Christ the Redeemer Church, if you would, open your Bibles with me to Jude, the book of Jude. If you don't know where that is, you start from the back. The last book of the Bible is Revelation, no S, and then you go backwards, or you go to a chapter or a book in front of Revelation, and it's the book of Jude. As you turn there, I'll give an introduction into this book. This is a small epistle written by Jude. He's a brother of James, who's a brother of Christ. And Jude, if I could summarize this entire book just in a few short sentences. For context, this book is written within a context where there are people who are calling themselves Christian, and they're going to church. They're doing these right things. They're doing good, yet their life, it looks completely different from actually what they're actually saying. They still go to church. It's nice. They maybe read their Bibles. The life outside is just completely crazy. It's debauchers. I guess from our context, they would be people who would watch the same TV shows that everyone else watches. They listen to the same music that everybody else listens to. And these men, the scripture, the book, it says they've crept in, in fact, The character of these people are so dangerous that Jews says, hey, I am writing to you, that you may know about these certain people that have crept in. It's not that they walked in through the front door, but they subtly came through and they look just like us. The main point that I believe Jude is trying to get across in this book and what I want to get across to you from the text today is really, what is our confidence? That's the question that we're seeking this morning. What is our confidence? There's a lot of things that we can be ready for that we look forward to. We can put confidence in our knowledge. I've learned these things. I kind of know how it works. We can put confidence in, well, I have money, so I don't have to worry about this. I don't need to care about these things. We can have confidence truly in our own strength. Man, I know I'm still young. I can do this, or I have muscle. I can do this. Yet, my thesis, the main point of this sermon, if you don't hear anything else from me today, I want us believers to know our confidence is in Christ. The text is at the end of Jude, verse 24 and 25. It says this, verse 24. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy. 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. is our confidence. He's our hope when we see that we're helpless. He is truly the focus of our faith. But from the text, there's two ways, I guess, we try to see this. If Christ is our confidence, what are we confident that Christ will do, particularly? One of the things that we should do when we read scripture, when we're trying to understand something, is don't initially go to YouTube or to other resources, but let's go to the text and see, well, what does the text say? How does the text flesh out these questions that we have? So the question is, well, what particularly should we have confidence, or how should we be confident in Christ, or what particularly And the text in 24, it says, now to him, Christ does two things. We are confident that Christ will do these two things. Verse 24. First, to keep us from stumbling. Do you guys see that? You see that in the verse? You following along? And then secondly, to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy. So those two things, but let's first address, well, if Christ is to keep us from stumbling, what is it to stumble? Like, what is this? Or actually, let's back up. We ask, before we can stumble, let's ask, how is Christ able to keep us? The question here, if you see verse three, Christ keeps us. In verse three, it says, beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, then it continues later, it says, I found it necessary to write appealing to you, but one of the ways that Christ keeps us is by refreshment of his word. There's a verse in Psalm 119, 3103, it says, how sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth. Another verse in Psalm 119, it says, I open my mouth and pant because I long for your commandments. If we are to be kept by Christ, it will be through his word that refreshes. This refreshment is because we are spiritually thirsty. There's a hunger that the Christian ought to have for the word of God. There's a desire that we ought to have to continue to know Christ. And the text, it fleshes out that our confidence is that Christ He will keep, another in the Greek is this word to keep us, to guard, to keep us safe, to preserve. How are we to be preserved? Truly, let's step back and ask, how is it that we're able to be preserved in this life? Well, it is by the refreshment of the word. But then a second thing, how God is able to keep us, how Christ is able to keep us, is through his word again, yet is by way of reminder. So there's his word that refreshes us, that quenches our thirst, that satisfies us when we're longing for all these other things. But then there's his word that reminds us. We can see this in verse 5. Jude, he says, now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that there's things that we forget, is there not? That there's truths that we knew when we were younger, but now we've completely forgot. But Jude is saying, our confidence, we're confident in Christ, that he would keep us, and the way he keeps us is by his word that refreshes and his word that reminds us. And to just make a statement right here, this is why it's so important that we are reading our Bibles, that we actually are in the word of God. Not just that we're hearing preaching, not just that we're listening to Christian music, but Christians, are you reading your Bible? And when you're reading it, are you understanding what it says? And as you make sense of the text, are you treasuring it in your heart? It's one thing to read, but Jude is saying, I want to remind you, and he continuously does this. We can look to verse 17. the scripture reading that we had just a moment ago before the sermon. But you must remember, beloved. This isn't just Jude who urges his people, urges the flock, urges Christians to remember, but we see this in other texts. 1 Peter 2.3. He says, indeed, if you have tasted that the Lord is good. Sorry. This is a different text. Sorry, this may be first or second Peter. He's telling the believers that he wants to remind them and stir up their sincere reminder that they will continue in Christ. Yet, when we look to the word of God, there's reading that we ought to do that us in him, he reminds us through the reading of his word, through the studying of his word, through the memorization of scripture. When we're in danger or when there's things that are drawing us away from Christ, there's scripture that comes to mind. When we're tempted, there's scripture that comes to mind to draw us back to him, and it preserves us. It keeps us in Christ. instead of going away from him. Now, Christ being our confidence, we're confident that Christ will keep us by his word that refreshes and by his word that reminds, but There's a step that this is what Christ does, but also what we do. We looked at verse 17 in Jude. You must remember, that's one thing that we do, or I guess an example. It's one thing to be in a jungle and have a map, right, and be lost. That's one scenario. But then there's another scenario, being in the jungle without a map and being lost. Yet, there's a whole other thing to be in the jungle with a map and not even use it. The means that the Lord gives to his people, the confidence that we have in Christ that he will keep us is his word. And so when we see Man, I don't even know how I got to this point in life. Well, have you read, have you looked at the map? Have you pulled it out? Have you kind of saw what he said on this part? Are you directing and ordering your life according to his word? Jude is saying, now to him who is able to guard, to keep you, by way of his word, by word of his scriptures, his holy scriptures, he is able to keep you from stumbling. Our confidence that Christ will particularly keep us from stumbling. But as I asked earlier, what is it to stumble? I believe that in this book of Jude, There's various things that he says, but in verse 11, he says, woe to them, woe to them who walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain. To Balaam's error and pursued and perished in Korah's rebellion. If you guys ought to remember, Cain, he killed his brother, but then after he, The Lord dealt with him. He ends up building a city and going away building the city and this city is known for destruction or you may remember and Balaam this this prophet who ends up He can't curse the people of Israel He wants to he's paid to by another but he can't yet. He ends up introducing more sin into the camp into the nation of Israel and And he causes them to stumble. He's leading people to stumble. If we were to put this on a point, to stumble, there's an outward appearance or an outward, I guess, there's stumbling that is outwardly. It's things that happen. There's these people who, well, they're tempting me. They want me to do this. They're introducing this into my life. And it's an outward thing. These are people who are influencing us. That's why there's this idea today, I believe, of these influencers on social media or on movies, actors, or celebrities. we should be careful that we don't fall away. We should be careful that we don't stumble because we will, we could be completely lost from the faith as many have been drawn away by the ways and the lures or the jewels of the world. But truly the confidence that the Christian has, though there are minefields all around, Our confidence is that we won't hit them, because Christ, he will keep us from stumbling. And that's an outward stumble, but then again, there's an inward stumbling as well. It's when we selfishly look at others, we see what they have, and we start to desire, oh, I want that. And so we begin to fix our heart on these things that we don't have, that the Lord hasn't given us. Or I guess in another way, we may appear to be seeking the Lord. And even in prayer, we may be seeking the Lord, but indeed we're actually seeking his hand. But don't miss what I'm getting at, because we pray, but in all of our studies, in all of our prayer, all of our Christian duties, it's not that we just read the Bible and we check it off. It's not just we listen to good songs, but do you commune with Christ? Do you develop your relationship? I was just talking to my grandfather here, and we were talking about, well, it's about our relationship with Christ, truly. It's about loving Him. Do you love Christ? Do you care for Him? When you pray, is it just about the needs that we have? I'm saying, yes, yes, go to the Lord for the needs, for the daily bread, yes. But do you commune with him? Do you rest and stop like what our brother Jacob was saying this morning? Do you stop all things and say, Lord, I must spend time with you? Not just in the morning, but right now. I know I'm at work and I just need to, Do you still await time to pray to the Lord, to seek his face? Do you cast all of your burdens on the Lord? Did you know that he cares for you? Or do you hang on to some burden, some worries? Because the Lord, he promises, he says, now to him who is able. Jesus says, I am able to keep you from stumbling. And indeed, it's an inward stumble that we have when we're doing this religious act as praying, but we are seeking his hand rather than his face. Verse 17, it says, but you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18, they said to you, in the last time there'll be scoffers following their own ungodly passions, It are these that these people cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. But you, you beloved, build yourself up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit. So I guess the opposite of that would be not praying in the Spirit. It would be, well, actually just not seeking God. And that is how we stumble. But there's even a scriptural verse in Psalm 73. If you have a Bible, turn to Psalm 73. In this Psalm, you have this person, it's the Psalm of Asaph, and he's mad. He's a righteous man and he sees Well, Lord, I'm reading my Bible, I'm going to church, I'm praying, I'm doing these things, and I look at the rich man, I look at the wicked man, and he's growing in wealth. I look at all the sinners, and they're continuing. Lord, should I continue to love you? The first three verses. Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. Truly God is good, but as for me, My feet had almost stumbled. My steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. What's happening here? He's stumbling, he's slipping. But why? It's because he's become envious. Envious of the wicked. He says, particularly, they set their mouths against the heaven. These people that he's envious of, they set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongues strut through the earth. Look at verse 16 in this chapter, in 73, Psalm 73, verse 16, it says, but when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a weary a worrisome task. He's trying to make sense of why are the righteous, why are the righteous downtrodden? Why are they persecuted? Why is it that the righteous are hated by all? He's trying to make sense of it. And the very next verse, he says, until I went into the sanctuary of God, then I discerned their end. Christ, he is able to keep us from stumbling. And it's by way of his word. This man comes into the sanctuary of God. And in fact, that brings me to my second point. The way that Christ keeps us, or rather the confidence that we have is that Christ will keep us from stumbling, but then again, he will present us blameless before the presence of the glory, of his glory with great joy. We are confident that Christ will present us before God's judgment seat. As I was preparing this and trying to take in the text for myself, because I want, this is for me. As I preach these truths to you, these truths are for me as well, and I try to sit in it. Christ will present us blameless. How will he do this? Well, I had to stop and think, well, what is it to be blameless? I'm a simple guy. And I had lunch with a mentor. I call him my pop. He's my spiritual dad. We meet up in Conway on Wednesday mornings, and he gave me some. Some bad news. It is a truth that we all know, but it didn't hit until when he told me. It didn't hit until then. He said, Zach, the sins that you struggle with, the things that you see, man, you try to kick off, you will always, you will always struggle with sin. That was the bad news I heard. He says that you'll never mature from fighting with sin. You'll never grow out and be, okay, I'm not sinning anymore, I'm good. But that will always be a moment, a time, a period that we will be struggling with sin and it is in this life. But Jesus Christ is telling us in this text, our confidence, the hope that we have, is that one day, that sin, we won't have to fight with sin, because sin is no more. The sin, when someone says, you sin, whatever comes to your mind, particular sin that you wrestle with, and that you have wrestled with in the past, before the judgment seat of God, Jesus Christ, presents you blameless. And this is glorious. This is a beautiful truth because God says, hey, this person, they're sinless. A lot of people have much anxiety thinking about being before God in judgment. Many people do, and in fact, many people should be afraid to be before the judgment seat of God. But Christians, that shouldn't be true of Christians. We should not be anxious about death. We shouldn't be anxious or fearful about what will happen when we die, because Jesus Christ is saying, I will present you. And in fact, this is the confidence that we have is that Jesus Christ will present us blameless and faultless before the judgment seat. We don't have to fear that the sin that has separated us or the sins that we struggle with will be found out and displayed Now, for a non-believer, now for the sinful and the sinner, this is true. Saints are sinners who've been redeemed. Those are saints. Sinners, men and women who continue in sin and continue to reject Jesus Christ, sinners. Christians are called saints. What I'm trying to articulate is that the righteousness of Jesus Christ will clothe us when we're before the throne. And it's as if we go through trial and there's God sitting in a judgment seat and there's Satan, the accuser, and death saying, okay, they've done this, they've done this. And then the judge, God, looks at his people and says, I see no fault. I don't see any sin. That's what we should maintain in our mind. That's the confidence that we have that we will be blameless. And in fact, that's the hope that we have is that Jesus Christ's righteousness, his righteousness clothes us. And so in our own strength, we don't approach the throne, but it's by the blood of the lamb. We don't fight and continue in this life by our own strength, but it's by the word of the testimony of the saints. But it's a glorious truth that Christ will keep us and keep us from falling and present us Blameless or some other translation say faultless before the throne of God because What about when our conscience what happens when on our day-to-day life when our conscience condemns us? When we start to have bad thoughts and think that person they they're this that that Well Christ's blood cleanses the mind of the believer But The text continues, it says, now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy. There is such joy that we have now. Or let me say this, there's joy. is in the Lord. We're joyful because our sins don't bind us. Now, there's still the presence of sin that we grieve over. That's that outward things that cause us to stumble. And then there is sin inwardly, yet the presence of sin is still here, but the power of sin has been broken. That's the joy that we have. We don't have to. We don't have to be slaves to sin. We can say, no, I won't do that. because of the power of Jesus Christ. Christ, he died on the cross and he defeated death. He is over, he's conquered sin on our behalf. And so those who put their trust in him, they're not trusting in themselves, they're not trusting in their own strength, but Jesus Christ has done this. And he is my life. He is my hope. And for us this morning, Christ, Christ is our confidence. The power of sin is gone. Yet the presence remains. That's why we're able to have joy now. But then we're able to have not just joy. The text says, he will present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy. then we can have great joy because the power of sin will not only be turned to nothing, but the presence of sin, there'll be no, there'll be nothing that distance us, nothing that would hinder us from God, from our Savior. And Jesus Christ is telling us, you, brother, you, sister, will be before God himself in all of his glory. And you know what God will say? It's amazing. It makes me just want to fall in and praise the Lord. God will look to you and say, well done, my good and faithful servant. He will say, I love you. You know what he will say? He'll say, I'm proud of you. That, that's sweet. That is the hope that we have. We have the confidence that Christ will keep us from stumbling. We won't be cast off. Even when we sin, Christ, he says, no, come back, come back. He will keep us from stumbling, but he will also present us blameless, clean conscience, The past sins removed, the present sins cleansed, the future sins, what are they? That's what God says. Jesus Christ, he'll present us blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy. And this is the confidence or this is a faith, this is the hope that we contend for. The purpose of Jude being written, there's a purpose statement in the third verse. It says, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. There's no other confidence that we can have. There's no other hope that we can have. And truly, we must fight for this. Yes, it's given, but that's work for us to do. There's a verse in Philippians. I wish I would have written it down. It talks about it's God who works in us to will and to want to do what fear and troubling for it is God who wills. So there's work that we do, but there's work that God has already done. And so is that a mix or what do we just relax? Do we stop doing, do we stop striving and going forth? No, not at all. This is the hope that we have. I'm trying to think of an example, a simple example. Imagine you're in school and your parents say, hey, we got a surprise for you when you come home. And you get home, there's still work to do, but you must come home. Because you're not there, that doesn't necessitate that the surprise has not is not there. The surprise is there, but you must come home. To actualize or to realize, to have that surprise be realized, you must come to it. It still is there. It exists, yet you must come. And so you not coming doesn't mean that there's no, there's no gift that's there that your parents have. But in a same way, that Jesus Christ, he will keep us from stumbling and present us blameless before his presence with great joy. This is a truth that we claim and we hold to. Yet, there's still striving and fighting that we must do. That's true. Yet, it's not against this other truth. We must do both in tangent. But let's look at verse 25. It says, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. There's this confidence that we have, and it's based on Jesus Christ, that he will keep us from stumbling. He will. keep and guard us from stumbling, and present us faultless, or present us blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy. One can read it, now to him who is able, this hymn, now to God, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. It's kind of saying the same thing, but it's putting emphasis on who is doing this. It's to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. There's so much emphasis on God in this text because one, it's God who must bring us to himself. It's God who's come down into humanity, into sinful humanity. He's done the work. of saving sinful man from not just their sins, but from the wrath of God. And Jesus Christ is the one who reconciled man and God. And then what have we done? That's the focus is saying, hey, look at God. Look at what God has done. If we're saved, it's because Christ saved us. The scripture says, We love because he first loved us. It's in response to what he's done. If we're to grow in Christ, as we continue to grow in Christ, the confidence that we have, that we must continue to have, we're able to continue it. The fire is able to continue to burn because we are looking to him. Remember in Psalm 73 when the man, he's looking at everybody else, all these evil people that are prospering. That's what we do. When we don't look at God, when we're looking at other things, when we're not seeking his face, we fall away. We start to fall and stumble into sin. We start to have wrong thinking. But it's only when we look at his face, when we look to his face. That's why it says, seek his face while he may be found. Seek it, continue. Why? That is how we're able to keep going, go forward. That's the only way. Yet, the emphasis is on him. He's done this. He continues to do this. He will do this. has done the work to the only God, the text says. Maybe there's some in here who aren't believers, and perhaps there's some lies that we have believed, but let me say this. You and I are not God. We are not little gods. We will never be God in any way. God is God, and we are his creation, which we're thankful for. He is creator, and we are creation. And this is the text is saying, to the only God, there's no other. We may think that we have some, some strength or some zeal to do something, but God, there's only one God. It's not God of music. It's not the God of work. There's only one God. So that's to say all other things are idols. The thing that I'm trying to flesh out is the things that cause us to stumble, the security that we don't have in Christ, perhaps it's idols that we have in our life. Yet, the text said, hey, don't give glory to those things, but give glory to God, to the only God. You can think of an athlete, where an athlete, they run, And they get a medal. And it's awesome. They get first place. We stand and applaud. It's a beautiful thing. They work hard. And we say, hey, good job. Yet, put this into perspective. How much greater does God deserve, not just some, all of the glory? To the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. The text continues. Be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forever. Amen. The message of the cross. There may be non-believers here, people who aren't putting their trust, who reject Jesus Christ, yet let me pause and take a moment and say, you must turn from your sin. You must repent. You must say no to sin and yes to God. You must cry out to God. Why, why? Because you are in danger. The purpose of Jew rightness is to say, hey, believers, there's danger all around you. Be careful. But there are some in here who are in danger. And the only salvation that the text says to Jesus Christ, our Lord, he's the only God. There is no other salvation under heaven in which man can be saved. You must see Christ. You must go to him. You must cry out. that he saves you, because it is him who is able to keep you. It is him. You can't do it yourself. You can't save yourself if we're saved. It's not that, OK, I'm going to just stop doing this. No. What is it that we have that God didn't give us? Scripture, it uses this language. He is the author of our salvation. So the salvation that we have is not ours, but it's His. The life for the believer that we have, it's not our life, but it's Christ. We've died to sin and yet been raised to life with God. Our life is no longer our own, but it's Christ. And the life that we now live, we live unto Him. We live for Him. We live to say, hey, to Him. Jude rests his case. And I guess this would be the down tilt of the sermon here. It's Jesus Christ that we want to lift up. So just for a moment, let me lift Jesus Christ's name. If God says, give me all the glory, I deserve all the glory, would that be selfish? Would it be selfish for God to say, no, you don't deserve glory. I deserve it. But the question is, is he worthy? Is he worthy of? all the glory. Is he worthy of your praise? Is God worthy of your love? Is he worthy of your life? Is he worthy of your finances? Is he worthy of your devotion? The answer is yes. Yeah, Jesus, you deserve it all. Why? Because he has done the very thing that we could never do. He went to the cross. He took the wrath of God that we deserve, and what happened? He drank it all on our behalf. So now that those who see I am a sinner, I can't save myself, I need saving, Jesus Christ, would you save me? We look to him. And Jesus Christ, he says, yes, come to me. Believe on me. And we say, Lord, Lord, I can't believe. Help me to believe. Jesus Christ says he grants repentance. He grants us faith. He gives us salvation. And what is it that we do? Well, we take everything off. We bow down and say, to you be the glory. To you be the honor. In Jude, There's these men who are trying to gain glory from the flock. They come in and they're trying to, they're using these sensual lives. They're saying, hey, we're Christians, but their lives aren't, it's not, it's not connecting. It's not matching up. And it's because they're trying to give glory to themselves. Judah's saying, hey, be careful. These men are trying to do this, but we know our confidence is in Him who is able to keep us from stumbling. Our confidence is in Him who is able to present us faultless before the presence of His glory with great joy, to Him, to the only God, to our Savior, to Jesus Christ. be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time, and now, and forever. Let me just close by reading Revelation 5. If you have a Bible, turn to Revelation 5, and this will be the close of our sermon here. 5.1, it says, this is John speaking. of what the Lord has, what he's seen. He's with the Lord and John says, then I saw at the right hand of him who was seated on the throne, a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals? And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth were able to open the scroll or to look into it. And I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open up the scroll or to look into it. What's happening here, the scroll is to say, hey, this is what God has ordained. It's as if what God has said, they open the scroll, it's all accomplished now. So who is able to present us faultless? If that's the confidence that we have, will it be accomplished? Will it be fulfilled? What's happening here is if that scroll isn't open, then God's word is never accomplished. We have no hope. It won't actually be done. So John is crying and saying, who can open the scroll? Who will save us? What hope and salvation do we have? And verse five, and one of the elders said to me, weep no more, beloved. The lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has conquered so that he can open the scroll and the seven seals. Praise the Lord. Jesus Christ opens the scroll and our response to the work that Jesus Christ has done on the cross, this is our response. In verse nine, and they sang a new song saying, worthy are you to take the scroll and to open, worthy, worthy is he. For you were slain by your blood. You ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. He did it. He did it. Glory be to him. Worthy is his name. The text continues. And you have made them a kingdom. And you have made them priests to our God. And they shall reign on the earth. It continues, verse 12. Worthy. is the lamb who was slain to receive power, wealth, wisdom, might, honor, and glory, and blessing. If we were to turn back to Jude, we can finish like this. To him who is worthy, may he receive all glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time, and now, and forever. Amen.