a proper response to to such good news. Two responses, our praise and our amen. This is what One church father said, Praise is given to God alone, for he is the only one who deserves our worship. And so, Jews' doxology ends with a crashing symbol of amen. What is it to say?
Amen. What is it to sing? Amen. So be it. It's an affirmation.
Indeed, it's true. That's what you're saying.
So be it, Lord. This is true. I affirm this. Affirmation. I affirm this doxology.
I affirm the God who is able. I affirm that He can keep me to the end. I affirm that He can protect me and He can purify me. I affirm that He can make me be overwhelmed with great joy. I affirm this.
I affirm the faith that has been once delivered to me. I affirm it. I say amen. That's what Jude's saying. He's calling for the congregation.
To rejoin it, to join in together and recite collectively, not individually, but collectively as a body of Christ. Affirm the amen of your end. Which is glorious. It says, take heart. When you're overwhelmed by the assaults Own your faith.
And you're not strong, and we're not. God is the one who is able. God our Savior. Lift up your eyes to God our Savior. He is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy.
Say it with me, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forever. Amen. Amen. Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, we thank you. We are overwhelmed with joy this morning as a foretaste of this incredible good news that it just seems too Too good to be true. And for the sake of Christ, the unblemished, spotless Lamb who has offered himself. to cleanse our consciences from dead and works to serve the living God. For Christ's sake, who has loved us and given himself up for us.
so that he might sanctify us and cleanse us with washing in the water of the word. To present us spotless without any wrinkle, blameless, and holy before you. We thank you and we say to you collectively as a church this morning, Amen. Amen. John Fawnville sends his thanks for listening today.
And before we wrap up, can I tell you about an encouraging book you might want to get soon? It's called Hope and Holiness: How the Gospel Enables and Empowers Sexual Purity. You're not alone if you've tried to conquer sexual temptations and tried all the methods available. only to find yourself feeling defeated again. This book may be just what you're looking for.
With his shepherding heart, John shows that the gospel, not practical steps or more self-discipline, is God's provision for the power to live a life of sexual purity. and it's available to every Christian. What I like is the book is available in three convenient ways. paperback, audiobook, or Kindle. The links are in our podcast descriptions, or just search for Hope and Holiness by John Fawnville on Amazon.
to get a copy for you and it's a wonderful book to go through with a small group. Him We Proclaim is a ministry of Paramount Church in Jacksonville, Florida. You can find us at paramountchurch.com. We'll talk again soon.
