This is the twelfth in an series of verse-by-verse expositions of the book of Jude. This message was delivered at Hillcrest Baptist Church on the evening of February 3, 2013. This message deals with how God keeps and sanctifies the believer. This post contains an audio recording of the sermon, plus my sermon notes. Please note that the notes are not a full transcript. To get the entire message, you’ll need to listen to the Audio.
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SERMON NOTES:
Jude 24 / The God Who Keeps You
It is a dangerous thing to live for Christ in an atmosphere of false teaching and seductive morals.
It is a dangerous thing to try to rescue men for the gospel out of that type of environment. If you get too close to the fire, it will burn you; if you get too close the garment stained by the flesh, it will defile you.
Is withdrawal the answer, then? No. Advance against the forces of evil, face the dangers involved, so long as you are strong in the Lord’s might.
Such is the thrust, and the context, of Jude’s final verses.
These verses remind us of the power of God. Twice Paul had been driven to his knees in praise as he considered the might of his Lord.
In Romans 16:25 he ascribes glory ‘to him who is able to establish you by my gospel’.
In Ephesians 3:20 he glories in the one who ‘is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power (the Holy Spirit) that is at work within us’.
Here, too, Jude ends his letter with heartfelt adoration to the one who is able to keep you from falling.
The word keep, here, means guard.
Why would God guard you? Because you are His beloved.
He has a plan for you, and it just wouldn’t do to let you fall away!
We were created in the image of God, but son has tarnished that image.
His plan is to cleanse us, perfect us, and make us conform to the image of Christ once again.
Romans 8:29
We must watch that we stay close to the Lord, only he can guard us so that we do not stumble. He is able, if we are willing!
This speaks of an all powerful God
Genesis 18:14
Matthew 19:26
We cannot keep ourselves from stumbling, but he power of Christ can sustain the sincere believer from falling into apostasy.
Psalm 121:3
True believers are preserved and cannot be lost.
Jude 1
John 10:28-29
This doesn’t mean that believers will never sin, and when we do, God has a remedy for that.
1 John 1:9
If we persist in disobedience, He will chasten us in love, but He will never permit one of His own to be lost.
Hebrews 12:5-11
Because of His power to keep us from falling, Christ will present believers “faultless” and glorious church.
Having said that, the work of Christ in our lives is for our purification. The blood of Christ has cleansed us from our sins, and His purifying work continues today.
His ultimate end will be to present a spotless church.
Ephesians 5:27
When we are presented, we will be presented in His glory. To be in the presence of God is to be in glory, and His glory will extend to us.
Romans 8:30
This presentation will be with great joy, or great rejoicing, and why not? What’s not to be joyful about?
Psalm 43:4
1 Peter 4:13
Matthew 5:12
Philippians 4:4
WE can take great joy that God will keep us, cleanse us, and glorify us!
In Defense: The Blog 
Posted on February 7, 2013
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