Jude (Quality: Good)

[0:00] unto him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy to the only wise God our saviour be glory and majesty dominion and power both now and ever Amen came as helped to the second part of verse 24 this morning and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy we cannot begin to comprehend what heaven is and yet if there is life in our souls we shall long to be given a glimpse of heaven we shall want the Holy Spirit to take us by faith to be favoured with even a glimpse of glory one has so rightly put it heaven is that holy happy place where sin no more defiles and where saints and angels draw their bliss immediately from thee and one has also said this what must it be to be there we have been reading of heaven this evening and I just turn for a moment to the seventh chapter of the revelation and the closing words contained in this chapter that says concerning everyone that is presented faultless without spot or wrinkle or any such thing and I hope the Lord will help me once more to tell you what is needed and yet this is a description of heaven therefore are they before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them they shall hunger no more neither thirst any more neither shall the sun light on them nor any heat for the lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes we so need the Holy Spirit's divine and sacred influence to come upon us as we even venture what a venture one feels it to be to speak of such truths as this now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and perhaps

[4:52] I should pause here and say this if the Lord the Holy Spirit has made you aware that you need to be kept if you have been shown that unless you are kept you will fall if you have been shown that you have the seeds of every evil that there is within your heart and if you are not preserved you will fall and if you have been shown from painful experience that only the Lord can keep you from falling no one else can you have had to prove you cannot keep yourself you have had to prove that no man can keep you well the Lord helped me to encourage you by saying this that if you really know something of this truth that only the Lord can keep you only the

[5:58] Lord can preserve you unto his heavenly kingdom then I'm sure of this you'll dwell with him in heaven forever you feel your deep need of him now is keeping grace and mercy and love and power and if indeed he is to your soul even in the desire for it the chief among ten thousand and the altogether lovely then you'll reach heaven you'll reach heaven and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy now we mentioned this morning that there is first of all this great need to those that he will present before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy and I have thought of a word that is found in two places in the

[7:15] Bible and both speak to this end concerning Christ when and I would seek for reverence to say that he will say in the last great day when his beloved people will be gathered to be forever with him here am I and the children which thou hast given me here am I and the children which thou hast given me but every one of them must be born again every one of them will be born again the Lord himself has told us this except or unless ye be converted and become as little children ye cannot ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven marvel not that I said unto thee ye must be born again now without the new birth then made known within our hearts by the

[8:36] Holy Spirit we shall never enter heaven the thing is impossible let me seek to make this thought clear it is only those that are prepared for heaven that will be at home there only those that are indeed called by grace washed in the redeemer's blood and clothed in his righteousness and to be brought to know him here as our Lord our saviour and our God unless we know this unless we are brought to these things by the spirit we should not be at home in heaven we should be if I might use the word reverently we should be like a stranger and a foreigner we should not fit in there have been the instances you may have read and just very briefly if my memory serves me rightly there were three sisters two of them had been called by grace their hearts had been changed their feet turned to

[9:58] Zion's hill and they had a sister who was given a dream and in this dream she was taken as it were into heaven mujeres I bought so how we need to be prepared for heaven again if there's life in your soul and mine we shall feel our deep need of being prepared we shall feelingly say prepare me gracious God to stand before thy face thy spirit must the work perform for it is all of grace and your heart will say amen to that you'll know that that is true because of the spirit's teaching now Jesus then we would ever seek to have him as our teacher by the Holy Ghost through his holy word now we read this truth or these truths to you this morning and I must read this verse once more to bring it to you husbands love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it our saviour is he our saviour?

[12:20] oh if he is our saviour if we know him to be our saviour we shall know this that he gave his life for us he gave his life for us he gave his life upon Calvary he endured the cross despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God in heaven now he gave and gave himself for it that he might sanctify which means to set apart and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word which speaks not only of sanctification or to be set apart by the Holy Spirit but it speaks of regeneration as I said earlier on we cannot enter heaven without first being regenerated marvel not that I said unto you ye must be born again but when and our souls are born again they know something of another word that is recorded in

[13:50] Paul's epistle to Titus in these words now can you understand this not by works of righteousness which we have done if we are indeed to reach heaven if we do reach heaven we shall feelingly acknowledge this to be true not by works of righteousness which we have done we shall know this that we can do nothing to save our souls we shall know this that all our righteousnesses are but as filthy rags we shall have to say with Augustus top lady nothing in my hand I bring absolutely nothing Lord but that will bring you to this simply to thy cross

[14:53] I cling naked come to thee for dress helpless look to thee for grace black I to the fountain fly wash me wash me saviour or I die so then you will say with the apostle as he wrote to Titus not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us this was truth that we were trying to bring before you this morning the cry of a regenerated soul is the cry for mercy and it will not only be our cry as we are quickened into life but it will be our cry right through to the end of our days you'll never get beyond this here your need of mercy so here we have then a divine pattern of truth not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us almighty love arrest that man arrest that boy that girl that woman and when a divine power accompanies this in the hearts of a sinner they will be arrested we tried as it were to find you and our own heart this morning in this to know whether we have been arrested arrested by the word of God because here again in Paul's epistle to the

[16:47] Ephesians it says that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word by the word of God I believe it would be really profitable for all of us here tonight to we need the Holy Spirit to help us but to look within our hearts may the Holy Spirit look within our hearts to see whether we have been arrested by the word of God some of you will remember when you were arrested by it not everyone can remember these things in a clear and particular way but even if you're not able to speak of a particular day or time or place when you were first arrested but the point that matters really is this have you been arrested arrested by the word of God two words

[17:57] I think of that I must now just mention the first is this have you ever heard the word of God God himself saying to you as he did to Adam and to Eve Adam where are there have you ever heard such a word as this in your heart by the Holy Ghost the soul that sinneth it shall die have you ever heard such a word as this I've mentioned it already but except ye be converted and become as little children ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven well if we've been regenerated by the Holy Ghost we shall one day be presented before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy inexpressible joy now coming once more to this word in epistle to titus not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us how by the washing of regeneration being born again and this brings me to one's closing sentence in the morning service what was the evidence that was given of life in the heart of

[19:42] Saul himself to Ananias his servant it was this for behold he prayeth if there's life in your soul if you've been regenerated you will have been compelled to pray you will have been compelled to cry for mercy you will have felt your need as a sinner of a saviour you will have had to come to the throne of grace and plead for mercy for Jesus sake and then there's this not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost may we just pause for a moment to consider this that when a soul is quickened into life by the

[20:49] Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit begins to live within the heart and soul of those that have been born again the Holy Spirit takes up his residence within the heart of every regenerated soul now this may provoke a thought in your heart and you may be saying at this very moment well how can I know that I have been born again how can I know that I have been regenerated how can I know that the Holy Spirit has taken up his residence in my heart well friend you can know it in this in the words of the apostle when he wrote to the Romans the church at Rome for as many as are led by the

[21:54] Spirit of God they are the sons of God and daughters too now you might also say this well if indeed the Holy Spirit is within my heart how can I know whether I am being led by the Holy Spirit because you will be compelled to ask for his divine guidance you will be compelled to ask that you might be taught by the Holy Ghost you will know that you need the Holy Spirit as your teacher to teach you to lead you to bring you to Christ to reveal his son in you as your hope of glory so if you are among his children you have been compelled to pray you feel your need of the

[22:56] Holy Ghost the more we feel our need of the Holy Spirit the more we shall be compelled to pray for his divine help we shall feel our need of the Holy Spirit in everything in everything in our life nothing is too small and nothing is too great but you'll say sweet Spirit guide me over life's tempestuous sea teach me oh holy lover to confide in thee now we come back again for a moment to Ephesians 5 and it goes on to say this and I read one verse again that he might sanctify and cleanse it

[23:59] I feel I must pause here for a moment when souls are set apart by the Lord the time does come in their life when the Lord speaks to them when the Lord makes himself known to them in their hearts by his word that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word that he might present it to himself a glorious church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing that it should be holy and without blemish now this brings me to another very vital truth and that is this if we are to be if we are to be presented before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy we must be washed we must be cleansed in the precious blood of

[25:18] Jesus now here again will I trust reveal to you that you have life if you have life in your soul you will know that you need cleansing you will know that you need washing and you will be shown by the spirit teaching that there's only one fountain that can wash you clean that can cleanse you from your sins and that fountain is the fountain of the blood of Jesus so what does the blood of Jesus mean to us oh I would that there might be those that should be brought as it were to this very point tonight what does the blood of Jesus mean to you is it been has it been shown to you that if you're to reach heaven the only way you can reach it is as your sins are forgiven and your sins cannot be forgiven only as they are washed away in the redeemer's blood washed away in the redeemer's blood this is what Jesus does and it is by the holy spirit that this is brought to pass and then again in

[26:54] Paul's epistle to the Colossians in the first chapter we have another very precious word concerning our need of being washed and cleansed and covered and covered in the blood of Jesus and having made peace through the blood of his cross by him to reconcile all things unto himself by him I say whether they be things in heaven or things in earth now if you have been reconciled to God by the blood of Jesus you will know this as you are brought near to him brought near to him no one has ever yet been able to draw nigh to Jesus

[28:00] Christ only through his atoning blood and sacrifice this is the only way of access it's the only way wherein we can draw nigh and what does the apostle say again as he wrote to the Ephesians he says this but now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ the Lord help me now just to speak of this what is it to be made nigh by the blood of Christ well it is to be brought into his presence it is when we are favoured to feel to be near to him and when we are not only granted the blessing as spoken of in the book of

[29:04] Exodus and there I will meet with thee at the mercy seat and I will and will commune with thee from above the mercy seat now those that are brought nigh by the blood of Christ oh I say it with reverence that they know what it is to commune with Jesus they commune with him it's because they've been brought nigh to him by his blood and in these very simple words do we know something about it a little talk with Jesus how it smooths life's rugged road you dear young people that are here tonight indeed all of us that have we known what it is to commune with Jesus when you felt sweet access at the throne of grace and more than that you've communed with him you've told him your very soul's desires you've unburdened your heart and he's brought you near to himself and he's revealed himself to you through the lattice of his word now that is to be brought nigh sweet nearness and when such a word as this is made ours thou art all fair my love there is no spot in thee oh have you heard his voice have you sat at his feet have you been favoured to know that he's your Jesus because he has not only shed his precious blood for you but he has made you to feel it because you've been brought near to him and then again once more turning to

[31:04] Paul's epistle to the Colossians and what is spoken of there concerning this very precious word and you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works now can you remember when this was true of you is it true of us tonight and yet is it true and you that was sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight now that is the fulfillment or will be the fulfillment of this word now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy and then we shall come in with this benediction to the only wise

[32:37] God a triune Jehovah who is wisdom itself to the only wise God now again if you have been born again and brought into his presence have known something of the spirit's teaching and of the sacred effect of the blood of Jesus in your heart you will also know this that you have no wisdom of your own you'll acknowledge this you'll say Lord I have no wisdom and what has it done for you it's made you cry for wisdom you feel your need of that precious wisdom which is from above which is first pure then peaceable easy to be entreated full of good works and without partiality and without hypocrisy to the only wise

[33:43] God and then there will be this you'll know something of this great God in your life who has led you who has taught you who has blessed you to the only wise God this great God who has control of our life and every step of the way and everything to do with us and we shall know indeed that this is true to the only wise God it says in the word of God that there be God's many and so there are Mr.

[34:26] Dawson used to speak of it like this he used to talk about little G gods but those that are brought near by the blood of Christ they know what it is dear friends that they are taken away from their idols they are taken away from their gods and they are brought to worship this one God this one God that we adore if we love him our faithful unchangeable friend whose love is as great as his power and knows neither beginning nor end to the only wise God our Saviour now just one last thought concerning this our Saviour how can we know that he is our

[35:29] Saviour I believe we can know it like this his name shall be called Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins now do you want to be saved from your sins do you need to be saved from your sins sins are you compelled to pray that you may be saved from your sins sin will be a distress to you it will be a plague it will be a burden you will say with the apostle Paul oh wretched man that I am you will say with Job behold I am vile to the only wise God our Savior be glory and majesty and dominion and power both now and ever amen and you'll want this great

[36:42] God to have all the glory all the praise and the honour it will be unto him that will be the song in heaven unto him that washed us from our sins in his own blood amen may may we be helped to conclude with hymn 421 421 who God the only wise our Savior and our King let all the saints below the skies their humble praises bring 421 run to

[37:53] God the only wise our our Savior and our King let all the saints below the skies their humble praises bring tis his almighty love his counsel and his care preserves us safe from sin and death and every hurtful snare he will present our souls unblemished and complete beat before the glory of his face with joys divinely great then all the chosen said shall meet her round the throne shall bless the conduct of his grace and make his wonders known to the love to our redeemer

[41:01] God wisdom God wisdom he longs immortal crowns of majesty and ever lasting souls and ever lasting souls and ever lasting souls the Lord we ask thy blessing to rest upon thy holy word Lord thou knowest our hearts and thou knowest how we have come into the house of God today but

[42:14] Lord do let thy word abide oh may it not only take root within precious souls but Lord may it bear fruit to thy known honor now Lord we pray that thou will be with each one as they may return to their home go with them and bless them and Lord those that may remain behind this evening and that shall witness the sacred ordinance that they may be blessed Lord we ask that there might be those tonight that shall be blessed as they have never been blessed we ask

[43:18] Lord too for those who do come to thy table that thou with them and that thou will meet with us there and that thou will bless us there oh Lord do hear us may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and that the love of God with the communion the Holy Spirit be with you all Amen Amen Amen