KEPT FROM FALLING
Jude 24, 25 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.
KEPT FROM FALLING
Jude 24, 25 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.
INTRODUCTION: THE BUSINESS OF FALLING
I would be very surprised to discover that there is someone in this congregation or viewing this service who never fell in his or her life. The business of falling is common to all humans. As children, falling was at times, something that tickled our friends and us, and we would burst out in uncontrollable laughter because someone fell. Playing team sports, jumping fences and climbing trees, falling was part and parcel of childhood living and I have many bumps, scars and bruises to prove it but I keep on playing and falling anyway. In my teen years falling was not so funny anymore, because whenever I fell my thoughts immediately rushed to find ways to explain away and to hide my embarrassment. I would look around to see who saw me fall while I scrambled back to my feet. As an adult however, falling is not about fun or embarrassment anymore but about being sure to be able to get back up, regardless of who is around. As a senior, falling is a horse of a different color. Falling could be the difference between life and death. Falling could mean having to use a cane or a walker for a long time. It could mean consignment to a wheelchair for the rest of your life. Falling could mean major surgery and long periods of hospitalization. Falling could mean confinement to a nursing home for life or even the end of life. Falling is serious business.
THE FALL OF HUMANITY
In the Bible, the most tragic fall took place when Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit in the Garden in Eden and all of the human race fell. Humanity fell into sin. Sin that pervades the planet. Sn that drags people down into the gutter and mire. Sin that perforates the heart with hatred and anger, violence and murder. Sin that brought destruction, demise, disease, despair and death to all of Adam’s fallen race. Sin that elicited the remarks of the Prophet, “all we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own wicked way.” Sin that drew the comment of the Apostle, “For the wages of sin is death….” Rom 6:23 Sin that precipitated the declaration of King David. “ Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me… “ Ps 51:5. Sin that generated the graphic description of Isaiah, “From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, … “ Isaiah 1:6. It was into that cesspool of sin that humanity fell but God intervened. In the Old Testament He accepted the sacrifice of animals for the temporary covering of the sins of the people of Israel. But then one day Jesus came and became the eternal sin-sacrifice and His blood washed away our sins, made us clean and delivered humanity from the despicable condition of sin and making us accepted. “There is therefore now no condemnataion to them that are Christ, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life. For God so loved the world the He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes on Him would not perish but have everlasting life. He saved us. He saved me. Say He saved me. He saved us and He keeps us yes, He keeps us from falling back into sin. Our text today found in Jude 24, says, “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling… “
JUDE
Jude the writer of text today was just an ordinary follower of Jesus, not one of the twelve apostles of Christ. Jude was also a brother of Jesus, though he never mentions that in the text. He grew up in the same home as Jesus and when Jesus declared that He was the Messiah, Jude like his other siblings did not believe Him.
Jude had ample opportunity to examine and scrutinize the life of Jesus. I think that it is safe to conclude that Jesus grew up with His siblings and they felt that they had the responsibility to protect and care for Him. I can also conclude that He was very ordinary and just like other people around Him but then Luke 4:18-21 took place and Jesus declared that He was God’s only begotten Son, and therefore God in the flesh, this was too much for Jude and his skepticism drove him to disbelief. However the life, the death, the burial and resurrection of Jesus changed Jude’s unbelief into confident assurance so that one day he could pen the powerful words of our text : 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.
The name Jude is the English form of the Hebrew name Judas that literally means PRAISE OF THE LORD. Jude was writing in a time when false teachers attacked the church. They were destroying young Christians with their heresy and Jude did not like it. He was especially displeased that they were trying to separate spiritual matters from behavior. They taught that since the world is evil there is no point and it makes no difference how you behave. They felt that you could live any way you pleased and that it would be all right. But Jude disagreed. People probably felt that they could not even live a good Christian life because of all the evil that was around them, but Jude insisted that it could be done because HE IS ABLE ,CHRIST IS ABLE TO KEEP YOU FROM FALLING.
HE WILL KEEP YOU
I have come by to say to those of you who are struggling with your Christian walk Christ is able to keep you from falling.
To keep means to PRESERVE, MAINTAIN: to watch over to defend to take care of. Jude says Christ is able to keep you.
HE WILL PRESENT YOU
Now notice something else in the text, not only is Christ able to keep you from falling but He will present you. To present means to bring or to introduce formally to offer to SHOW to bring to the attention of. Christ wants to present you and me to God the Father. Jude says to present you faultless, in other words to make us presentable. That word faultless means without blemish, free from faultiness, without spot. You see, when Jesus does the job it is done well. Christ wants to take away the stains from your life.
HE WILL REMOVE THE STAIN
You see sometimes our lives are stained by things we stained them with but some stains other people stained us with and we are still suffering and carrying around those ugly stains. Some of us are carrying the stain of anger some are wearing the stain of fear, some are carrying the stain of grief, some are carrying the stain of guilt of some are wearing the stain of loneliness some of us have a stain of rejection, and some have the stain of revenge. And no matter how hard you have tried the stain cannot come out.
That stain makes you look dirty, that stain makes you appear to be damaged, that stain blocks your vision and you cannot see things clearly as you should. But I’ve got good news for you Jesus can get the stain out. Just give it unto Him. Jude says “Now unto Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you clean, immaculate, pure, purged, spotless, unadulterated, uncontaminated, unpolluted, untainted, unspotted and unstained, washed.
If the trouble is sin He can wash you and make you clean. “There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins and sinners plunge beneath that flood loose all their guilty stains.” What can wash away my sins nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus, O precious is the flow that makes me white as snow, no other fount I know nothing but the blood of Jesus. There is power, power, wonder working power in the blood of the Lamb. For it reaches to the highest mountain and it flows to the lowest valley the blood that gives me strength from day to day it will never lose its power.
If the stain is emotional pain and mental strain and you feel like you are about to lose your mind He is able to keep you from falling. If the stain is financial disaster and it looks like, you are about to lose everything. He is able to keep you from falling. If the stain is spiritual defeat and you feel as though you cannot go on living your Christian life any longer. He is able to keep you in falling.
If the stain is relational incompatibility and your marriage is heading for the rocks, even if your spouse is already talking divorce. He is able to keep you from falling.
If the stain is with your children and you have already lost one and you are worried about the others, let me tell you that if you trust in Him, Christ is able to keep you from falling.
CONCLUSION
You can have the confidence that whatever has happened is happening or will happen that Christ will keep you from falling and will present you faultless to God the Father.
