find Revelation and come back one book and you'll find probably one or two pages in your Bible, the epistle of Jude, And I believe, I believe that today they will be, including today's sermon, there'll be three sermons to close out this epistle. So today and then two more, two more Lord's Days following to finish the letter of Jude. I don't know how many sermons we have preached out of Jude, but for a book that only has 25 verses, quite a few, but it was necessary and good, and good as we learn through these things. I know I've said it before, I don't feel like the epistle of Jude is all that edifying, but in some respects it's very edifying as it helps us to understand how to deal with and to respond to false teachers, which is a present reality in our day just as it was in Jude's day. And so there is that aspect of it, but I'm excited to get on to, and this is a prayer request, if you are not knowing that, that we're going to move on to something else. And I'm not settled on what that something else is. So again, I'm asking for your prayers for God to guide me as I choose the next book to preach through. So if you found Jude and you're willing and able, let's stand for the reading of God's word. Our text for today is verses 20 and 21. But for context's sake, we're gonna read the summary, basically, of Jude's letter. It's verses 17 through 23. And let's even throw in the doxology at the end, verses 24 and 25. So Jude, beginning to read in verse 17, the word of God says, but you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, in the last time there will be scoffers following their own ungodly passions. It is these who cause divisions, worldly people devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt. Save others by snatching them out of the fire. To others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. 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 Christ Jesus Christ our Lord be glory majesty dominion and authority before all time and now and forever Amen and amen. Father, we thank you for your word, and we pray God that you would bless it to the hearing of our hearts. God, help us to rightly divide this truth, and may we rightly apply it to our lives. Father, we thank you for the encouragement that you have brought to us through this study, and we pray that you would continue, Lord, to strengthen us now as we apply the teaching of Jude to our lives, and God, may you be glorified in it all. Lord, as your servant today, cleanse me of sin, empty me of self, Fill me with your spirit, help me to preach your word, nothing more and certainly nothing less. And we'll give you the thanks and the praise for it all in Christ's name, amen and amen. Thank you for standing, you may be seated. By way of introduction, as we've stated over and over again, Jude's letter is an urgent and specific call to the church to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. We found that in verse number But before Jude expounds upon how we actually contend for the faith, we had to go through this central portion of the letter to take a detailed look at the false teachers and their false teaching, and the doom that awaits their ungodly treatment of God, His Word, and His Church. The conclusion that is made by Jude, to put it plainly, is that the false teachers who pervert the nature of who God is and what he has said and what he has done, it would have been better that they had never been born at all. The day of judgment will reveal their ungodliness and enact eternal damnation upon their life and their lies. And then we find here in beginning in verse 17 through 23, Jude gives us three practical ways that we contend for the faith. The first one we've already looked at two weeks ago in verses 17 through 19, and that is that Jude calls us to remember. Remember specifically, he says, the prediction of the apostles. And by this, Jude was reinforcing to us and making an appeal to the authority with which the apostles spoke. And then secondly, we look today that we contend for the faith by keeping yourselves in the love of God. And then next week, Lord willing, we'll look at the last command there, which is, we'll consider, have mercy on those who doubt. There's a couple other have mercy phrases there, but we will look at that next week. So for today, again, we've looked at remembering, remembering, it's a look, Sorry, it's a look back or a remembrance of what has already been stated. And then today, today we look at the keeping yourselves in the love of God. So first of all, I want you to notice that In the makeup of verses 20 and 21, it is one sentence. You'll only find one period in verses 20 and 21, and it's at the end of verse 21. And smack dab in the middle of this sentence, it's actually the beginning of verse 21, is the only place where we actually find a direct command or another way of saying a command is an imperative. It's an imperative. Now, in this, these two verses, there are also three other phrases that are being used in similar fashion. And based upon your translation, you would come away from reading these two verses possibly with a little bit different understanding. In other words, you could, depending upon your translation, you would say there's actually four commands in these two verses. But notice the way that the words are constructed in verse 20 and 21 in these supporting commands, or they're actually participles. And a participle, it's a verb that is used as an adjective. It's a verb that's used as an adjective and the way that that participle is formed is simply by adding an ing on the end of the verb. So in verse 20 we have build or building right that becomes a participle by the the phrase building. So building yourselves up in your most holy faith and then the second one is praying in the holy spirit and then notice again just for for contrast sake verse 21 the command there keep yourselves it is in the uh it is in a tense of of just a uh an aortist verb it's a verb that is actually stating the command it's the imperative and then added to that again supporting this is waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. So the main command is keeping yourselves or keep yourself in the love of God. That is our command. And so these other phrases are supporting that command. So as we think, first of all, about this idea of keeping yourselves in the love of God, it creates a challenge, or at least it should create a challenge in our hearts and in our minds. Let me ask you this question. Can you keep yourself in the love of God? Do you have the ability to keep yourself? Or another way that I could say that is this. Is your salvation dependent upon your ability to keep yourself saved? Fair enough question, right? It's a fair enough question. You can answer that. Or let me ask you, let me say it another way. Could you keep yourself? the love of God would you keep yourself in the love of God and and this is kind of a silly question given the nature of the command should you keep yourself in the love of God with a with a resounding obvious yes right but but notice there is a contrast within our text or within this this book between keep yourself in the love of God and and looking to the God who keeps you in his love look at verse 1 began the letter it says judas servant of jesus christ and brother of james who's he writing this to to those who are called beloved in god the father and what's the next word kept for jesus christ now let's let's not read anything into this text but simply see what's there this is telling us indeed that We are beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ. And it's not the one who's called, it's not the one who's chosen, it's not the one who's beloved who's doing the keeping, it's the God who has called, who has chosen, who has loved, who is the one who is also keeping, and it's for Jesus Christ. Then we go to the doxology as we read this morning, verse 24. And again, Jude is ending this letter, and he's returning to where he began. He's speaking of God. He says, now to him who is able to keep you, right? He's not talking about a person or a man, rather. He's talking about the God who he began with, the one who you are called by, you are beloved by, and kept for. And he says, now to him who is able to keep you, What? From stumbling and to present you before the presence of His glory with great joy. In other words, Jude recognizes fully, and we need to as well, that it is by the grace of God that we are kept in the love of God. But at the very same time, Jude says, keep yourself in the love of God. So we have, it seems like in our finite minds, competing ideas that there is a God who keeps us, but we are also called to keep ourselves in the love of God. And can I just tell you that there are two systems of theology that fall into one of those two ditches. You have on the one side a hyper-Calvinist or a hyper-grace person who would say it's all God and we don't do anything, we just strap in and we're along for the ride. than you have on the clear other end of the spectrum, the Armenian doctrine that says it's all about what you do and the focus is upon the works of man and the abilities of man, the strengths of man and whatnot. And somewhere in the middle, between the two, is where the actual truth is. And the reason that there's these extremes, one end or the other, is because people look at the text like this and they say, well, it has to be one or the other, right? We want to paint it black and white. Well, the truth is it's not black or white. It's black and white. And there's two truths being displayed here. There's two truths being taught here. And that is that we are chosen, we are beloved, and we are kept by God. That salvation is a work of God's grace from beginning to end. And everything in between is a work of God's grace. It's God who calls you by the proclamation of the gospel. It's God who has chosen you in Christ before the foundation of the world and brings you to salvation. It's God who indwells you. You can't indwell yourself by God's spirit. God moves upon man's heart and regenerates that soul that was dead in trespasses and sins and makes them alive by His grace, it is then that same God who sanctifies, that is sets apart for Himself as holy and then blameless that we would walk in these statues that He has created for us and He imparts the grace that we need to daily obey Him and to walk in this truth. He sanctifies us by His grace and then one day He will glorify us by His grace that someday our Christian experience on earth will come to an end, but our Christian experience as a whole will just be beginning as we enter into the joy and the finality and the consummation of our salvation in glorification when God takes us to be with him. And listen, that is all a work of God himself. But between that point A and point B, there's also a second truth. And that truth is keep yourself in the love of God. It's not in competition with the first truth. It's in perfect harmony with the first truth. And we're gonna look at that a little bit here and understand it better hopefully. But there is a question, there is a contrast here. Is it you and I who keep ourselves in Christ or is it Christ who keeps us in him? Now, I want you to just keep your place there in Jude and turn with me back to the gospel of John, the gospel of John, and we're gonna listen to the words of Jesus. First to chapter 10. This is probably my favorite chapter in the whole Bible, chapter 10. You give me the opportunity to come to a place and preach whatever I want to. I'm probably gonna preach John chapter 10. Specifically, listen to what Jesus says in verses 27 through 30. Jesus again, John chapter 10, verse 27. He says, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of the father's hand. I and the father are one. Now, I want you to think about those four short verses. Who is the one doing the action there primarily? Primarily, it is the shepherd, right? It primarily is Christ. It's primarily the work of our God, our Father and Son and Spirit. It's him. But notice in verse 27, it says, my sheep hear my voice, I know them and they do what? They follow me. They follow me. Can I just interject right here and say this is the keeping yourselves in the love of God in John chapter 10 and verse 27. We are kept by him. We follow him. We're in him. And we're held by Him, we're protected, we're preserved by Him, but we have to follow Him. Now turn back a few pages to chapter 14. Chapter 14 and verse 15. I'm going to go through these quickly. Jesus again teaching here, uh, john chapter 14. He's talking specifically at this point To his disciples. This is uh, this is not a an audience of mixed believers. Okay Uh minus the fact that judas is scary the betrayer is in the company of the hearing of this But he is indeed the exception not the rule. Jesus is speaking this to his disciples chapter 14 verse 15 jesus says if you love me you will keep my commandments. That's pretty straightforward, right? We don't have to spend a lot of time trying to expound that. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. In other words, you'll hear my voice and you will do what? Follow me, right? If you love me, you will keep my commandments. Verse 21. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me and he who loves me will be loved by my father and I will love him and manifest myself to him. Now, I want to just point out something here because we hear a lot today about the unconditional love of God. And can I just say in general terms speaking to speaking to the world at large? Speaking to them about the unconditional love of god is is actually not a very biblical idea Of speaking of god's love you say how can you say that look at it again? Jesus says whoever has my commandments and keeps them pause whoever has my commandments and keeps them The next phrase, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my father. Now, the specifics of what Jesus is talking about here is the love that is found in Christ, the love that is found in salvation, which is a completely different love than what most people actually think of. Jesus then says, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. Verse 23, Jesus answered him, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my father will love him. And we will come to him, that is the father and son and spirit will come to him and make our home with him. Verse 24, whoever does not love me does not keep my words. Pause a second. Verse 24, whoever does not love me does not keep my words. I want you to think about that. I want you to really, really ponder that. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me. Now, again, keep this phrase, whoever does not love me does not keep my words. Go back to Jude, back to Jude. going to refer back here for a moment to what we've learned about the false teachers, the false prophets. OK, verse six and six through eight. This is, again, speaking of those who who deny verse four, that the ungodly people who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality deny our only master and Lord Jesus Christ. And then Jude describes the way in which They have done this, verse six. They've done it like the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling. He has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the day of the great judgment, or judgment of the great day. Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulge in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, they serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. Yet in like manner, These people also, relying on their dreams to defile the flesh, reject authority and blaspheme the glorious ones. What is their number one problem? Their number one problem is that they have forsaken the authority of God's word. period it's that simple and then he says in verse 11 woe to them and then he gives us three examples of the same thing they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error and perished in Korah's rebellion Cain Balaam, Korah, all rejected the revealed will and word of God. Verse 16. These are grumblers, malcontents. Here it is following their own sinful desires. Loudmouth boasters showing favoritism to gain advantage. In other words, this is the conclusion to the whole matter. Keeping yourselves in the love of God is to keep yourself and remain faithfully obedient to the Word of God. And it's exactly opposite of what the false teachers do. You wanna keep yourself in the love of God. continue in the word of God. The love of God according to the word of God is the place of fruitfulness, prosperity, preservation, and protection. In other words, you cannot rise above or you cannot do better than walking according to the revealed will of God. Obedience to God keeps you in the love of God. And note carefully that we're not saying, we're not saying that keeping the law is the means of our salvation. Not saying that at all. The Bible is clear that no one is justified by works of the law. Galatians 2.16 says, yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ. So we also have believed in Jesus Christ in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law. Because by works of the law, no one will be justified. Romans 3 20. For by works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes the knowledge of sin. This is not saying keeping yourselves in the love of God is not works righteousness. It's not. But we are indeed part of our sanctification. That is to say that there is a daily dying to self, taking up your cross and going after Christ in the Christian life. There is effort, there is time, there is energy spent on following Jesus and becoming more like him. That's not a passive activity. I think it is absolutely ironic that systems of theology that teach a works-based salvation have a passive-based sanctification, right? Do this and believe in Jesus and you will be saved, right? And then on the other hand, walk the aisle, submit yourself fully to God, sit there and you're gonna be zappoli. What? What? Keep yourselves in the love of God. Pursue Christ, follow Him, take up your cross. What's passive about that? Nothing. Can I just make it as plain and simple as I possibly can? Salvation is all of grace. Sanctification requires blood, sweat, and tears. Amen. To be saved from the power of our sin is a work of God's Spirit in our hearts, but it requires the efforts of the man who has been changed. We grow in Christ's likeness. We have to pursue him. We have to go after him. We have to keep ourselves in the love of God. We have to daily be in action for this task. And then we receive three supporting means to this keeping yourselves in the love of God. And I've taken entirely too long on the first one. The first supporting means to do this. How do we keep ourselves in the love of God? How do we contend for the faith keeping ourselves in the love of God? Remembering what the Apostles have said and also showing mercy. Let's settle again on keeping yourselves in the love of God building yourselves up verse 20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit. Okay, the first one, building yourselves up in your most holy faith. This word, building up, it's one word, so we have building yourselves up, but in the language, the original language is actually building up yourselves in your most holy faith. It is to build upon, build above, and another word that we use in the church, one of our church vernacular, is the word edify, edification. It is building up, and we edify one another, we are edified together, and we should pursue edification, the building up of one another. In 1 Thessalonians, in chapter five, verse 11, Paul speaking to the church at Thessalonica there, he says, encourage one another and build one another up. There's our word, build up one another that we would be strengthening one another. And so there is an action here that is both present and continuous, meaning it's what we're to be doing today, but it's also what we're going to be doing and should be doing tomorrow. It's not just for today and it's not just for tomorrow. It's both. We are building up today and ongoing. And it's happening and continues to happen. Now this idea of building yourselves up, yourselves is plural, right? And so there's both a personal and a corporate aspect to this building up. And what connects the two is the purpose of the one and the other. That is to say, what is the purpose of building yourselves up both individually and together? Well, the purpose of that is for unity. And the reason that I'm making the declaration that building yourselves up in your most holy faith is for the sake of unity is because we go back to verse 18 and 19, and we see it is these who cause divisions. worldly people devoid of the spirit but you are i'm sorry it is these you call verse 18 in the last time there will be scoffers following their ungodly passions and their ungodly passions produce these divisions. So the opposite of building yourselves up in your most holy faith is building yourself up in your most holy image of self is basically the complete opposite of what we're being called to do, right? If you come in here and you start making everything that's happening in the church about you Can I just tell you, you will not be the source of edification. You will be the source of division. Amen. It's not about us. It's all about God. It's all about Christ. It's all about his word. And so the opposite of building on self up or the means to bring about disunity is thinking about self on your own ungodly passions. And that indeed causes divisions. But notice again, though, building yourselves up, and he uses this phrase, in your most holy faith. Is he talking about your faith personally? Or is he talking about the faith in general? Well, let's just explore quickly if he's talking about your faith personally, building yourself up in your personal most holy faith. I think that you would all agree that if this was talking about our own personal faith, that at best, it's wishy-washy. In other words, can I just be completely honest with you that there are days and moments where my faith is small at best, right? Because why? Because we are dealing with, all of us, things in life that are just hard, right? And so some days, some days, we feel like we're on the top of the faith mountain, and we feel like there's like a tree planted by the water, I shall not be moved, right? And you wake up the next morning, and you realize somewhere between that last snore and opening your eye, you somehow got down into the valley. Right? And you think to yourself, how did I get here? Yesterday was amazing. And I could have whooped the devil with one hand tied behind my back. And today I feel like both hands are tied behind my back and he's slapping me in the face. What's changed? Did the most holy faith change? Did the word of God change? Did the power of the blood of Christ change? No, no. Our fickle selves changed. God is still God. Christ is still Lord. The sins are still under the blood, but we're just not feeling it, right? So it can't be talking about your personal faith. It's talking about the faith, contending for the faith, the truths, the doctrines that are found in the Word of God. And we're to be building yourselves up in your most holy faith. Again, this is a call to exert energy and effort in this process. And specifically when we're saying it's the faith, It means that this is building yourselves up with sound doctrine, sound teaching, sound Bible teaching. It really does matter who you listen to preaching and teaching the word of God. Amen? It really does matter. Because if you think, well, I'm going to listen to this person because I like what they say. It kind of makes me feel good. It kind of gets my mojo moving. But once in a while, they throw in a zinger, and I just got to chew the meat and spit the bones. Can I tell you that most of us don't know what the good meat is and what the bones are, right? Most of us don't. And so we have to be ever so careful about this. And I am not saying that the only person you can listen to preach is me. That is absolutely not the case. There is a plethora of better preachers to listen to than me. But I want you to understand this. There is a difference between sound teaching and that which is not. And sound doctrine promotes stable fellowship. In other words, show me a church that is agreed upon the truths of God's word, and I will show you a fellowship that is full of love for God and love for one another. And can I just say, as a side note, I believe I'm in a place like that. and I'm grateful for it. I really truly am. I love and appreciate every single one of you. So this is the means building yourselves up in the most holy faith and building yourselves is not again for the sake of our personal well-being, it's a component of it, but it's also for the sake of the whole and ultimately for the sake of the gospel. Building yourselves up is for the sake of Christ likeness and gospel gospel effectiveness. Turn with me quickly to second Peter, just a few pages back, second Peter in chapter one. This is exactly what how Peter starts off his second letter. I'm gonna begin reading in verse number three. He says, his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature. having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort, there it is again, effort to supplement or add to your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, They keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election. For if you practice these qualities, you will never fall. For in this way, there will be richly provided for you an entrance in the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Therefore, I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body. to stir you up by way of reminder. All the principles that we have just talked about here in building yourselves up, keeping yourselves in the love of God, it's exactly what Peter echoes in his letter there, 2 Peter. We must move on. So building yourselves up in the most holy faith. The next is in verse 20, back to Jude, verse 20. building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit. Now, I'm just gonna confess to you out of all three of these supporting means, this is the most challenging because there's so much bad teaching on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. OK. So the command or the particle participle rather is praying in the Holy Spirit. Again notice the action is praying. It is a present continuous activity and make no mistake about it. This praying is indeed a spiritual activity given the fact that it is it says in the Holy Spirit. OK. So. How do we approach praying in the Holy Spirit? Now, some would instantly read this and they would insert here, this is the gift of the praying in the Holy Spirit in some sort of angelic tongue, okay? One of my, I'm saying this facetiously, one of my favorite false teachers, It is kind of funny One of my favorite false teachers will will talk about praying in the Holy Spirit and and to that he states that it just is basically you you say whatever syllable comes to your mind and you might just repeat that and I'm not even gonna I'm not even gonna entertain you with what that might sound like OK. And and what's so ironic about that is this this same false teacher will then turn around and say that simply praying the Lord's Prayer is vain repetition. What? You're telling me that saying something that you don't even have an idea what you're saying is not vain repetition. I mean, let's be honest. Vanity of vanities saying something you can't comprehend. What's the purpose of that? Well, well, it's angelic language and you're speaking to God God understands English Hey, I'm not trying to be smart I'm just trying to be honest right he understands English You don't have to try to be clever and cute. You don't have to try to stir up a gift that you don't have. I Amen. So it's not that it's not that. But but I want us to think about this carefully because it does matter. What does it mean praying in the Holy Spirit? Well, let's think about the character, the nature of the character of this praying. It's in the Holy Spirit. Now, what do we know about the Holy Spirit? Who is the Holy Spirit? One word. Say it. Say it out loud. Who is the Holy Spirit? God. Whoa, this is mind-boggling. This is life-changing. The Holy Spirit is God. Meaning it's a person. God is a person. You have God the Father, person. God the Son, person. God the Holy Spirit, person. Three persons, one God. We don't have time to do that today. But the Holy Spirit is God. So we're praying in the Holy Spirit, in a person, and that person is God. Now, the sphere in which we're praying, we're gonna develop that a little bit more, and I know that we're gonna help you with this idea today, I promise, stick with me. The sphere of praying in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is where in the life of a believer? Where is the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer? in you, right? The Holy Spirit indwells us. The moment we believe, Romans 8, 9 through 11, we receive the Holy Spirit when we trust in Christ. Romans 8, 26 through 27, I think, gives us some help in dealing with this idea of praying in the Holy Spirit, having the Holy Spirit in you, aiding you, and moving you. Romans 8 26 says likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness for we do not know what we ought to pray for as we ought but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the spirit, because the spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Now, the parallel to the phrase praying in the holy spirit i'm going to show you we gotta go back to john uh you can turn there if you want to for sake of time i'm not going to spend a lot of time there but in john chapter 14 listen to what jesus speaks about concerning prayer john chapter 14 verses 13 and 14 he says whatever you ask in my name again jesus speaking Whatever you ask, and I'm going to say it this way, whatever you ask in the name of Jesus, OK, whatever you ask in my name, this will I do that the father may be glorified in the sun. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. Verse chapter 15, verse 16. Again, Jesus says, you did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. You, chapter 16, verse 23, again, Jesus says, in that day, you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Do you see a pattern here? Do you see a consistency developing with how Jesus is teaching us to pray in my name, and then connecting that with Jude's call to be praying in the Holy Spirit, there is an undeniable triune nature to God and God, God, listen to this, this is good, this is gonna help us, that there is, brother, I'm gonna piggyback off of what he said last week. There is one plan of God and that one plan of God is brought forth, it proceeds from the Father, accomplished by the Son and applied by the Spirit. Amen? It's brought about by the Father, it's achieved by the Son, and it's applied by the Spirit. There is a Father God, there is a Son God, the Son, and there is a Holy Spirit God, and these three are one, and they have one plan, they have one purpose, they have a glory that is co-equal, co-eternal, one with the other. The Father is not the Son, and the Son is not the Spirit, but they are one. One in essence, three in person. And when we are praying in the Holy Spirit, my suggestion to us, not suggestion, but declaration is that it is the same as praying in Jesus Christ according to the will of God. How can we know that we are praying rightly in the Holy Spirit? That we are praying according to the will of God, what has been revealed to us. So, in other words, we can't even pray right, we can't even pray right without seeking the will of God. And how do we know the will of God? by studying God's word, amen? It's pretty simple stuff, but be sure of this, praying, again, is something that requires an activity on your part. J.C. Ryle has a very short little book, and he just asked us, the title of the book is a question, do you pray? And I'll spoil it for you. The thesis of his book is this, that you cannot be a Christian if you never pray. He actually goes as far as to say, you can be a Christian and not read your Bible, but you can't be a Christian and having never prayed. You must pray. Praying is an activity that Christians do. And we pray because we must speak to God. Listen, if you never communicate with God, if you, I gotta just share this. I know we're fighting a clock, but just forget about that for a second. Listen, you'll appreciate this little story. I was trying my hardest one day to lead a friend of mine to the Lord. And I asked him, I said, have you ever prayed and asked God to forgive you of your sins? That pointedly. Did you ever pray and ask God to forgive you of your sins? And he just blew my mind with his response. He said, I think that would be selfish of me to pray for myself. And I said, man, do you have any idea that if you think that's selfish, there's nothing else in your prayers that's actually going to get you to God? In other words, folks, God does not hear the prayer of the unrepentant sinner. The first prayer that God hears, hears with desire and willingness to answer is the prayer of repentance and faith in Christ. And somehow, and honestly, I believe it was just an excuse. I do. But can I tell you that it's not a selfish thing for you to confess your sins to God. That's a humbling thing. That that is a pride crusher, that you agree with God against your sinful self and tell him that you need his forgiving. There's nothing proud about that, right? That's crushing to someone's pride. It's not selfish. It's a humble act. And so we must pray. And we must pray based upon our repentance and faith in Christ. And we pray according to his will in the Holy Spirit. We're in Christ. And by being in Christ, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. And there and only then can we pray in the Holy Spirit. Building yourselves up in your most holy faith. praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourself in the love of God, and then finally waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. Jude captures the entirety of our Christian experience. Our Christian experience here and now on earth is an experience driven by faith and hope looking back to the work of salvation acknowledging the present difficulties and duties and anticipating the consummation and the second coming of christ we are waiting for the mercy of our lord jesus christ this word waiting for it's it's a compound word it means unto uh unto or for to accept or receive it is an anticipating receiving it's a an anticipation of of receiving something and that something is that what has been promised and specifically he says it's the the mercy of our lord jesus christ wait we waiting to receive the mercy of our lord jesus christ but again this creates a challenge or at least it should Haven't we already received the mercy of God? Haven't we already received the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ? And the answer is... yes but jude says waiting for the mercy of the lord jesus christ and then he finishes with that leads to eternal life so again what is the the problem here what is the the tension here well this is where this is where your eschatology really truly matters we are living in and already and a not yet. Okay? Let's go through the salvation. We are already saved in our justification. Amen? We are being saved, present tense, from the power of our sin, the process of sanctification. Amen? But are we fully saved yet? Not yet. Right. We're not in the presence of the Lord. That's the end result. That's where we're headed. But we're already saved and we're being saved. And someday we will be saved ultimately from the presence of all sin. Amen. Glory to God. There'll be no sin in heaven. Period. And we live in this already and not yet. This is exactly what Peter captures for us. And he shows us that we've already received the mercy of God. First Peter, chapter two, verse 10. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. Listen, he says, once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. But we're still waiting for. the mercy of God, the mercy of God. And now, even though we've received this mercy through life, death, through the life, death, and burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are also patiently waiting for the consummation of that mercy that leads to eternal life. In other words, our faith and our hope are temporal graces for here and now, but listen, our faith and our hope transcend this world, right? We're not working for something that's here. As a matter of fact, the Apostle Paul speaks to this idea. He says in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 19, if in Christ we have hope in this life only, We are of all people most to be pitied. In other words, Paul says, if you're a Christian and all you have to look forward to is what you're experiencing right here and now, we should pity you. We should be pitied because it's not all that great, is it? No, it's not all that great. We deal with a lot of hard things here and now. And let me just tell you, we don't have any idea how hard it could get in our generation. But we have a promise. We have hope. And we have a faith that one day, one day, we will truly receive the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. Nothing here, nothing here. What we see here will one day cease to exist. the new heaven and the new earth, it will be incorruptible because there'll be no sin there. And forever we will be in the glory of God. Paul goes on to say in that same chapter, 1 Corinthians 15, but in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep, for as by a man came death, by a man has also the resurrection of the dead, for as in Adam all die. so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming, those who belong to Christ, then comes the end. When he delivers the kingdom to God, the father, after destroying every rule and every authority and power. In other words, folks, listen, today we need hope and we need faith. But someday there'll be no such thing as hope and faith. You'll need no hope and you'll need no faith in heaven because you will see God as he is. Amen. And can I just encourage you this way? If you're here today and you have never repented of your sins and put your faith in Christ, This is the mercy of God. And it's being extended to you today. Today, if you hear his voice, Isaiah says, do not turn him away. He stands and knocks, He is here. Praise God, there is an opportunity while it is still today to trust in Christ. And I hope and pray that as you do, you will understand the riches, the riches of the salvation that Christ Jesus offers to you. His love, His grace and mercy that creates hope and faith and joy in your heart. that will lead you to eternal life. Praise God. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word this morning. Thank you, Lord, for this encouragement. We need to be contending for the faith as we remember what your word says, what the apostles have spoken, what the gospels have declared, what the prophets of old have written, and you have preserved for us. We need to remember God, we also need to be fighting and keeping ourselves in your love, warring against the flesh, warring against the world that is so desirous by the schemes of the evil one to snare us and trap us and catch us in sin and sinful desires. Lord, I pray that you would help us to keep our eyes upon Christ. Father, that you would lead us and guide us in paths of truth and righteousness for your name's sake. Lord, I pray this morning, if there's one here who's never trusted, that today, Lord, the gospel has been heard, that Christ has been seen, that he is not a hope, but he is the only hope we have for salvation. God, that they would look to you and be saved, be saved from their sins, be justified, declared righteous and clothed in the righteousness of Christ, indwelt by your spirit, indwelt or adopted into your family, sanctified by yourself. And God, that one day you will indeed glorify us with yourself. Father, we love you, thank you for all these things. Lord, now as we turn to a time of communion, fellowship around your table, God, we pray that you would bless it, pray that you would encourage our hearts by it. Lord, that each of us today, even right now, we would be preparing our hearts to come and receive. Your word tells us, Lord, that whoever eats and drinks of the body and the cup in an unworthy manner, eats and drinks damnation to their own bodies, their own souls. And so Father, I pray that as we come today, that we would come with hands and hearts that have been cleansed, purified by your son, and that your spirit, God, would confirm to our hearts the joy of our salvation as we remember and proclaim your death until you come. In Jesus' name we pray, amen and amen.