John K. Jenkins Sr - The God Who Can Keep Us From Falling

Father, we thank You for the privilege of worshiping You collectively. Together, we pray that You take these next few moments and speak to us. Let hearts be open and receptive. In the name of the Lord, let somebody hear what You want to say to them today. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.

You can be seated. Y’all shouldn’t have come to this service if you don’t mean it. Don 't say stuff you don’t mean. Open your Bibles to the book of Jude. I know you don’t know where it is; it’s next to the last book in the Bible, with the last book being Revelation, and there’s one small one-chapter book right before that. I’m going to preach through the whole chapter. It took y’all a long time to say take my time, but that’s okay. This is an epistle written to the church from Jude, the brother of Jesus. He’s one of His brothers. I want to title this message. Let me read verses 24 and 25; let me start there.

Verse 24: «Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.» I’m titling this message «The God Who Keeps Us From Falling.» Is there anybody here that knows we serve a God that can keep us from falling? I want to start at verse one, and I’ll give you my points as we go along, but I’m going to start off by reading these first two verses. It says, «Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ.»

Stick a pin right there. First of all, I know right off the bat that everybody’s not going to be interested in this message. Some of y’all can probably fall asleep while I’m preaching. If you do, sleep with dignity; that’s all I ask you to do. Let your head fall forward so people behind you will think you’re agreeing with what I’m saying. Don 't lean over and disturb your neighbor. This message is for people who know they are called, and those who are sanctified. That 's who this is for: the called, the sanctified, and preserved. Sanctified means God has set you aside for His assignment for your life. It means you’ve been cleaned up. God has straightened out your life; He has made an effort to help you be right in His sight and to walk right in His sight. You are sanctified. You 've been cleaned up and set aside for the purposes of God’s kingdom and preserved in Christ Jesus.

«Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.» Then he begins in verse three, explaining the challenge of why he’s writing this particular epistle. In verses three and four, here’s what he says: «Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you, exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.» Stop right there. He said, «Look, I wanted to talk to y 'all about this great salvation we have, but it was necessary; I felt the need to write to you to fight for the faith, contend for the faith which was delivered to the saints .» And here’s why. Verse four: Here is the challenge.

This is my first point, the challenge (verses three and four): «For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation-ungodly men who turned the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.» Stick a pin right there. I know I keep sticking pins everywhere, but stick one here. He said, «There are some creepy fellas who have crept into the church. They are marked out for this condemnation; they’ve been pointed out by God for who they are-ungodly men. Here 's what their problem is: they have turned the grace of our God into lewdness.»

The King James Version uses the word «lasciviousness.» I have to tell you what it means because you probably don’t know what either of the two words mean. Here 's what he’s saying: they’ve taken the grace of God and turned it into lewdness or lasciviousness. That word «lasciviousness» means to give in to sin without even trying to resist it; just go on and do whatever you want to do. Just yield. In other words, they’re telling people to live how you want to live. These creepy fellas have crept into the church, and there’s a philosophy, a belief, a teaching, and dialogue among the saints that it doesn’t really matter how you live. You can live however you want to live; if it feels right, do it. If it makes you happy, just do it.

It is, in fact, my brothers and sisters, a warning. And the truth be told, because y’all are acting a little strange in the camp today, like y’all don’t know what I’m talking about, but everybody in here has something by which they are tempted. Y 'all might as well tell the truth; we all have something that when it calls our name, we look in that direction. Huh? Come on, holler at your brother.