Blessed Assurance

Jude 1:24-25

Introduction

Jude ends this book on a note of praise. Really, here is a grand doxology. He says, "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen" (Jude 1:24-25).

It is so very important that, whatever endeavor that you have, that you have hope there. And, I suppose that hopelessness is the saddest word in all of the world; and hope, perhaps, is the most beautiful word in all of the world.

Let me illustrate. Let me take you on a Caribbean cruise. Let's suppose you're down in the Caribbean on a luxurious cruise ship, and everything is beautiful. You have all of your best friends there. The music is grand; the entertainment is wonderful. The sky is a topaz blue. The food melts in your mouth. The sea is slick and calm, and just everything is wonderful. You say, "This is the best time I've ever had on a vacation in all of my life."

Then, the captain comes on, and he says, "ladies and gentlemen I have an announcement, . We're going to continue the entertainment. The ship is going to do a even better job than it normally does with the cuisine. The crew is going to go all out to make you comfortable. We're going to have fun games, entertainment, and music—everything to meet everything you need." About that time, you are saying, "Oh, this is wonderful." Then, he says, "There has been one change in the plans.

We're not going to sail to any one particular port. But, we're going to go out here in the middle of the ocean, and we're going to sail around, and around, and around, and around in circles. And, we're going to continue to sail around in that circle, until we run out of food, and run out of fuel, and run out of water. And, when we do, we're going to scuttle the ship and sink it."

At that moment, no matter how much you're enjoying the cruise, it doesn't seem to be quite as good, does it? At that moment, when you know that you're going around in a meaningless circle, not going anywhere, it doesn't matter how good the food is, it doesn't matter how much fun the games are, and it doesn't matter how beautiful the weather is, when you have the idea that, as far as that particular cruise is concerned, it is a pretty hopeless matter, if indeed what the captain says is true. That takes the joy out immediately. And, I'm telling you, that the joy of the present will not diminish the fact there is no hope for the future.

But, on the one hand, let's suppose you're in the hospital, and that’s, right now, you are in excruciating pain and discomfort. And, the doctor comes to you, and he says, "I have good news for you. The good news is that, while the pain will continue for a while, and while the discomfort may be there, and while you cannot go home immediately, at the same time, I have good news for you. You will be cured. You will get well." And, he gives you that ray of hope.

And, the doctor says, "You will get well." Then, you say, "Well, I'll be in here for a few weeks, and there may be pain, and there may be difficulty. There may be all of these things that come with being in the hospital, but that's all right. I can look past that, as long as I know there is hope." Isn't that right? It's hope, you see, that keeps us going.

Well, let me tell you something. In a greater way, we live in a world where many people do not have much hope. And, it doesn't matter how much they enjoy it; it doesn't matter how many of the things of this world they have, or how much of this world's goods they have—if they have no hope, they are, of all men, most miserable (1 Corinthians 15:19). And, on the other hand, if you are going through difficulties, trials, and troubles, right now, if you can have what the Bible calls that "blessed hope," then you are going to make it (Titus 2:13).

And, that's what Jude gives us here, in these last two verses. You see, Jude has been painting a dark picture. I mean,it is a dark picture. If you remember the Book of Jude at all, it's been a dark picture. But, I thank God that, when Jude comes to the end of this book, he just arches the rainbow of hope over the dark storm that he's given us. And, Jude tells us that, as the children of God, we can have that blessed assurance that we are going to make it. Because, as we read the Book of Jude, about all of these people who turn apostate, and turn from the faith, and so forth, we might think for a little while, "Hey, we're never going to make it." But, Jude tells us that we can, we shall, we will, for three reasons. I want you to see them right here:

Jude ends this book on a note of praise. He says, "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen" (Jude 1:24-25).

I. The Sovereignty of the Savior

What does sovereignty mean, when it refers to God? It means, "He is a king." The King is the sovereign. It means, "He is the only wise God. He is a king against whom there is no rising up. He is able to do anything he needs to do, wants to do, and ought to do—and He does it right. He is completely, totally able." And, the reason that you're going to make it is not because you are able, but because He's able.

I got my concordance the other day, and I looked up all of the places where it says, "He is able," (we’re speaking of the Lord Jesus). And, I thought to myself, "I ought to mention them right here." And then, I thought I'd better not, because I said, "I'll never get finished, if I get into that." There are so many places where it tells us He is able to save; He is able to secure; He is able to satisfy; and He is able to take care of us. Thank God for the ability of our wonderful, wonderful Savior.

Now, many of God's children are going to be in trouble. And, when you get in trouble, you might say, "Well, why doesn't God take me out of this trouble? Maybe He's not able to do it." He's able, if He wanted to.

By the way, the Greek philosophers used to think about this. And, they would talk this way—they would say, "All right now, if there is a God, and there is trouble, and heartbreak, and sorrow, and suffering, why doesn't God do something about it?" "Well," they said, "Maybe He's not able to do anything about it." "Well," they said, "if He's a God, He ought to be able. What kind of a God is He, if He's not able?" "Well," they said, "maybe He's able, but He just doesn't care."

"Well," they said, "what kind of a God is that? Who is a God who doesn't even care, even though He is able? Who wants to worship a God like that?" "Well," they said, "maybe He is not able, and doesn't care." To make it even worse, they said, "Well, that's unacceptable." "Well," they said, "then, on the other hand, maybe He is able, and He does care. But, if He is able and He does care, why all of this problem? Why all of this sickness? So, He must not be."

I've met so many people along life's highway, and they say, "Oh, I used to be saved, but I fell into sin. I don't guess I'm saved anymore." And, they get so discouraged that they fall away altogether. What that child needs to know is, "No matter what I do, I am in the family of my parents. And, if I disobey, they love me so much they are going to chastise me; but I'm still in that family." "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling" (Jude 1:24).

Now, Jude begins this Book of Jude, and Jude ends this Book of Jude, talking about the eternal security of the believer. Because, if he didn't do that, when you read what's in between, you'd get to thinking that Jude is talking about people who've lost their salvation. An apostate is not somebody who has lost his salvation. An apostate is someone who has received the truth, rejected the truth, and then begins to ridicule the truth, and literally tries to replace the truth, but he has never been saved.

He is like Judas, who never was born again. But, a person who is truly born again, a twice-born child of God, can never, ever again be a lost soul—not because they hold on to God, but because God holds on to them.

I want to review with you verse 1 of this book, and I want you to look at it, because this is how God is able to keep us from falling; this is how God holds on to us. Now, look at verse 1 again: "Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God"(Jude 1:1). Look at that word sanctified. It is better translated, "loved," or, "beloved." It is the same word that is translated in verse 3, "beloved" of God (Jude 1:3). And, it talks of God's fathomless love. We are loved of God.

Now, you're secure, because you're secure in that mighty, fathomless love. How much does God love you? In John 17, Jesus Christ is praying, and He's praying, "Father, the world needs to know that You love these Your children with the same kind of love that You have for Me." That's so beautiful. Here's what He says, in John 17:23, "that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them"—that is, my saints—"thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me". How much does God love you? God loves you as much as He loves His Son, Jesus Christ.

Now, I want to tell you something: That's hard for me to take in. When the Apostle John was speaking about this love, he said, "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God" (1 John 3:1).

Well, they missed it. They failed to understand that God is able, but God does things according to His own terms, and God does things according to His own ways. He is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we could ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). We might ask one thing, and we might think one thing, but God works on a different plane. God's ways are not our ways; His thoughts are not our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8). He is able to do above all that we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). And, that's what you must remember: that God, being God, works on a different plane.

Do you remember reading in the Bible about how the snakes came in the wilderness to bite the children of Israel as a part of the judgment of God? I'm certain many of them prayed, "Oh God, kill these snakes." But, God didn't kill those snakes. To the contrary, God told Moses to make a serpent out of brass, and put it on a pole, and everyone that looked at it should live.

Now, God did not kill the snakes, but, to the contrary, He gave a different solution—one that no one else could have thought of. And, that snake on a pole pictured the Lord Jesus Christ. Somebody might say today, "If God is so powerful, why doesn't God kill the devil?" God doesn't kill the devil. He puts His Son, the Lord Jesus, on a cross. You see, Christianity, Is not the subtraction of problems from life. It is the addition of power to meet those problems. And, God has a way for you, and God will make a way for you.

Saint Augustine said, "God is an infinite circle, whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere." What did he mean by that? He meant there is never a place where God is not; and, when you're in a problem, when you're in a difficulty, God is right there in the midst of your problem—God is right there in the midst of your difficulty with you.

I found a good psalm that I want to share with you, and see if it is not a blessing to you. It is Psalm 147:3, 4—"He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names".

There are more stars in our universe than there are grains of sand on all the seas of the earth; and, God has numbered them, and God has named them. But, this verse says the same God that runs this mighty universe knows when you hurt. He's God that cares about you. He is God whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere. He is the sovereign God. Hallelujah for such a God! Church, I want to tell you that, whatever God wants to do, He is able to do it.

Now, that's the very first thing I want you to see, and that's the reason we're going to make it—not because of who we are, but because of who He is and what He has promised. He is the God who is able. And so, point number one is the sovereignty of the Savior. "Now unto him who is able" (Jude 1:24).

II. The Security of the Saint

Do, you know why the writer said, "what manner of love" in 1 John? Because he couldn't think of an adjective, evidently. Maybe, "what colossal love," "what stupendous love," "what..." I just can't even think of a word. "What manner of love." He just finally had to settle on it: "What manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us, that we should be called the sons of God" (1 John 3:1). God loves you, and you are secure in God's sovereign love.

Paul picked up on that. In Romans 8:38, 39, "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord".

A. God's Fathomless Love

Now listen, He is able to keep you from falling, because of His fathomless love. He loves you, as He loves His own dear Son—nothing you can do to make Him love you more; nothing you can do to make Him love you less. He loves you, because of His grace.

B. God's Infinite Power

My second reason is not only His fathomless love, but also His infinite power. Look again in verse 1—you are "preserved in Jesus Christ" (Jude 1:1). Not pickled—preserved. That means, "kept," or, "guarded." The word here means, "guarded"—not so much as a guard in prison guards a prison, but as a mother protects and watches over her baby with tender, loving care. He is able.

In verse 25, it speaks of His majesty, dominion, and power (Jude 1:25). Now, can you think of any power strong enough to take you out of the hand of God? People think that, perhaps, the devil could take you away from God. Jesus said, in John 10:27, 28: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand". Can you think of a power that can pry open the mighty hand of God and take out a child of God?

C. God's Eternal Purpose

Now, let me tell you, the first reason is God's fathomless love. The second reason is God's infinite power. We are preserved by Jesus Christ. And, it's not a matter of your holding onto God; it is a matter of God's holding onto you—and none is able to pluck you out of His hand (John 10:29). It just cannot be done. And, the third reason, is God's eternal purpose. Look again in verse 1—and he says, "Preserved in Jesus Christ, and called" (Jude 1:1). Now, this word called doesn't mean like, "I might just call somebody on the phone." It actually is a Greek word for "a summons"—that is, God summoned you; God called you.

Now, you see, the reason that you are saved is you answered the call. You see, it didn't originate with you; it originated with God. And, the Bible tells us, in Romans 8:30: "Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified". Now, you think about it: There is an eternal chain, a golden chain of redemption, that cannot be broken. God predestined you; and then, God called you; and then, God justified you; and then, God glorified you.

You see, salvation is not your work; it is God's work. And, that's the reason the Apostle said, "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform..." (Philippians 1:6). Say amen. Now listen, what has been decreed by Heaven cannot be annulled by Hell. And, what has been settled in eternity cannot be undone in time. We were in the heart and mind of God before He swung this world into space. And, we are the ones that He has called.

Now, when you put those three things together, you're going to find that a threefold cord is not easily broken. It is impossible to break it. And, here is why we are secure, and here is why He is able to keep us: Number one, his fathomless love; number two, his infinite power; number three, his eternal purpose. Put those together, you've got security.

III. The Sufficiency of the Salvation

Now, God is up to something. Do you know what God is up to? Not to make you happy, not to make you healthy, but, primarily, to make you holy. Do you know what God is really up to? God wants to make you just like Jesus Christ. You see, the Bible says, "He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son" (Romans 8:29). And, what is God's Son like? He is faultless. And, one of these days, I'm going to be faultless; and, one of these days, you're going to be faultless. We're going to be presented to Him faultless.

This word faultless is the word that was used of a sacrifice. Do you remember the sacrifices had to be without spot or blemish? The word that is translated over in Peter is the same word here, faultless—"without any blemish at all." Can you imagine there being in you not one blemish—not anything that even has a vestige of sin? Can you imagine your being as pure as Jesus Christ is pure? One day, you will be. One day, you'll be presented to Him that way. Do you know what this refers to? It refers to the rapture of the Church. It refers to the time of the Second Coming, when we are changed.

We're not faultless now; but, one day, He's going to present us to Himself. We're going to be faultless, because we're going to be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye (1 Corinthians 15:52). I told you before, that, when you get saved, there are three stages to your salvation. When you get saved, at that moment, you are immediately justified in the Spirit. Then, God begins to work on you, and you are progressively sanctified in the soul.

But, one day, after the Second Coming, we will be ultimately glorified in the body. At that moment, the last vestige of sin and failure will be purged away from us, and we will be presented to Him faultless to stand before the throne. That's going to happen. Now, what that refers to is when the bride is presented to the bridegroom. We are the bride; He is the bridegroom. And, the bride is going to be presented to the bridegroom.

Do you remember reading over there, in Ephesians 5, where the Church is spoken of as the bride of Christ? And, the Bible says that, "Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle" (Ephesians 5:25-27). A glorious Church—without spot or wrinkle. When the bride comes, she is going to be absolutely, brilliantly beautiful. And, He's going to present it to Himself with exceeding joy. That's what he's talking about, right here.

Let me tell you how an old-fashioned Oriental wedding took place. First of all, there was the proposal. Now, the groom would leave his father's house. And, the groom would go to the house of the bride. And, there he would court her, and there he would propose to her. There would be, number one, the proposal.

Now, there would be a proposal; and then, there would be a purchase. Now, after he had agreed on this, and after he had paid the price, then they would drink from a mutual cup, a communion cup, a cup over which a betrothal benediction had been prayed—and both the groom and the bride would drink from this cup. Now, the marriage had not been consummated, but she then belongs to him so much that, if she were to go with any other person, she would be thought of as breaking her marriage vows and being unfaithful, though the marriage had not yet been consummated. And so, they would drink of this cup of communion together. So, there would be a proposal. There would be a purchase. She belonged to him now; she is his betrothed.

And then, there would be a parting. He would leave. He would go back to the father's house to prepare a place for them to live. He would go to prepare a place for her, and he would say, "I'm going to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself" (John 14:3). So he would go off unto his father's house, and there, at that vast estate, if his father were very wealthy, he would prepare a special place for them.

In the meanwhile, she would begin to sew her special clothes and to gather her ornaments for the wedding, to get ready—because, in the oriental wedding, there was something very different from our wedding. The bride could not set the date of the wedding, nor did the groom set the date of the wedding. The father of the groom would set the date of the wedding, and he would prepare a great, lavish marriage supper. And, when things were ready, then he would send out, and say, "All things are now ready; my son is going to be married." At that time, the son would come with the friends of the bridegroom, over the hills and through the woods, many times, at night. The bride still doesn't know yet that time. You see, she just has to get ready and stay ready. That's right—she just has to get ready and stay ready.

And, they come with torches, and someone runs ahead, gets up near the bride's window—perhaps she has already gone to bed—and he gives this shout: "Behold, the bridegroom cometh!" "Oh, he's here!" And, she knew he was coming. She'd been told to expect him at any moment, and he said, "I'm coming back for you." But, he's here. She gathers her things, and she's swept away. And, there's a proclamation: "He's coming!" There's a shout. A trumpet will blast. She is carried away.

And then, back to the groom's father's house, and there is feasting and merriment. A marriage supper is in progress, and all of the friends are there. And, the bride is presented to the groom. And oh, what joy the groom has, as he presents to himself his bride with exceeding joy! Folks, that's what Jude is talking about here. The presentation of the bride is going to be so wonderful, so glorious.

And, listen—that bride would hardly have time to get herself ready. She had to stay ready. But, when Jesus comes for His own, He's the heavenly bridegroom; the same One who calls us is the One who is going to change us. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, we're going to be made like Jesus. The reason that I say this salvation is sufficient is because it does what it is supposed to do: make us, one day, like our Lord. Now I may not look so saved this morning, but you just be patient—God's not finished with me yet—amen? "He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6). At the day of Jesus Christ, He will be finished. When Christ comes, it will be finished. We will see Him as He is, and we will be like Him—one with our Lord.