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You can turn in your Bibles to 
the book of Jude, located between 3rd John and 
Revelation, right near the end of your Bible to the right, the 
epistle of Jude. We'll read all of the book. For 
those who know the book, that means we'll just be reading one 
chapter and the whole book shorter than some chapters, of course, 
in the Bible, yet a book that is packed with much. We'll be 
focusing, though, for this sermon on verses 24 and 25, the doxology 
that ends the epistle of Jude. But let's read the entirety of 
the letter. Judah, bondservant of Jesus Christ 
and brother of James to those who are called sanctified by 
God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ. Mercy, peace 
and love be multiplied to you. 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. 
For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were 
marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men who turn the grace 
of our God into lewdness, and deny the only Lord God and our 
Lord Jesus Christ. But I want to remind you, though 
you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people 
out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 
And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left 
their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness 
for the judgment of the great day. As Sodom and Gomorrah and 
the cities around them, in a similar manner to these, having given 
themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, 
are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal 
fire. Likewise also, these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, 
and speak evil of dignitaries. Yet Michael the archangel, in 
contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of 
Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but 
said, The Lord rebuke you. But these speak evil of whatever 
they do not know, and whatever they know naturally, like brute 
beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. Woe to them, 
for they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in 
the error of Balaam, for profit, and perished in the rebellion 
of Korah. These are spots in your love 
feasts while they feast with you without fear, serving only 
themselves. They are clouds without water 
carried about by the winds, late autumn trees without fruit, twice 
dead, pulled up by the roots, raging waves of the sea foaming 
up their own shame, wandering stars for whom is reserved the 
blackness of darkness forever. Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, 
prophesied about these men also, saying, Behold, the Lord comes 
with ten thousands of his saints to execute judgment on all, to 
convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds 
which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the 
harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. These 
are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts, 
and they mouth great swelling words flattering people to gain 
advantage. But you, beloved, remember the 
words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. how they told you that there 
would be mockers in the last time, who would walk according 
to their own ungodly lusts. These are sensual persons who 
cause divisions, not having the Spirit. But you, beloved, building 
yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 
keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of 
our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. and on some have compassion, 
making a distinction, but others save with fear, pulling them 
out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh. 
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. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you 
for what we just read. We thank you for your holy word. 
We thank you that, Lord God, you have given to us in your 
word revelation concerning your will, salvation through Jesus 
Christ, our Savior. And we do pray that you would 
bless our time, Lord God. We pray that the Spirit would 
be present, strengthening saints, saving sinners, empowering the 
minister to preach the things of Christ. We pray, Lord God, 
again, that this exercise would be unto the praise of your name 
and the glory of your grace. We pray, Lord God, that you would, 
by this exercise, richly bless your saints and save sinners. 
And, Lord God, that you would be magnified, that you would 
receive all honor and praise. And we pray in Christ's precious 
name. Amen. Well, just very briefly, if you've 
ever wondered why Very often we have three-point sermons at 
Free Grace Baptist Church, and sometimes three sub-points under 
each of those points, or something like that. It's not necessarily 
a manufactured thing or a cute thing to structure a sermon in. 
Jude here is strikingly attentive to the number three as you work 
through this particular letter. Notice that the letter itself 
is structured into three sections, a greeting, a main epistolary 
portion, and a doxology. The greeting itself is threefold, 
an identification of the author, the identification of the audience, 
and a benediction. Each one of those particular 
things are structured in threes. 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. Mercy, peace, 
and love be multiplied to you." We have something of a threeness 
throughout this letter. Notice the examples given with 
regards to those who are judged by God. He goes to Egypt, those 
who were destroyed first. He goes to, secondly, angels, 
those who are reserved in chains for everlasting judgment. Thirdly, 
to Sodom and Gomorrah. Likewise, these dreamers, verse 
8, how are they identified in a threefold way? They defile 
the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. Anyway, when a Reformed preacher 
has a three-point sermon, there is biblical warrant for it. And 
go to the book of Jude to see that. Of course, above all of 
that, we serve and we worship a blessed triune God. The doxology 
in the epistle of Jude. In this doxology, we have Jude 
not deviating from or not writing praise to God. That's what doxology 
means, remember. It comes from the Greek doxa, 
praise. And so in this doxology, we don't 
have Jude writing, ascribing praise to God without respect 
to what preceded it. Which would be fine, by the way, 
for an author of Holy Scripture to render praise to God, to launch 
into praise to God without necessarily respect to the context, is absolutely 
fine. There are times where we think 
we see this, for example, in 1 John 3.1. It seems without 
respect to what preceded and what followed, John could just 
launch into a praise to God for making us children. Of his most 
precious name, but we have in this doxology Respect to the 
content that preceded it so praise is rendered to God and there 
is specifically in view targets in Jude's crosshairs the heretics 
and that He is condemning throughout the Epistle, and of course to 
encourage the saints in their walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. Now just before we get to the 
content of the sermon, who is the Him, and who is the His glory, 
or who is the one in view with respect to His glory in verse 
24, and who is being referred to in verse 25 when we read to 
God our Savior, I think we have some options, but we will this 
morning have in view the Lord Jesus Christ as the recipient 
of this particular doxology. And we'll have pause to look 
at some textual variations when we get a little bit later down 
the line. But we're going to look at this 
doxology under three observations. First, his exclusive preservation. Secondly, his singular greatness. 
And thirdly, his deserved praise. So His exclusive preservation, 
notice what we read in 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. So in the acknowledgement 
of the one who is to be praised with glory and majesty, the one 
who is to be acknowledged and recognized as one who has dominion 
and power both now and forever, The identification comes as one 
who has exclusive preservation. And what does this mean then? 
Well, first off, it most certainly means that we cannot keep ourselves. Now, to Him who is able to keep 
you from stumbling, Jude writes to those who are called, sanctified 
by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ. By this statement, 
Jude declares most certainly that we cannot keep ourselves. Now, you might find that interesting 
if you were following when we read, for example, verse 21, 
where Jude writes, keep yourselves in the love of God. So Jude has 
exhorted the Christians, his audience, to keep themselves 
in the love of God. And then later he writes, now 
to him who is able to keep you. Well, the distinction here, I 
think, and I believe Gil is right when he identifies that for the 
Christian to keep themselves in the love of God, that is a 
spirit-aided attendance unto the means of grace. That is, 
and Jude actually follows with one, how are we to keep ourselves 
in the love of God? Well, in the context, praying 
in the Holy Spirit and looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. How is it that we keep ourselves 
in the love of God? We come to church. We attend 
to those God ordained means whereby he has promised to bless his 
people. We come and we engage in congregational 
worship. We participate in prayer, in 
baptism, and the Lord's Supper. We attend unto those God-ordained 
means whereby He has promised to bless His saints. We read 
the Word. God has promised a blessing to 
those who avail of His revelation. So the idea is that for that 
statement, keeping yourselves in the love of God, but with 
regards to the efficacy, that is with regards to the power, 
the effect of power in salvation and in preservation, now to Him 
who is able to keep you from stumbling. We cannot keep ourselves. You know, that is one of the 
things, that reality is one of the things behind one of our 
favorite Psalms, or which should be one of our favorite Psalms, 
Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall 
not want. You know, he has, the shepherd, 
our Lord Jesus Christ, keeps us, he sets us, he puts us in 
places whereby we avail of divine blessing. And so Jude, most certainly, 
is saying here, by his exclusive, Christ's exclusive preservation, 
that we cannot keep ourselves. What does it also mean? It means, 
of course, by exclusion, that no one else can keep us. No one 
else can keep us. You see, Christianity is a religion 
of Jesus Christ. It is called Christianity because, 
yes, Jesus Christ is that one who ratified the new covenant 
in his blood, but because all revelation points with glorious 
trajectory to that one Lord Jesus Christ, who came to save His 
people from their sins. No one else saves, no one else 
keeps, no one else preserves us, save for the triune God through 
Jesus Christ, our blessed Savior. Turn to Psalm 146 for a moment, 
because it is a common repeated theme by the psalmist. that there 
is one who is able to keep us from stumbling. You'll probably 
recognize this psalm because we very often sing it both in 
our hymnal and from the Red Trinity Psalter. But notice similarities 
because there is a doxology given. And then with regards to this 
most certain truth that it is only Jesus Christ who keeps us 
from stumbling. Praise the Lord, the psalmist 
writes. Praise the Lord, O my soul, while 
I live I will praise the Lord, I will sing praises to my God 
while I have my being. Do not put your trust in princes, 
nor in a son of man in whom there is no help. His spirit departs, 
he returns to his earth. In that very day his plans perish." 
You see, The people of God are not to put their hope in princes. 
They're not to put their hope in earthly kings. They're not 
to put their hope in earthly things, but rather they are to 
put their hope solely and alone in God. When the psalmist writes 
here, if you've ever asked yourself, do not put your trust in princes, 
nor in a son of man in whom there is no help. Well, isn't Christ 
referred to as the son of man. Well, yes he is. The idea here 
is simply earthly human sons of men. Not the divine God-man 
who came and gave his life for sinners, but rather do not put 
your trust in men, in humans. but rather put your trust only 
in the divine. Put your trust in God. Happy 
is he, the psalmist says in verse 5, who has the God of Jacob for 
his help, whose hope is in the Lord, his God, who made heaven 
and earth, the sea, and all that is in them. By this statement, 
By Jude, when he says now to him who is able to keep you from 
stumbling, we know that we cannot keep ourselves. We know that 
others cannot keep us. And so we most certainly know, 
as the text explicitly says, that only Christ can keep us. 
That's why he writes now to him who is able to keep you from 
stumbling. This same Christ has already 
been introduced in the greeting when the author is identifying 
the recipients of the letter to those who are called, sanctified 
by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ. That blessed 
reality of perseverance of the saints, the perseverance of the 
saints. It's interesting in the in the 
theology study. I was about to say the Men's 
Theology Study, but women are welcome. There were only men 
for a while, but now we have women there, which is terrific. 
Everybody should learn theology. But in the Men's and Women's 
Theology Study, we are studying a book by James White, The Potter's 
Freedom. And what it is, is a response 
to Norman Geisler's book, Chosen but Free. It's a defense of the 
five points of Calvinism which are biblical To be sure the five 
points of Calvinism in the one point that Norman Geisler agrees 
with is the perseverance of the Saints He does not reject the 
reality that those who are truly saved by the grace of God will 
end up in eternal blessedness forever and ever but you see 
that Preservation that perseverance of the Saints that eternal security 
is based upon the four points that precede it. is based upon 
the reality that in total depravity, we need someone to bring us from 
the mire and the muck of deadness and trespasses and sins, that 
that salvation comes by virtue of unconditional election, that 
before the foundation of the world, without respect to any 
good works done by the individual, without respect to future anticipation 
of belief, God the Father appointed some unto eternal life, many, 
a multitude that no man can number. That Christ comes and He brings 
particular redemption, limited atonement for all those who had 
been unconditionally elected by God. In His appointed and 
accepted time, the Holy Spirit comes with irresistible grace 
and raises that elect sinner unto life and light in Jesus 
Christ. You see, all of those things 
precede the pea, the preservation, the fact that Christ is able 
to keep us from stumbling depends upon those blessed theological 
truths that precede the pea and the tulip. Our confession puts 
it some way like this. Our perseverance depends not 
upon our own free will, but upon the decree of eternal election 
that flows from the free and unchangeable love of God the 
Father. upon the mediatorial and the perfect intercessory 
work of the Lord Jesus Christ, upon the sealing and the guarantee 
of the Spirit and the promises and the oaths of God and the 
covenant of grace. You see, He is able to keep us from stumbling 
because in His divine greatness, He bears all power and ability 
to save to the uttermost those who come nigh by His precious 
blood. Only Christ can keep us. And notice what's added here 
with regards to this language of Christ in salvation. 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. 
You know, we could have a we could have a fourth point added 
here after the first one or a second point added before one and two. And that would be his perfect 
presentation, because you know what the Lord Jesus Christ does 
for his elect sinners is that he does just what the text says. 
He presents us. He causes us. He makes us to 
stand before the radiance and the brilliance of his glory blameless. What a glorious reality. We are 
vile and helpless sinners. No way of making ourselves acceptable 
before God. No way of doing enough, meriting 
enough, earning enough salvific merit to cause us to be approvable 
before the burning eyes of a judge. But Christ, in His grace and 
in His mercy and according to His perfect work, presents us 
faultless before the presence of His glory. And this is not 
just eschatological. You know what that word means, 
remember? According to the last things. This is not just a future 
reality, though it is a future reality. On that great and final 
day, we will be faultless before the presence of his glory because 
of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. But it is past and present 
as well. Right now, Christ does present 
us faultless before the throne of God. You see, this faultlessness 
doesn't have to do with the efficacy of our works and our deeds and 
our good things wrought in the course of our life. This does 
not pertain to our sanctification. And in other words, our works 
of befitting repentance, but rather it has to do with the 
fact that we are perfect in Jesus Christ. That according to His 
perfect work, He removes the wretched and soiled robes of 
our sin and of our iniquity and depravity, and He replaces them 
with white robes, washed in His precious blood, those robes of 
righteousness and of glory. Jesus Christ presents us faultless, 
and herein we're not to find anything of ourselves. There 
is that one man who in 1834 knew that this was nothing of ourselves. 
When he penned this particular hymn that you know well, in 582, 
my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. 
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' 
name. Jude 124, in the background, 
I would imagine, in stanza four, "'When I shall launch in worlds 
unseen, O may I then be found in Him, dressed in His righteousness 
alone, faultless to stand before the throne.'" You see, Edward 
Mote in 1834 knew that we don't stand faultless because of any 
contribution from ourselves, but rather solely and alone because 
of the blessed and perfect work of Jesus Christ, the Savior. 
He presents us faultless before the presence of his glory with 
exceeding joy. Notice, secondly, his singular 
greatness. We have his exclusive preservation 
in verse 24, We have, at the beginning of verse 25, His singular 
greatness. To God our Savior, who alone 
is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now 
and forever. Amen. To God our Savior, who 
alone is wise. Now you may have, if you have, 
I'm reading from the New King James. The King James, I believe, 
reads to the only wise God, our Savior. You may have in your 
translations, wise isn't there, and it's added through Jesus 
Christ, the Lord, something like that. So your version may read, to God, our Savior, through Jesus 
Christ, the Lord, something to that effect. I'm speaking from 
what I read in the New King James and the King James textual tradition 
where we do find wise given to God, our Savior, who alone is 
wise. And we want to notice three things. 
He is alone God. Now this comes as a simple thing 
to the Christian, doesn't it? Because we don't throw our hands 
up and say, oh, there's no other gods other than the triune God 
of Holy Scripture. Of course we know that. But it 
is to be our constant confession in the face of pagan religion, 
in the face of polytheism, in the face of the proclivity in 
our own hearts to follow after other gods, to follow after money, 
to have ourselves as idols, and all those things, we need to 
have the profession that there is one God alone, that He is 
alone God. This was the confession in the 
Old Covenant. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our 
God, the Lord is one. The Lord Jesus Christ upholds 
this in Mark chapter 12, when He's tested by a scribe. What 
is the foremost commandment? He goes to Deuteronomy 6-4. Hero 
Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. The Apostle Paul 
appeals to that in 1 Corinthians 8. Therefore, the eating of things, 
sacrifice to idols, we know that there is no such thing as an 
idol in the world and that there is no God but one. This is the 
creedal affirmation of the Christian church throughout the ages as 
well. That there is alone one God. How many persons are there 
in the Godhead? The shorter catechism asks. These 
are good things to learn, children and adults, as we have these 
doctrines that we need to hold with a strong grip. How many 
gods are there? There is one God only, the living 
and true God. But you see, that isn't to the 
exclusion of His triunity. How many persons are there in 
the Godhead? There are three persons in the 
Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. And these 
three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power, and 
in glory. You see, the Christian God is 
one God in three persons, blessed Trinity. So there is this reality 
that he is a lone God. And this is to target specifically 
the heretics that Jude is dealing with. These heretics would have 
been the forerunners to the Gnostic heretics in following centuries. 
And one of their doctrines would have been that the God of the 
Old Testament is an evil God that was usurped by Jesus Christ, 
the God of the New Testament. if we can simplify things. And 
you see, they would have had this dualistic approach to those 
two particular deities. In fact, what's in view when 
Jude is writing, for example, in verse 11, Woe to them, for 
they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the 
error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of 
Korah." Those three persons would have been heroes to these heretics. 
And so Jude is saying there is only one God. The God who judged 
those in the Old Testament is the Lord Jesus Christ, who is 
a lone God, our God and Savior. and alone wise. And so this doxology 
targets that Gnostic polytheism to cut it down at the knees and 
to exalt the aloneness of God. Not that He is lonely, but that 
He is alone, the ruler of the universe. He is alone wise. Notice in the translation we're 
reading, to God our Savior who alone is wise. Sometimes we have 
these doxologies in our Bibles that use language that, okay, 
what does that mean? For example, in 1 Timothy 6.17, 
and you can turn there, 1 Timothy 6.17. There is a very similar 
doxology that we read, excuse me, beginning in verse 15, 1 
Timothy 6.15, which he will manifest in his own time, he who is the 
blessed and only potentate, the king of kings and lord of lords, 
who alone has immortality. It's saying there that Christ 
is, or God the Father is, or in some approaches, the triune 
God alone is, the blessed and only ruler, or potentate, or 
magistrate, king. Well, we know that there are 
other kings, don't we? If this is a reference to Christ, 
we know that the Father and the Holy Spirit likewise have authority. Well, the idea I think here is 
that saying blessed and only is simply a reference to that 
He is the only true and majestic and honorable and the one worthy 
of praise. It goes on to say, who alone 
has immortality? The angels. have immortality. We have immortality by virtue 
of our spirits, by virtue of our spirits. We will live forever 
with immortality whether in heaven or in hell. Saints, Christians 
going to heaven, those outside of Christ going to that place 
reserved for the devil and his angels. So How can he say who 
alone has immortality if the angels and if men have immortality? Well, the idea is that only God 
has it in and of himself. He does not gain immortality 
by derivation. He doesn't get it from somewhere 
outside himself. He grants immortality to angels 
and he grants immortality to men. Well, here, with respect 
to who alone is wise, that's what we have as well. There are 
wise men throughout the Scriptures. Wisdom is ascribed to both to 
kings, to prophets, to judges, to apostles. Wisdom is ascribed 
to fools who avail of the revelation of God. The idea here is simply, 
and firstly, that He is wisdom. that Jesus Christ is wisdom. Jesus Christ just doesn't have 
wisdom. God just doesn't have wisdom, 
but He is wisdom. That's hard to wrap our minds 
around because we have knowledge. We acquire it. We go through 
education. We read and we acquire knowledge. But you see, God is wisdom. He doesn't acquire it. He's not 
the God of the deist or the open theist who must acquire as he 
progresses. lives along with man, but rather 
He has all knowledge. You see, His omniscience in knowing 
everything is not Him coming to the point of knowing everything, 
but He being wisdom itself, the Lord, the Creator, the Providential 
Guider. He is wisdom, and He is the giver 
of wisdom. He is wisdom Himself, and He 
gives wisdom to men, and He is the point of wisdom. What do 
we mean by that? He's the point of wisdom. Well, 
the very reason for the giving of wisdom to men is so that God 
might be glorified through Jesus Christ the Lord. The reason we 
have intellects, the reason we have brains, are so that we might 
use them to worship the Lord God, the triune God of heaven 
and earth, and give glory to His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is alone wise. This is spoken 
by Job in the Old Testament. Job says himself, does the hawk 
fly by your wisdom and spread its wings towards the south? 
And many times throughout the book of Job, that is simply what 
is in view, that it is God alone who has wisdom. You read places 
like Job 12, where Job is rehearsing the sovereignty of God in affliction, 
the sovereignty of God over his particular state, the sovereignty 
of God over all things. And we read things like this, 
when Job is indicting his friends, we read, with him our wisdom 
and strength, he has counsel and understanding. If he breaks 
a thing down, it cannot be rebuilt, etc. He'll go on to say, oh, 
that you would be completely silent and that it would be your 
wisdom. You see, silence or wisdom for 
men is silence. Wisdom for God is the reality 
that he is the source of all wisdom. And before men, who are 
men to say that they are wise when it is God alone who has 
wisdom. The idea in the book of Jude 
as well is to target these Gnostics. There is a particular application 
to identifying that God is alone wise, that Christ is alone wise. Secret knowledge is not to be 
gained by the gurus who are pushing this perverse religion, but rather 
it is only in Christ Jesus that you are to gain knowledge. Instructive 
for us is what? Is that the wisdom of the world 
is foolishness. But the wisdom from on high, 
the wisdom from God is true wisdom. The wisdom of the world is vanity. 
The wisdom of God is all that we need. The Apostle Paul would 
use that play on words and say the foolishness of God is wiser 
than men. And so for us, we are to go to 
the Lord God alone for wisdom. to the Lord God alone for knowledge, 
to the Lord God alone for all things. And notice, He is alone 
Savior. Depending on your translation, 
the argument is no doubt always the same. God is alone. Christ is alone our Savior. There is no other Savior save 
for Christ. We go to no one else. Remember, 
back to He who is able to keep us from stumbling. We cannot 
keep ourselves. No one else can keep us. Only 
Christ can, because He is our only Savior. The consistency 
in our Bibles is quite clear. You see, in the Old Testament, 
there were not a progression of other methods to be saved. 
There was no dispensational breaking up of salvific plans. Salvation 
has always been by the Lord Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection. We have, in the Old Testament, 
this reality brought forth. If you'll turn with me as we 
work through these final things in the book of Isaiah. The exclusivity 
of God, the exclusivity of Jesus Christ as our only Savior is 
abundantly clear. And in Isaiah, the testimony 
is sure and true. First in Isaiah 43. In Isaiah 
43 at verse 11, this is what we read. Very clearly, I, even I, am the 
Lord, and besides me, there is no Savior. The nonsense, even 
by some who would call themselves Christian, that there are many 
roads or many ways to heaven, flies in the face of biblical 
revelation. There is one way to heaven, and 
it is through the Lord Jesus Christ, through the plan of the 
Triune God. I, even I, am the Lord, and besides 
me, there is no Savior. 4521, Isaiah 4521. And verse 21, tell and bring 
forth your case. Yes, let them take counsel together. Who has declared this from ancient 
time? Who has told it from that time? 
Have not I, the Lord, and there is no other God besides me, a 
just God and a savior? There is none besides me. Look 
unto no one else and nothing else, but look all the ends of 
the earth unto me, and I will abide I will provide abundantly." Notice 
also Isaiah 60 in verse 16. Isaiah 60 in verse 16. You see, 
the Old Testament and the New Testament are in complete harmony. Salvation is, by grace, through 
faith in the Lord Christ. Verse 16 of Isaiah 60, you shall 
drink the milk of the Gentiles and milk the breasts of kings. 
You shall know that I, the Lord, am your Savior and your Redeemer, 
the Mighty One of Jacob." You see, we get to the New Testament, 
and it would have been nothing new, it would have been nothing 
strange for the recipients of preaching to hear, if you believe 
in the Christ, you have everlasting life, but if you do not believe 
in the Christ, you shall not see life, for the wrath of God 
abides on you. It wouldn't necessarily have 
been strange words to the ears to hear of exclusive salvation 
when Christ himself said, I am the way, the truth and the light. 
Now it rubbed the wrong way. It rubbed the Pharisees and the 
scribes and the ungodly the wrong way because it's this carpenter, 
this son of Joseph and Mary, whose brothers and sisters are 
with us to say that. But the idea of exclusive salvation 
by Yahweh of Israel was nothing strange. And, of course, we have 
that blessed statement by the Apostle Peter in Acts 4.12. There is no other name given 
under heaven. among men by which we might be 
saved, and it is the Lord Jesus Christ." And notice his deserved 
praise as we get back to the book of Jude. We have His exclusive 
preservation, His singular greatness, and His deserved praise. Verse 25, to God our Savior, 
who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, 
both now and forever. Amen. You see, sometimes we can 
read these doxologies and these words of praise to God, and it 
very well may be that there is just a multiplication and an 
amplification of terms because of the greatness of God, because 
of the highness of God, because of the holy otherness of God. There cannot be enough words 
to come out of our mouths to ascribe and properly recognize 
His glory and His majesty. There is meaning, though, of 
course, to these words. To God, our Savior, who alone 
is wise, be glory. The idea here is probably different 
than before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. There we probably have glory 
as His divine brilliance, the radiance of His being, and all 
those things that bespeak of the holy otherness of God in 
His being as separate from men and angels. But here we have 
glory probably meaning right words acknowledged and recognized 
concerning the Lord God, proper opinions given unto the triune 
God of Holy Scripture. If Christ is the object of doxology 
here, His saints are to render unto Him the praise that is due. And this rubs against the heretics 
who are denying their Lord and Savior. Notice what we read in 
verse 4. Ungodly men who turn the grace 
of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our 
Lord Jesus Christ. In opposition to this denial, 
you saints of Christ are to render unto Him glory. You are not to 
live in such a way that you deny the only Lord God and our Lord 
Jesus Christ, which, by the way, that language is not bringing 
out God the Father, and Jesus Christ, but when the author writes, 
only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ, that is speaking simply 
and singly to the Lord Jesus Christ in that particular declaration. But the idea here is that right 
words, right honor, right praise, right recognition and acknowledgement 
of the Lord Jesus Christ is to be lifted to the throne of grace 
where Christ is. Be glory and majesty. You see, 
Christ is to be honored in his deity. He is to be honored by 
virtue of the fact that he has the essence of God. But you see, 
he is also to be given glory and praise by virtue of his messianic 
work. Maybe you haven't found it strange 
in the book of Hebrews, for example, and you don't have to turn there. 
I'll read it. But maybe you haven't found it strange. But sometimes 
we can say, OK, well, what what does the author mean here? When, 
for example, we read in Hebrews 1 at verse 3, "...who being the 
brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, 
and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had 
by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the 
Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels." 
as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. 
The reason why He has become so much better than the angels 
is because of His perfect messianic work. By virtue of His deity, 
He is higher than the angels and wholly removed in His splendor 
and greatness. But in His service as the God-Man, 
the Messiah, who would come to die for sinners and rise again, 
He is to be given majesty as well. Remember Philippians 2, 
5-11. Why is Jesus Christ therefore 
highly exalted and given the name which is above every name? 
Because He came in the fullness of the times, was born of a woman, 
made under the law, He became a bondservant to bear the sins 
of many and render obedience unto the cross death. He is, 
to God our Savior who alone is wise, He is to be given glory, 
majesty, dominion and power. Dominion and power. This speaks 
to authority, sovereign ownership. You know, it was promised in 
the Old Testament concerning our Lord Jesus Christ that he 
would be given dominion. and glory in a kingdom. If this 
is the Lord Jesus Christ in view, what is in view is Daniel 7, 
13 and 14, where the Lord Jesus Christ comes to the ancient of 
days, and He's given glory and dominion in a kingdom. And this 
inscription, again, this inscription of praise is to fly in the face 
of those who would deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. He has dominion and power both 
now and forever. It is an enduring reign. That 
is the promise of the old covenant as well, brought to bear in the 
new and emphasized in the new, that the Lord Jesus Christ would 
inaugurate a kingdom of which there would be no end. And the doxology closes with 
an amen. Whenever we hear an amen, let 
it never be that that is a rote, routine, and robotic thing attached 
to the end of a prayer or a statement. When we say amen, we are acknowledging 
the certain truth of the statement. So, when Jude closes here, with 
this doxology, with this description of praise, he says, Amen. Not because it's the Christian 
tradition and we just do that as something to throw on to the 
close of a prayer. But it actually does mean something. 
When you Amen, in fact, Christ says this, let your Amen be Amen. Let your Yes be Yes and your 
No, No. When we say amen at the end of 
a prayer, it is to be because we are acknowledging the truth 
of what has been spoken. When we say amen to the reading 
of the scriptures or the preaching of the word, we're saying that 
because We are ascribing to that statement truthfulness. And this 
is very true, that to the Lord Christ, who is able to keep us, 
who is able to present us faultless, who is our only Savior, the only 
God, who alone is wise, He is to have and is to be given and 
is to be praised. He is to have glory and majesty, 
dominion and power, both now and forever. Let us amen that 
again and again as we read through the scriptures. This language 
is not strange to the epistle of Jude. You go to Timothy, we 
already read it. You go to 1 and 2 Peter. You 
go to the book of Revelation. And this constant theme is repeated 
because it is to flow from the lips of the saints to the Lord 
Christ, to our triune God be glory and majesty, dominion and 
power, both now and forever. You see, this would serve the 
saints in the first century in a way that we just can't appreciate 
where we are in this Western world of liberties and freedoms, 
where we're unmolested and unhindered by the outside world. You see, 
those who are undergoing persecution, those who are undergoing these 
heretics who crept in unnoticed to the church, propagating their 
wickedness and their evil, they would need to have something 
to latch on to, a confidence that is sure and true And they 
have that in the content of this doxology. They have that in this 
Lord Jesus Christ, who is able to keep them from stumbling, 
who is able to present them faultless, who is the only God and Savior, 
and who is not one who will be abdicated from the throne. Whatever 
the proper language is, you can't pull the Savior from the throne 
of heaven. Our triune majesty will not be 
removed from power. The dominion and power is not 
temporary, but it is now and forever. And so when hardship 
comes, when hardship came, when hardship comes to us, there is 
certain, there is a certain and true foundation in this one who 
has glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. 
How could Horatio Spafford sing, it is well with my soul? Right, 
it is well with my soul, is because he knew this God. His son is 
taken from him. His son dies. His four daughters 
die. His business is taken. He becomes 
bankrupt because of the Chicago fire. Tragedy strikes his life 
in ways that we know nothing of, and yet he pens it as well 
with my soul. You see, for the Christian, whether 
we have peace flowing like a river, or whether sea billows of trouble 
roll, We know that it is well with our souls because we have 
a Christ who is able to keep us from stumbling. One who is 
able to present us faultless, not because of our splendor and 
glory, but because of his perfect work before the throne of grace. 
We have one who is a sure God, a sure Savior, one who will keep 
us unto the very end, and one who has glory and dominion and 
all power. We can sing with Horatio Spafford, it is well with my 
soul. Not because we stopped doing this and we don't do that 
and we're not like those wretches, but because the Lord Jesus Christ 
came in the fullness of the times, born of a woman, born under the 
law that we might be redeemed and gain that adoption as sons. 
Jesus Christ is to be the recipient of doxology and praise and all 
honor. If you're here this morning and 
you don't know this Christ, believe on him and you will be saved. 
You might be asking, why do I need to be saved? All have sinned 
and have fallen short of the glory of God. All have sinned. and have fallen short of the 
glory of God. You rehearse the Ten Commandments and if you find 
yourself well and glorious before the triune God, God help you. Because you are not well and 
glorious by virtue of His law. You've broken it, we've all broken 
it. There is only way to render us acceptable before the brilliance 
and the radiance of His glory. And that is by virtue of the 
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says, believe on Him 
and you will have everlasting life. Why is it? We know why 
it is. The Bible speaks. Biblical anthropology, 
sin. Why is it that people reject 
such a truth and such a Savior? Where, in what religion and in 
what system do we have Do they have what we have? It is a testament 
to the verity, the certainty, the truthfulness, the inspiration 
of Holy Scripture, because no man constructs such a gospel 
and such a truth. that man is wholly depraved and 
without hope and without strength in the world. Wouldn't we, in 
manufacturing and constructing our own religion, give us something, 
some measure of splendor, some measure of commendability? That's 
what earthly religions do. Because we can, by our own strength, 
gain divine favor. We can, by the the immensity 
or whatever degree or level of strength in our own being, commend 
ourselves to God in some way. But you see, in Christianity, 
we don't have that. A triune majesty, one in three, 
not one being and three beings, not one person but also three 
persons, but one being in three persons, God in three persons, 
blessed Trinity, who from first to last, midst and throughout, 
without a helper, affects the salvation of that sinner depraved, 
dead in his trespasses and sins. That one who comes in the fullness 
of the times, who was the praise of angels, I've probably repeated 
that phrase a million times, that one who was the praise of 
angels, comes down from on high into this lower ignominy and 
shame, Hopefully that repetition doesn't cause you to roll our 
eyes because it's designed to magnify the splendor of the work 
of salvation on the part of the Savior. Do you realize, I am 
closing, I promise, but do you realize when we read this language 
of our only God and our only Savior, who alone is wise, who 
alone has immortality, who alone is the blessed and only potentate, 
there is a massive chasm between men and God. And I'm not talking 
about the one that's breached, sin, the ethical chasm that is 
between God and men that must be breached by the reconciliatory 
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm talking about, and bear with 
me, an ontological chasm, a chasm with regards to our being. You 
see, we are so far away from God. There are some in Christianity 
today who want to put God, angels, and men in the same spirit category, 
where God is just a super angel and a super man, where the perfection 
of His attributes are so high, but He has similarities to men 
in emotions and all these sorts of things. No, our God is so 
highly removed and so wholly other. You see, in Isaiah 6, 
when it speaks about the angels hiding their eyes from the glory 
and the radiance of the blessedness of God, the pre-incarnate Christ, 
according to John 12, what is so amazing about that scene is 
this, that the angels were perfect in their holiness. They had not 
sinned, nor will they ever sin. They are perfectly, ethically 
pure and holy. So why do they need to hide from 
the radiance and the brilliance of God in His majesty and in 
His glory? Because He is so wholly other 
and transcendently removed from all of His creation and worthy 
of honor and praise and glory. And what I'm getting at is this, 
that that Christ, who is that, who is hidden from the view of 
angels, came to save sinners and to rise again. Why would 
you shun him? Why would you cast him off and 
say no? Why would you not believe in such a one, follow such a 
one, and have absolute fidelity to such a hero and such a glorious 
Savior? Cast off worldly allure, cast 
off the madness of having idols everywhere else, save for our 
proper idol, our proper God, our proper object of worship. 
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. And you 
will forevermore sing doxology to our glorious Savior. Let us 
pray. Heavenly Father, we rejoice in 
Christ. We sing this doxology along with 
Jude. We rejoice in the object of our 
worship. We rejoice in our triune God, 
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We rejoice in the Lord Jesus 
Christ, the one who came in the fullness of the times and effected 
perfect salvation for his people. We pray that you'd cause us each 
and every day to rejoice in the one who is able to keep us from 
stumbling, to rejoice in the one who is able to present us 
blameless, faultless, before the presence of his glory with 
exceeding joy. We pray, Lord God, that you just 
cause us now, as we go into this week, as we first enjoy this 
food and eat of the bounty that you've provided, that we would 
sing the praises of your name. that we would, Lord God, daily 
acknowledge the blessings that you pour out upon us physically, 
but that we would daily rejoice in those spiritual blessings 
which we have in the heavenlies in Christ. And we pray that all 
these truths of Holy Scripture, the truths of salvation and of 
our glorious God would affect us in this lower world as we 
live out our lives, that we would conduct ourselves in a manner 
worthy of the gospel of Christ, that we would, Lord God, grow 
in the grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ our Savior. So 
go with us now, Lord God, help us to rejoice in your name and 
to give all honor and glory to you, our precious God. And it's 
in Christ's name that we pray. Amen.