1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,200 We're gonna move into our time in the scripture. 2 00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:04,960 If you have a Bible, go ahead and open it 3 00:00:04,960 --> 00:00:06,360 to the book of Jude. 4 00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:08,760 I don't have a page number today. 5 00:00:08,760 --> 00:00:12,440 Jude is the book right before the last book, Revelation. 6 00:00:12,440 --> 00:00:15,120 So you go all the way to the end of the Bible. 7 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:18,320 And if it says Revelation, you go one book before that. 8 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:19,440 It's a really small book though, 9 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:20,680 because you might flip right through it. 10 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:22,760 So head on over to Jude. 11 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:24,760 We have made it to the end. 12 00:00:26,520 --> 00:00:29,680 Page 1055 in the book, the Bible's in the back of the pew. 13 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:30,520 Page 1055. 14 00:00:31,520 --> 00:00:34,360 Go ahead and turn over there to Jude. 15 00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:36,360 It's chapter one, there's only one chapter, 16 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:39,940 but we're gonna be reading verses 24 and 25. 17 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:43,480 And if you can't make your hand flip over there, 18 00:00:43,480 --> 00:00:45,040 or you don't have a Bible, you don't wanna do it, 19 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:48,600 it will be on the screen here for you to read along. 20 00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:49,520 Here we go. 21 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:55,560 Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling, 22 00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:58,840 and to make you stand in the presence of his glory 23 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:01,840 without blemish and with great joy. 24 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:07,000 To the only God, our savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, 25 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:11,160 be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, 26 00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:15,400 now and forevermore, amen. 27 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:19,500 This is God's word. 28 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:22,720 I don't know how many of you ever played 29 00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:25,560 the schoolyard game Red Rover. 30 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:27,560 Anyone play Red Rover? 31 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:29,800 Now I've heard that that's gone through 32 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:31,840 a few rule changes over the years, 33 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:36,000 but the way that I remember it is you divide into two teams, 34 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:40,160 and you and your team interlock their arms together, 35 00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:42,400 and you face off against another team. 36 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:44,080 Now I read the rules before I got up here, 37 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:45,960 and it said that apparently you're supposed 38 00:01:45,960 --> 00:01:48,120 to be called North and South. 39 00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:50,040 So I wonder if this is like an old Civil War thing, 40 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:51,360 or something like that. 41 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:53,360 But you interlock arms with your teammate, 42 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:55,600 and you make a line, and the other team interlocks 43 00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:57,600 their arms, and they make a line. 44 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:01,600 And then one team says, Red Rover, Red Rover, 45 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:04,200 send Jerry on over. 46 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:07,160 And then Jerry has to come from the other team, 47 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:09,840 and he has to run, I mean I remember in youth group, man, 48 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:11,760 people getting hurt in this game. 49 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:13,760 Eventually it had to get banned, 50 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:16,400 but Jerry comes running as hard as he can, 51 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:19,320 because his goal, his aim, his purpose, 52 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:23,040 is to break through one of those locks between two people. 53 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:25,680 And if he can break through, he gets to choose 54 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:29,680 one of the two people to bring over to his team, 55 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:32,200 and his team grows, and the point is to get all the people 56 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:33,040 that you can. 57 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:37,280 If he can't break through, if the line holds, 58 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:39,280 Jerry's gotta join our team. 59 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:42,200 That was Red Rover, and I was thinking about that 60 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:45,280 in regard to our theme, hold the line. 61 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:47,640 Hold the line, the whole point of the game is 62 00:02:47,640 --> 00:02:49,840 to hold the line, the whole point of the game was 63 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:53,760 to hold the line, to defeat the enemy by standing. 64 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:56,320 That was really it, I mean, you stand, you gird yourself, 65 00:02:56,320 --> 00:02:59,160 I mean, I remember, you slowly slipped one foot 66 00:02:59,160 --> 00:03:01,520 in front of the other, right, and you get ready, 67 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:04,160 because you're about to get hit, 68 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:08,080 and the whole point was to hold the line as the enemy came. 69 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:13,760 Now in the book of Jude, it began by talking about 70 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:17,360 who we are, we're called in Christ, 71 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:21,400 we're loved in God, we're kept for Christ, 72 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:24,200 and that's how he began addressing the listeners 73 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:28,480 of his letter, which for him at that time was an audience, 74 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:32,920 most likely of Jewish converts who believed in Christ. 75 00:03:32,920 --> 00:03:36,280 For us today, we are the listeners of the letter 76 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:37,240 that Jude wrote. 77 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:40,320 And he told them that they're called, 78 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:42,160 and that they're loved, and they're kept in Christ, 79 00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:45,680 but then he said, but there are some people among you, 80 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:48,080 there are some people who have wormed their way 81 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:50,440 or slithered their way in among you, 82 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:52,280 I'll just read a few of those passages 83 00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:55,480 as we kind of peruse Jude heading to the end. 84 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:58,360 Verse four, for some people who were designated 85 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:02,760 for this judgment long ago have come in by stealth, 86 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:05,640 they are ungodly, turning the grace of our God 87 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:08,720 into sensuality and denying Jesus Christ, 88 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:12,800 our only master and Lord, they're among us. 89 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:14,080 He went on to say in verse eight, 90 00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:18,400 in the same way these people, relying on their dreams, 91 00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:21,080 defile their flesh, reject authority 92 00:04:21,080 --> 00:04:24,480 and slander glorious ones. 93 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:26,600 Down in verse 10, he picks it up again and says, 94 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:30,200 but these people blaspheme anything they do not understand 95 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:32,800 and what they do understand by instinct, 96 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:36,720 like irrational animals, by these things, 97 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:38,560 they are destroyed. 98 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:43,560 Woe to them, for they have gone the way of Cain. 99 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:46,040 Have plunged into Balaam's error for profit 100 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:48,640 and have perished in Korah's rebellion. 101 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:53,440 These people are dangerous reefs at your love feasts 102 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:56,000 as they eat with you without reverence. 103 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:59,880 They are shepherds who only look after themselves. 104 00:04:59,880 --> 00:05:03,120 They are waterless clouds carried along by winds, 105 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:07,320 trees in late autumn, fruitless, twice dead and uprooted. 106 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:09,280 They are wild waves of the sea, 107 00:05:09,280 --> 00:05:11,880 foaming up their shameful deeds, 108 00:05:11,880 --> 00:05:16,880 like wandering stars for whom the blackness of darkness 109 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:18,400 is reserved forever. 110 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:22,080 These people are discontented grumblers, 111 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:24,640 living according to their desires, 112 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:26,840 their mouths utter arrogant words, 113 00:05:26,840 --> 00:05:31,120 flattering people for their own advantage. 114 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:32,480 And then finally he says, 115 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:37,480 these people create divisions in our worldly, 116 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:39,160 not having the spirit. 117 00:05:39,160 --> 00:05:40,480 So who are you? 118 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:43,880 You're called, you're loved, you're kept in Christ. 119 00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:44,720 Who are they? 120 00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:46,840 They're among you, 121 00:05:46,840 --> 00:05:49,520 but they're among you for a different purpose. 122 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:53,600 They don't have the Spirit of Christ resident in them. 123 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:56,880 They're not living out the Spirit life among you. 124 00:05:56,880 --> 00:05:58,800 They're there to cause divisions 125 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:02,120 and to fulfill their flesh and to defile you. 126 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:03,440 They're among you. 127 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:07,080 And so last week in the New Testament, 128 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:09,680 we looked at these people and then last week, 129 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:12,360 I guess it is, we jumped into what do we do 130 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:13,680 in light of that? 131 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:18,680 In light of the reality that in our midst, 132 00:06:18,680 --> 00:06:20,360 some have wormed their way in 133 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:22,440 and teachings wormed their way in. 134 00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:23,600 And we talked over the weeks, 135 00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:26,360 if you wanna go back online, sacvillage.org, 136 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:28,760 you can listen to all of the messages before. 137 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:30,720 But we talked about some of the ways 138 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:33,040 that this is very relatable today. 139 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:36,960 Little teachings that sounds almost true 140 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:40,160 can worm their way in among the people of God 141 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:41,880 and people can buy into it. 142 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:45,640 They can believe it and they can begin to live out 143 00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:47,240 and it caused division. 144 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:48,840 Those who are holding to the truth, 145 00:06:48,840 --> 00:06:51,240 those who have strayed from the truth. 146 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:54,800 But then last week, we spent time looking at 147 00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:58,320 the first set of imperatives that Jude had for us, 148 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:00,600 for you that are in the midst of this. 149 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:04,520 The imperatives that Jude had for us, for you and I. 150 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:08,280 He said that we are to build ourselves up 151 00:07:08,280 --> 00:07:10,600 in the most holy faith. 152 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:13,480 That we're to pray in the Holy Spirit. 153 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:17,000 That we're to keep ourselves in the love of God 154 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:19,000 while we wait expectantly for the mercy 155 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:22,920 of our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life. 156 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:27,920 How do you stand, like in the game of Red Rover, 157 00:07:27,920 --> 00:07:30,760 stand firm, prepared? 158 00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:33,920 You build yourself up in the most holy faith. 159 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:37,080 You grow in your knowledge of Jesus Christ. 160 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:39,640 You spend time in his word and you cultivate 161 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:43,080 a love for his word so that when you read Psalm 19 162 00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:48,080 or Psalm 1 or Psalm 119, those words are your words. 163 00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:50,440 Your delight is in the law of God. 164 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:52,520 Your delight is in the word of God. 165 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:55,000 This is how you stand. 166 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:57,800 This is how you lock arms. 167 00:07:57,800 --> 00:07:59,640 This is a corporate element to it as well. 168 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:03,360 We didn't get a chance to dive into that on Sunday. 169 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:07,160 But all of the yous and yourselves are all plural. 170 00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:10,880 We build ourselves up. 171 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:13,360 We keep ourselves in the love of God. 172 00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:16,080 There's a part we play in one another's lives 173 00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:19,080 in that building up and that ability to stand 174 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:20,160 against the enemy. 175 00:08:22,080 --> 00:08:23,880 But Jude said some will waver. 176 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:26,720 Some will waver. 177 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:30,880 And some, they're doubting drifters. 178 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:35,880 And to the doubting drifter, we show mercy. 179 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:38,240 We show mercy. 180 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:40,680 We talked about, we go to them and we remind them, 181 00:08:40,680 --> 00:08:42,960 remember the showers of grace. 182 00:08:42,960 --> 00:08:46,520 We help them to see the timeline of their life 183 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:49,800 and all the moments and points when God interceded, 184 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:52,000 when God was present, when God healed, 185 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:55,960 when God restored, when God was there and spoke. 186 00:08:55,960 --> 00:09:00,960 We try to light or fan that flame again 187 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:04,320 so that their passion rises and the doubting drifter 188 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:06,600 again finds his feet firm. 189 00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:10,440 But then there's an obstinate drifter. 190 00:09:11,560 --> 00:09:15,800 Someone who has set their face toward doing what is wrong. 191 00:09:15,800 --> 00:09:18,520 They once were in Christ, they once were among us, 192 00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:21,320 they once said hallelujah and sang all the songs with us, 193 00:09:21,320 --> 00:09:24,600 but they've now set their face toward doing what is wrong. 194 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:27,560 Obstinate, rebellious against God. 195 00:09:27,560 --> 00:09:29,960 And to those, we come and we shake. 196 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:33,080 Those we say stop it. 197 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:37,880 Those we remind of the fire that's at the end of the road 198 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:39,240 that they're heading down. 199 00:09:40,520 --> 00:09:41,840 Those we wake up. 200 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:45,240 You sleeper, wake up. 201 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:51,120 I remember when I was a kid, we lived in San Jose. 202 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:54,200 One of the features of San Jose was earthquakes. 203 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:57,240 It's California, but San Jose, I feel like when I was a kid, 204 00:09:57,240 --> 00:10:01,320 I got a lot of them and I remember one time being asleep, 205 00:10:01,320 --> 00:10:04,080 bunk beds, me and my brother and my dad, 206 00:10:04,080 --> 00:10:06,640 we were sound asleep and all I remember is waking up 207 00:10:06,640 --> 00:10:08,560 to the sound of my dad yelling. 208 00:10:08,560 --> 00:10:12,000 My dad, if you met my dad, he's a quiet, 209 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:16,320 like, you know, introverted kind of guy. 210 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:17,240 Very, very quiet. 211 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:19,240 He was yelling, running down the halls, 212 00:10:19,240 --> 00:10:21,400 pounding on the walls as he was running. 213 00:10:21,400 --> 00:10:22,840 And when we finally woke up, you know, 214 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:25,440 came out of our stupor, there was an earthquake 215 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:28,280 and he grabbed us in both his arms and ran down the hall 216 00:10:28,280 --> 00:10:29,880 and we ran out the front door. 217 00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:36,520 Obstinate drifters need that kind of intervention. 218 00:10:37,720 --> 00:10:40,360 Wake up, you're about, the fire's right there, 219 00:10:40,360 --> 00:10:42,520 you're about to get singed, but he says, 220 00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:44,480 when you go and save them, be careful 221 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:47,360 because the fire is right there. 222 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:50,440 You know, don't go hang out with them and go, 223 00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:53,040 you know what, to be relevant, 224 00:10:53,040 --> 00:10:55,600 I'm gonna set my passion aside. 225 00:10:55,600 --> 00:10:57,960 To be relevant, I'm gonna go hang out 226 00:10:57,960 --> 00:10:59,720 and do the things they love to do. 227 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:04,120 You very well could find yourself on the same path as them. 228 00:11:04,120 --> 00:11:08,640 You go to them, but you go to them with a level of reverence. 229 00:11:08,640 --> 00:11:11,120 You're careful not to get burned 230 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:13,120 by sinful drifting in the process. 231 00:11:13,120 --> 00:11:18,120 And after all of that, Jude lays out, he ends, 232 00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:20,240 with something that's amazing. 233 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:25,240 Verse 24 and 25, it's what's called a doxology. 234 00:11:25,840 --> 00:11:29,640 A doxology, comes from two Greek words, 235 00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:34,640 doxa and logia or logia, 236 00:11:34,640 --> 00:11:38,640 and it's like a glory saying, a glory saying 237 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:42,640 or you might say words of glory, 238 00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:45,920 words of praise or song. 239 00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:50,120 Song we sang earlier that comes from this text 240 00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:53,640 that we're studying today, said there is a song of joy 241 00:11:54,960 --> 00:11:59,600 for all who are weak or all who are weary 242 00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:00,960 or all who are suffering. 243 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:06,840 And Jude says, after I've told you who they are 244 00:12:06,840 --> 00:12:09,160 and I've told you how you stand against them, 245 00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:10,880 you're gonna need a song. 246 00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:12,960 How are you going to get through to the end? 247 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:14,320 How are you going to look around 248 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:15,960 and see all the suffering and pain? 249 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:18,160 How are you going to get through as a church, 250 00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:20,960 watching people that you loved and you walked alongside of, 251 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:22,760 walk out the door and reject Christ? 252 00:12:22,760 --> 00:12:23,920 How are you going to get there? 253 00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:25,000 You need a song. 254 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:28,360 You need a song to remember. 255 00:12:29,560 --> 00:12:33,600 A song that points you to the main thing, 256 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:34,840 the thing that matters. 257 00:12:34,840 --> 00:12:39,840 Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling. 258 00:12:41,280 --> 00:12:43,760 If you're taking notes, I've got two points for us today. 259 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:47,360 The first one is this, he protects us. 260 00:12:48,880 --> 00:12:50,240 He protects us. 261 00:12:51,600 --> 00:12:54,480 What does he mean by protect you from stumbling? 262 00:12:56,760 --> 00:12:58,440 I'll say three things on that point. 263 00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:01,920 He can protect you, he can protect you from stumbling. 264 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:05,120 I'll say three things on that point, he can protect you 265 00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:06,720 from moral failure. 266 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:10,800 He can protect you from moral failure. 267 00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:11,880 I don't have the scriptures up there, 268 00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:15,200 but listen what 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 13 says. 269 00:13:15,200 --> 00:13:17,880 No temptation has come upon you, 270 00:13:17,880 --> 00:13:20,440 except that is common to humanity. 271 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:24,120 But God is faithful, he will not allow you to be tempted 272 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:27,160 beyond what you are able, but with the temptation, 273 00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:29,640 he will also provide the way out 274 00:13:29,640 --> 00:13:32,320 so that you may be able to bear it. 275 00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:38,280 He is able to provide us the way out of temptation 276 00:13:38,280 --> 00:13:41,360 so that we don't fall into moral failure. 277 00:13:41,360 --> 00:13:42,440 He is able. 278 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:47,200 He is also able to protect you from doubt. 279 00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:51,160 Protect you from doubt, in fact in Philippians chapter four 280 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:53,920 verse six and seven he says, not to worry about anything, 281 00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:56,160 and worry is just another form of doubt. 282 00:13:56,160 --> 00:13:57,920 It's when we doubt the goodness of God, 283 00:13:57,920 --> 00:13:59,840 we doubt the provision of God, 284 00:13:59,840 --> 00:14:01,640 we doubt that God is who he says he is 285 00:14:01,640 --> 00:14:04,000 and he's gonna follow through on his promises. 286 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:05,400 We get anxious. 287 00:14:07,360 --> 00:14:09,600 And to worry he says, don't be worried about anything, 288 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:11,920 but in everything here's your way out. 289 00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:16,920 Pray through prayer, with petition and thanksgiving. 290 00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:20,520 Present your request to God and the peace of God 291 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:23,280 which surpasses all understanding will guard, 292 00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:28,280 will protect your hearts and minds from drifting away. 293 00:14:29,920 --> 00:14:32,160 He protects us from moral failure, 294 00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:34,560 he protects us from doubts 295 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:37,520 and he can protect you from the enemy. 296 00:14:37,520 --> 00:14:40,280 The enemy prowls around like a roaring lion 297 00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:42,720 looking to devour you. 298 00:14:44,160 --> 00:14:47,440 But second Thessalonians chapter three, 299 00:14:47,440 --> 00:14:51,080 verse three says, the Lord is faithful 300 00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:53,320 and he will strengthen you 301 00:14:54,600 --> 00:14:56,600 and guard you from the evil one. 302 00:14:58,520 --> 00:14:59,840 He protects us. 303 00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:04,600 He protects us, but the primary way that we see God 304 00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:09,000 at work in our lives is against our enemy's sin 305 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:12,280 and sin producing death and that brings me to 306 00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:16,320 these three things, the tenses of salvation. 307 00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:18,560 Some of you may have heard of this before, 308 00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:22,400 but the tenses of salvation is that we were saved, 309 00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:26,080 if you are in Christ you were saved from the penalty of sin, 310 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:32,240 if you're in Christ you are saved from the power of sin 311 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:34,280 and if you are in Christ you will be saved 312 00:15:34,280 --> 00:15:35,960 from the presence of sin. 313 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:39,440 You were saved from the penalty of sin, 314 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:42,520 you are saved from the power of sin 315 00:15:42,520 --> 00:15:46,280 and you will be saved from the presence of sin. 316 00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:48,040 from the presence of sin. 317 00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:52,040 And what that means is we're currently in that middle point. 318 00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:56,600 The penalty of sin paid for in Christ. 319 00:15:56,600 --> 00:15:58,440 We are free from the penalty 320 00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:01,480 and the power of sin to rule our lives. 321 00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:06,640 The Romans talks about how sin was like a master 322 00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:10,360 and we were its slave and we had to obey it. 323 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:11,840 It lived within our body 324 00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:13,800 and it was like a master telling us what to do 325 00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:15,560 and we obeyed it. 326 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:18,000 And we didn't just obey it begrudgingly. 327 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:20,400 We obeyed it at the level of our will. 328 00:16:20,400 --> 00:16:24,400 We even began, not began, we even, 329 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:28,160 we embraced sin as if we liked it. 330 00:16:28,160 --> 00:16:30,840 We did sinful things. 331 00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:33,480 We acted in rebellion against God. 332 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:36,920 But Jesus broke the power of sin in our life 333 00:16:36,920 --> 00:16:41,120 and said, you don't have to live under that master anymore. 334 00:16:41,120 --> 00:16:43,240 In fact, forsake that master. 335 00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:45,240 Forsake him, leave him behind 336 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:48,640 and instead live under a new master who is good 337 00:16:48,640 --> 00:16:51,080 and calls you to good things. 338 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:54,520 But that doesn't mean we don't live with the presence 339 00:16:54,520 --> 00:16:56,920 of sin still around us. 340 00:16:56,920 --> 00:17:00,320 The very purpose of the letter Jude is writing 341 00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:03,640 says that there's sin, it's even among us. 342 00:17:03,640 --> 00:17:06,440 And some are led astray and some will be led astray. 343 00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:11,800 And so we look with hope to the day when our salvation, 344 00:17:11,800 --> 00:17:14,720 the tenses of salvation is complete 345 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:17,400 and we are freed from the penalty, the power, 346 00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:22,400 and finally the presence of sin into God's glorious presence. 347 00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:31,080 We must watch that we stay close to the Lord. 348 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:32,880 We must watch that we stay close. 349 00:17:32,880 --> 00:17:35,680 He earlier said, keep yourself in the love of God. 350 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:39,720 Why? Because he will guard us 351 00:17:39,720 --> 00:17:42,000 so that we do not stumble. 352 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:45,440 He will guard us so that it's something we can't do. 353 00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:49,040 All we can do is stay close to the Lord. 354 00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:53,240 I got to thinking about some of my interests 355 00:17:53,240 --> 00:17:55,840 in the military and military history 356 00:17:55,840 --> 00:17:58,960 and watching history videos on the military 357 00:17:58,960 --> 00:18:03,240 and I remembered a certain unit in the army or the Marines 358 00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:06,560 or whatever it is that their job is to go out 359 00:18:06,560 --> 00:18:10,280 in front of the troops into heavily fortified areas, 360 00:18:10,280 --> 00:18:12,800 especially after the enemy has been pushed back. 361 00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:14,080 Something the enemy often would do 362 00:18:14,080 --> 00:18:16,640 before they would retreat or even before 363 00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:18,360 is they would lay minefields. 364 00:18:19,400 --> 00:18:22,360 And these minefields were just hundreds upon hundreds, 365 00:18:22,360 --> 00:18:24,880 thousands of mines buried in the dirt 366 00:18:24,880 --> 00:18:27,960 intended to be hidden or invisible nearly 367 00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:30,160 with a purpose that when the army 368 00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:32,840 that was fighting against them came through that area, 369 00:18:32,840 --> 00:18:35,360 it would inflict all kinds of carnage and damage on them 370 00:18:35,360 --> 00:18:37,440 or maybe they could block up the roads 371 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:39,000 or the pathways of travel 372 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:42,040 to keep them from advancing further. 373 00:18:42,040 --> 00:18:44,400 And so you had guys in the military 374 00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:47,760 whose whole job was to go ahead of the rest of the troops 375 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:49,480 and to clear minefields. 376 00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:53,640 And they always began by determining the need, 377 00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:56,520 how much of this minefield do we need cleared 378 00:18:56,520 --> 00:18:57,760 to get things through. 379 00:18:57,760 --> 00:18:59,520 And then they began to work their way 380 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:02,960 through that minefield on that pathway 381 00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:05,360 with the intention that armored vehicles 382 00:19:05,360 --> 00:19:07,360 and troop transports and folks would march 383 00:19:07,360 --> 00:19:09,400 behind them through there. 384 00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:13,680 Well, it's very much so like that 385 00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:16,200 when it comes to Christ and his protection in us. 386 00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:20,120 You might say true freedom, 387 00:19:20,120 --> 00:19:22,040 true freedom would be to go wherever I want 388 00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:25,400 and do whatever I want, right? 389 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:27,640 Allow me to walk over here or over there 390 00:19:27,640 --> 00:19:29,760 and that might seem true, but it isn't. 391 00:19:29,760 --> 00:19:31,080 If you think about it, 392 00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:33,280 in the case of the minesweeper, true freedom 393 00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:34,880 is staying behind the minesweeper. 394 00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:37,560 It's not straying to the left or the right 395 00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:39,680 to go out into the field that hasn't been cleared. 396 00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:42,840 True freedom to live and to continue to live 397 00:19:42,840 --> 00:19:44,920 is to stay behind the minesweeper. 398 00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:47,480 He will do his job, he will sweep from mines 399 00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:49,400 and disarm them and they would disarm them, 400 00:19:49,400 --> 00:19:50,760 sometimes pull them out of the ground 401 00:19:50,760 --> 00:19:53,000 or oftentimes they just blow them up 402 00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:55,360 so that they were no longer useful. 403 00:19:55,360 --> 00:19:57,880 He will do his job and as long as I stay behind him, 404 00:19:57,880 --> 00:19:59,440 I'm okay. 405 00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:01,840 But the moment I think, no, I want freedom. 406 00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:05,160 I wanna be able to go over here when I wanna go over here 407 00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:07,360 and I wanna go over there when I wanna go over there, 408 00:20:07,360 --> 00:20:09,040 we enter the minefield again. 409 00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:12,840 It's not clear, we're not protected. 410 00:20:16,040 --> 00:20:17,400 What seemed like true freedom, 411 00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:20,400 the ability to walk and do whatever I want, 412 00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:23,680 actually is not freedom at all. 413 00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:27,200 It's a death warrant and what seems constraining, 414 00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:29,680 what seems restrictive or like restrictive control 415 00:20:29,680 --> 00:20:31,920 to stay behind the minesweeper, 416 00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:34,240 to follow the narrow path that the minesweeper 417 00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:36,200 is making in front of you, 418 00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:39,400 might seem like agonizing constraint, 419 00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:42,400 but don't you see that it's life and it's freedom? 420 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:50,720 He will protect us, we must watch and stay close. 421 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:56,240 Hebrews chapter 10, verse 10, 422 00:20:56,240 --> 00:20:59,160 verse 26 through 31 says, 423 00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:03,040 for if we deliberately go on sinning, 424 00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:08,200 not staying close, not watching, 425 00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:09,880 if we deliberately go on sinning 426 00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:12,240 after receiving the knowledge of truth, 427 00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:15,760 there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 428 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:18,760 but a terrifying expectation of judgment 429 00:21:18,760 --> 00:21:23,760 and the fury of a fire about to consume the adversaries. 430 00:21:23,760 --> 00:21:27,560 Anyone who disregarded the law of Moses died without mercy 431 00:21:27,560 --> 00:21:30,960 based on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 432 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:34,520 How much worse punishment do you think one will deserve 433 00:21:34,520 --> 00:21:37,280 who has trampled on the son of God, 434 00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:41,000 who has regarded as profane the blood of the covenant 435 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:42,680 by which he was sanctified 436 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:46,120 and who has insulted the spirit of grace. 437 00:21:46,120 --> 00:21:48,400 For we know the one who has said, 438 00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:51,360 vengeance belongs to me, I will repay, 439 00:21:51,360 --> 00:21:53,880 and again, the Lord will judge his people, 440 00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:58,120 it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands 441 00:21:58,120 --> 00:21:59,360 of the living God. 442 00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:07,600 Contrast that with John chapter 10 where Jesus says, 443 00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:11,520 my sheep hear my voice, 444 00:22:11,520 --> 00:22:14,800 they stay close enough to hear my voice, 445 00:22:14,800 --> 00:22:17,680 they watch and are careful and I know them 446 00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:21,840 and they follow me, I give them eternal life 447 00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:23,480 and they will never perish, 448 00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:26,400 no one will snatch them out of my hand, 449 00:22:26,400 --> 00:22:29,920 my father who has given them to me is greater than all, 450 00:22:29,920 --> 00:22:32,720 no one is able to snatch them out of the father's hands 451 00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:35,760 and I and the father are one. 452 00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:43,680 He is able to protect and preserve you, remain in him. 453 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:47,360 He is able and willing to protect and preserve you, 454 00:22:47,360 --> 00:22:49,000 remain in him. 455 00:22:50,800 --> 00:22:54,760 A.W. Tozer, one of my favorite authors, 456 00:22:55,920 --> 00:23:00,040 says, the man who has God for his treasure 457 00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:02,520 has all things in one. 458 00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:08,080 Many ordinary treasures may be denied him 459 00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:10,960 or if he is allowed to have them, 460 00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:14,560 the enjoyment of them will be so tempered 461 00:23:14,560 --> 00:23:17,760 that they will never be necessary to his happiness 462 00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:24,280 or if he must see them go one after one, 463 00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:27,480 he will scarcely feel a sense of loss 464 00:23:27,480 --> 00:23:30,240 for having the source of all things, 465 00:23:30,240 --> 00:23:34,240 he has in one all satisfaction, 466 00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:37,560 all pleasure, all delight. 467 00:23:37,560 --> 00:23:40,560 All pleasure, all delight. 468 00:23:42,560 --> 00:23:46,240 Remain in him and he is able to lead us. 469 00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:50,080 Find your pleasure, your delight, your hope in him alone 470 00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:52,160 and then the things of this world, 471 00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:54,840 the tragedies, the difficulties, 472 00:23:54,840 --> 00:23:57,240 even those who have apostatized or left the faith 473 00:23:57,240 --> 00:23:58,840 or the difficulties in church, 474 00:23:58,840 --> 00:24:02,160 none of that will pale in comparison 475 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:07,880 to the glory of the one in whom all things are satisfied. 476 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:11,160 Number two, he protects us. 477 00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:13,200 Number two, he presents us. 478 00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:17,760 Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling 479 00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:21,920 and to make you stand in the presence of his glory 480 00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:26,480 without blemish and with great joy. 481 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:30,640 Why do we need him to stand in the presence of his glory? 482 00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:34,000 Why do we need him to make us stand? 483 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:40,680 Author of Psalm 130 said it this way, 484 00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:44,080 Lord, if you kept an account of iniquities, 485 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:45,400 who could stand? 486 00:24:46,360 --> 00:24:48,880 But with you there is forgiveness 487 00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:51,280 so that you may be revered. 488 00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:55,040 You may be revered. 489 00:24:55,040 --> 00:24:58,480 Romans says that there is none righteous, no not one. 490 00:24:59,360 --> 00:25:00,960 But in 2 Corinthians chapter five, 491 00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:05,040 we hear that God made him who had no sin to be sin for us 492 00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:09,560 so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 493 00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:13,040 You might have caught the word blemish there. 494 00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:14,480 It's not something that we use, 495 00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:16,880 at least we men use often. 496 00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:18,800 You women might use the word blemish more often 497 00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:20,280 but we don't use it too often. 498 00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:23,160 The word blemish is actually a word that's associated more 499 00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:25,680 with the sacrificial system of the Old Testament. 500 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:29,160 It was required that any offering that was being brought 501 00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:33,240 to God be a blemish-free animal. 502 00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:34,960 That it needed to be the best. 503 00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:37,520 It needed to be the most acceptable animal, 504 00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:39,920 not the least acceptable. 505 00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:44,920 Only the spotless blemish-free one was fit for God. 506 00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:48,520 And to be without blemish means that we are acceptable. 507 00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:52,520 To be without blemish means that no fault is found in us. 508 00:25:54,040 --> 00:25:59,040 We can be seen as pure because we are hidden in Christ, 509 00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:00,880 the pure one. 510 00:26:02,520 --> 00:26:07,520 We can be seen or received as blameless before God 511 00:26:07,520 --> 00:26:10,200 because he was the perfect son, Jesus. 512 00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:13,360 And because we hide in the cleft 513 00:26:13,360 --> 00:26:15,400 of the blameless one, Christ. 514 00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:21,400 We can be received as sons because the perfect son 515 00:26:22,280 --> 00:26:23,600 honored and obeyed Christ. 516 00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:27,800 And if we are in him, then we are received as him. 517 00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:32,360 He can deliver us and present us 518 00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:34,720 in the presence of the glory of God 519 00:26:34,720 --> 00:26:37,040 and we can stand and not melt away. 520 00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:42,040 Lots of folks encountered God throughout the Old Testament. 521 00:26:42,040 --> 00:26:44,840 And in their sinful states, what did they do? 522 00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:48,840 Fell down, they cried out, woe is me. 523 00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:50,440 They turned their face away. 524 00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:53,320 Jude says there's a way in Christ 525 00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:57,200 that we can stand before God, face toward him, 526 00:26:58,720 --> 00:27:02,280 and not melt away, not be pushed away, not be rejected. 527 00:27:02,280 --> 00:27:05,600 And that is the way that Jesus was born. 528 00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:09,040 And that in our ability to stand in his presence 529 00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:11,040 and his glory, that great joy 530 00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:13,520 is the appropriate word for that. 531 00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:17,680 Great joy is what is produced in us 532 00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:19,960 as we stand in his presence. 533 00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:22,800 Except that we know that if the Lord 534 00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:26,240 did keep an account of iniquities, we could not stand. 535 00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:31,320 If he had a list up there, and only if the list was empty 536 00:27:31,320 --> 00:27:32,480 would he allow us to stand, 537 00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:36,200 then we cannot stand on our own merits. 538 00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:38,000 But we know that Christ has made the way 539 00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:40,320 and through his forgiveness, we can now stand 540 00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:42,840 because we are in him, hidden in Christ. 541 00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:45,760 And great joy is that word. 542 00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:47,720 One commentator said, great joy though 543 00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:48,760 that he's talking about here 544 00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:51,880 is a word that belongs to heaven alone. 545 00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:54,760 It's not the kind of joy that you and I 546 00:27:54,760 --> 00:27:56,920 have yet experienced. 547 00:27:56,920 --> 00:27:59,800 It's a joy that we can only hope to experience 548 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:03,040 in his presence at the fullness where we stand 549 00:28:03,040 --> 00:28:06,560 face to face, unashamed and not rejected 550 00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:08,920 face to face with God himself. 551 00:28:10,360 --> 00:28:11,960 Then we'll experience joy. 552 00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:14,560 Great joy. 553 00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:18,600 The preacher Martin Lloyd Jones said, 554 00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:21,640 the ultimate test of our spirituality 555 00:28:21,640 --> 00:28:24,440 is a measure of our amazement at the grace of God. 556 00:28:24,440 --> 00:28:28,040 The ultimate test of our spirituality 557 00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:31,560 is a measure of our amazement at the grace of God. 558 00:28:33,160 --> 00:28:35,280 When you hear what Christ has done, 559 00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:37,440 when you read the scriptures that we've read, 560 00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:39,080 is your heart cold? 561 00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:46,800 Is your heart cold or is it strangely warmed toward Christ? 562 00:28:47,840 --> 00:28:50,200 Do you get a little excited? 563 00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:52,640 Like if I could run where he's talking about, 564 00:28:52,640 --> 00:28:54,720 to that place that he's talking about a great joy, 565 00:28:54,720 --> 00:28:56,560 I would run there right now, but I know I can't, 566 00:28:56,560 --> 00:28:59,200 so I gotta sit where I'm at and wait for him to finish. 567 00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:03,560 Do you get a little bit of excitement? 568 00:29:04,560 --> 00:29:05,400 Joy. 569 00:29:06,840 --> 00:29:09,040 Unfulfilled, but there. 570 00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:11,040 Longing, reaching out. 571 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:14,600 This is a test. 572 00:29:15,880 --> 00:29:18,040 Are you amazed at the grace of God? 573 00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:21,560 And here's what's in the test. 574 00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:23,960 And here's what's interesting about this kind of great joy 575 00:29:23,960 --> 00:29:25,360 we're talking about. 576 00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:27,240 The kind of great joy that we'll experience 577 00:29:27,240 --> 00:29:30,160 in his presence on that day. 578 00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:35,440 This level of joy is used particularly 579 00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:37,320 of the wedding feast of the Lamb. 580 00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:41,880 It's this beautiful, stunning metaphor 581 00:29:41,880 --> 00:29:44,360 of the union of Christ and his people 582 00:29:44,360 --> 00:29:49,360 in absolute joy and bliss with all of heaven singing 583 00:29:49,360 --> 00:29:50,960 at the end of time. 584 00:29:53,840 --> 00:29:56,960 I'll read a little bit of Revelation chapter 19. 585 00:29:58,960 --> 00:30:03,960 Then I heard something, like the voice of a vast multitude, 586 00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:07,240 like the sound of cascading waters, 587 00:30:07,240 --> 00:30:11,320 and like the rumbling of loud thunder saying, 588 00:30:11,320 --> 00:30:16,320 hallelujah, because our Lord God, the Almighty reigns. 589 00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:19,480 The vast multitude, the sound of cascading waters, 590 00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:22,560 the rumbling loud, those are people. 591 00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:27,560 Those are the hosts of heaven proclaiming, declaring. 592 00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:31,760 Those are God's creation, returning to him 593 00:30:31,760 --> 00:30:33,720 the praise that he is due. 594 00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:38,720 Hallelujah, because our Lord God, the Almighty reigns. 595 00:30:39,280 --> 00:30:42,800 Let us be glad, rejoice, great joy, 596 00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:46,320 and give him glory because the marriage of the Lamb, 597 00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:48,760 the union of Christ and his people, 598 00:30:50,560 --> 00:30:55,560 the consummation of all things has come 599 00:30:56,840 --> 00:30:59,320 and his bride has prepared herself. 600 00:31:00,840 --> 00:31:06,640 She was given fine linen to wear, bright and pure, 601 00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:09,840 for the fine linen represents the light of the day. 602 00:31:09,840 --> 00:31:12,880 Bright and pure for the fine linen represents 603 00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:16,120 the righteous acts of the saints. 604 00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:21,920 Then he said to me, right, blessed are those 605 00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:24,840 invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb. 606 00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:29,240 And he also said to me, these words of God are true. 607 00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:34,240 The great joy when we are presented 608 00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:39,240 in the presence of Christ, the presence of God Almighty, 609 00:31:39,560 --> 00:31:44,560 blameless, and with great joy, is that we will finally, 610 00:31:44,560 --> 00:31:48,360 as Christ's body, be united to Christ 611 00:31:49,360 --> 00:31:54,360 in this marriage feast of the Lamb, and we will rejoice. 612 00:31:54,360 --> 00:32:02,360 You guys remember in the Count and Luke of the Last Supper. 613 00:32:06,360 --> 00:32:11,360 Luke chapter 22 said, when the hour came for the Last Supper, 614 00:32:11,360 --> 00:32:16,360 he reclined at the table, Jesus, and the apostles with him, 615 00:32:16,360 --> 00:32:19,760 and then he said to them, I have fervently desired 616 00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:24,360 to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 617 00:32:24,360 --> 00:32:28,360 For I tell you, I will not eat it again 618 00:32:28,360 --> 00:32:32,360 until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. 619 00:32:34,760 --> 00:32:38,760 Jesus is waiting to eat that feast again. 620 00:32:40,360 --> 00:32:42,560 When we, all things are wrapped up, 621 00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:45,160 and we are presented before him as blameless, 622 00:32:45,160 --> 00:32:48,960 his bride, his people, and then we will be able 623 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:51,560 to eat it again, and then we will sit down 624 00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:54,560 for the feast again that Christ had with his disciples. 625 00:32:54,560 --> 00:32:56,760 He will get to eat it again, but with us, 626 00:32:56,760 --> 00:32:58,760 and with great joy and rejoicing. 627 00:32:58,760 --> 00:33:01,560 That is what communion is every week. 628 00:33:02,960 --> 00:33:04,960 That is why we do it every week. 629 00:33:04,960 --> 00:33:06,160 We're rehearsing. 630 00:33:07,960 --> 00:33:12,960 We're getting ready when we will be presented 631 00:33:13,560 --> 00:33:15,960 blameless, not in ourselves. 632 00:33:15,960 --> 00:33:20,660 Not in ourselves, but proclaimed righteous, 633 00:33:20,660 --> 00:33:25,360 acceptable, and received for the wedding feast of the Lamb. 634 00:33:27,960 --> 00:33:32,960 This is no small task, no mundane thing we do. 635 00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:40,160 This is us, all those who have faith in Christ, 636 00:33:40,160 --> 00:33:43,160 receiving elements and taking them together 637 00:33:43,160 --> 00:33:45,920 in hopeful anticipation of the day when we will sit 638 00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:49,320 at the table with our Lord and Savior, 639 00:33:49,320 --> 00:33:52,720 our husband as the church, 640 00:33:54,160 --> 00:33:57,080 and we will enjoy and feast for all eternity, 641 00:33:57,080 --> 00:34:00,760 the presence of sin eradicated, wiped away, 642 00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:03,960 a distant, if even a memory, 643 00:34:03,960 --> 00:34:06,320 as we glory in the face of Christ. 644 00:34:09,600 --> 00:34:12,240 We're going to receive our elements this morning 645 00:34:12,240 --> 00:34:17,240 as a way to kind of close up our sermon. 646 00:34:17,240 --> 00:34:22,240 Communion of foretaste, a pre-enactment of this union. 647 00:34:24,200 --> 00:34:25,920 If you are in Christ, 648 00:34:27,880 --> 00:34:31,840 if you are in Christ, then those words from Revelation, 649 00:34:33,360 --> 00:34:36,640 that John was told, write this down. 650 00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:39,080 Write this down. 651 00:34:39,080 --> 00:34:44,080 Blessed are those invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb.