Keep Yourself in the Love of God

[0:00] Thank you.

[0:30] All right, if you got your Bible, make your way to the book of Jude, the book of Jude, right there in front of the book of Revelation.

[0:40] So if you don't know where Jude is, just start at the back, and then right before Revelation, you'll find Jude. So find the second chapter, Jude chapter 2. While you're doing that, don't laugh.

[0:51] All right, we're in a little mini-series called Abide. This was actually something that was just going to be a one sermon at the beginning of the year to kind of challenge us about the right perspective of the Christian faith.

[1:04] And it's kind of turned into a multi-week series, but we will, Lord willing, start the book of Revelation here in just a couple weeks. But this has kind of been one of the key verses. Every week I've put this in front of you at the beginning.

[1:17] This is what Paul says in Philippians chapter 3. Not that I've already obtained the knowledge of God, or that I'm already perfect, but I press on to make it, that is, knowing God, knowing Christ my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

[1:34] And you know Paul was saying, I want to know Christ more. Everything in life is rubbish compared to knowing Jesus. He is of supreme value.

[1:45] And the challenge this year has been that we want to know God more. We want to pursue him more. And so the preoccupation of our mind is not to be better for God, but it's to know God.

[2:00] It's not to bear fruit for God. It's to abide in Christ. We looked at John 15, the very first week, where Jesus says, Abide in me, and I in you.

[2:11] The branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it does what? It abides in the vine. Neither can you unless you abide in me. I'm the vine. You're the branches.

[2:22] Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit. Why? Because apart from me, you can't do anything. And so it's foolish to think, you know what?

[2:33] This year, I'm going to bear more fruit for God. I'm going to be a better Christian. I'm going to step it up and just be better for Christ. That's not how it works. How it works is you run after Jesus.

[2:44] You abide in Jesus. You pursue Jesus. You love Jesus. You worship Jesus. And he bears fruit in your life. And so we're all about, this isn't about being a better Christian.

[2:58] This is about knowing Christ more. Amen? That's what this whole series about abide has been about. And so last week, we looked at Mary in Mark chapter 14 as an example of someone who got it right.

[3:13] You know, the disciples were concerned about doing, but Mary was devoted to Christ and worshiped Christ. And he honored her for that.

[3:23] Well, this week, I want us to turn our attention. Did you find Jude chapter 2? Because there isn't one, right? There's only one chapter in Jude. That was a little joke to see if I could catch you, and some of you knew it right away, suckers.

[3:35] All right, Jude chapter 1, Jude chapter 1 and verse 17. If you're able to stand for the reading of God's Word, please do so as we honor this reading.

[3:47] This is God's Word to us this evening. Jude verse 17. You must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[4:00] They said to you, in the last time there will be scoffers following their own ungodly passions. It's these who cause divisions, worldly people devoid of the Spirit.

[4:12] But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.

[4:36] This is God's Word. Pray with me. Pray for me. And let's ask God to talk to us tonight. So, Lord, here we are once again asking you to take these words and speak to our hearts because you know what we need to hear.

[4:51] You know exactly what needs to be spoken to us. And, Lord, I pray that you would just take the words that I'll share these next few moments, and you'll use them for your work to speak to your people and to edify us to build up our faith in Jesus Christ.

[5:08] We pray this in his name and God's people said. Amen. You can be seated. Jacob Halleck received the words that no one ever wants to hear.

[5:19] They're words that I know some of you in this room have heard. Your family members have heard these words. They are the words, you have cancer. And for Jacob, he didn't have a lot of options.

[5:32] To make matters worse, the tumor was not only aggressive, it was on his heart. And this left him with very little that he could do because the medication that he was on wouldn't allow him to have a normal transplant.

[5:47] And so instead, Jacob had an eight-hour surgery that removed his heart and replaced it with two modified pumps.

[5:57] And shockingly, it worked. I mean, despite having to carry a battery pack around with him everywhere he went, for the first few months, he was able to do some pretty amazing things.

[6:10] He was able to go to the gym and do some light workouts. He could smile and sing. He could laugh. He could eat. He could do all of these things. All the while, he didn't have a pulse and he didn't have a heartbeat.

[6:24] In fact, Jacob said this, quote, listen into this. I don't even realize it because the functions of the body are the same.

[6:39] Externally, everything's normal. The only difference was my heart wasn't beating and I didn't have a pulse. Otherwise, I'm functioning like a healthy man.

[6:56] Otherwise, I'm functioning like a healthy man. And that went on for six months. Eventually, all the other parts of the body began to fail, primarily his liver.

[7:09] And Jacob eventually died. And why did Jacob die? He died because of something every single one of us knows that's true.

[7:20] It's this. You can only live so long without a heart. You can only live so long without a heart. And the same is true for us.

[7:32] And I'm not talking about just a physical heart. I mean this. You know this. It's hard to last without love. It's hard to last without love.

[7:43] And you know this in a hundred different ways. For example, you know it is very difficult to go to work day after day after day when you hate your job.

[7:55] You know it's very difficult to stay in a relationship where there is no love. You know that it's hard to go out and play the game when you've lost all passion to go out and play.

[8:09] It's very, very difficult to go to class and to study when you have no desire to do that at all. And you also know, Christian, that it is very hard to endure in your faith when you've lost your heart for God.

[8:28] It's very difficult to last without love. It's hard to live without a heart. And so I ask you, have you lost your heart? Have you lost your heart?

[8:44] Because that, beloved, is the concern that Jude has in this passage. As many of you know, I actually preached a series on the book of Jude, not in terms of what I'm focusing on tonight, but actually focusing on what the main point of the book is, which is contend.

[9:00] Jude writes this little tweet, this little letter, this one chapter letter to motivate these Christians. Hey, contend for the faith. Stand up. Fight.

[9:11] Do something. Take action. Why? Because false teachers, with their false teaching, had crept into the church.

[9:22] Look at verse 3. Beloved, I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation. I found it necessary to write appealing to you to do what?

[9:33] To contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. And why is he writing to them to contend for the faith? Verse 4. For certain people have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

[9:56] In other words, Jude's writing this letter saying, hey, let's go. Stand up. Do something. Fight. Don't just stand there and let false teaching run amok. You need to contend for the faith.

[10:08] And in my experience, that's something a lot of Christians want to do. We study apologetics because we want to be able to defend the faith. We vote on certain issues because we want to promote Christian values.

[10:21] We stand up against the prevailing winds of compromise in our culture. We want to contend. We want to fight. That is to stand up. And we want to do it for the truth of God.

[10:32] Amen? Amen? Jude, so importantly. Jude, so brilliantly, before he ends this little letter, with the main point being do something, take action, contend.

[10:50] Here's what he knows. He knows this. You won't last long without a heart. You won't get very far without a heart. You will not persevere if you lose your passion.

[11:04] You will not contend if your love grows cold. You will stop doing for God if you stop being with God. And so he makes sure God, by his spirit, makes sure that Jude, before he ends this one chapter, commands this.

[11:24] Verse 21. Verse 21. Verse 21. Keep yourselves in the love of God.

[11:35] Do you see? Keep yourselves in the love of God. Which I think sounds exactly like John 15. Right? Bear fruit in Jude is what?

[11:47] Contending for the faith. And what is that born out of? Abiding in Christ. Keeping yourself in the love of God. In other words, I believe Jude makes the same connection Jesus makes in John 15.

[12:02] That is, if you're going to contend, you can't grow cold. If you're going to persevere, you've got to kindle that passion for Christ. Abide in him.

[12:13] Because again, here it is, you're not going to last long without a heart. And so before I unpack this scripture, I want to just give you a brief overview of what I think makes some evangelicals very uncomfortable.

[12:28] And I hope it does. I really do. Because it is something that is so critically important. And that is, I want to show you how the Bible commands our affections, our emotions, our praise, our adoration.

[12:44] Let me give you just a few verses. Matthew chapter 22, verse 34. But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked Jesus a question to test him.

[12:57] Teacher, what's the greatest commandment in the law? Listen, the law is about doing. And they asked, what's the greatest do?

[13:09] What's the most important thing? And they're assuming it's going to be that you need to do something. Go out and do something for God. And here's what Jesus says. It's beautiful. Jesus said to them, you shall do what?

[13:22] Love. Love the Lord your God with all your what? Heart and soul and your mind. The most important thing is not doing for God.

[13:33] It's loving God. You summarize the whole law up that way. It's not about obeying the law. It's about your heart and soul and mind loving God.

[13:46] Matthew 13, 44. The kingdom of heaven is like this. This is what the kingdom of heaven is like. It's like a treasure. That's hidden in a field, which a man found and he covered it up. And then in his, say it, joy.

[13:59] He goes and sells everything that he has and buys the field. In other words, entrance into the kingdom of God is an emotional one. It is one full of joy.

[14:12] You are so full of joy because you found the one thing, the most important thing that surpasses all value. Psalm 100. Psalm 100. I mean, I could do a thousand of these in the Old Testament, just the Psalms alone.

[14:25] Psalm 100, verse 1 and 2. We could be reminded of this. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness and come into his presence with singing.

[14:38] Do you? Do you? Well, I don't like lyric videos. I don't like the sound. I don't like it. Listen, here's what matters more than any of that stuff. Your heart full of joy.

[14:50] And you coming into this place excited to worship God. 1 Peter 1, 8 and 9. I got to speed it up. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and you rejoice.

[15:04] You rejoice with a joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Philippians 4, 4. Rejoice in the Lord always.

[15:16] Again, I will say, rejoice. And finally, what is the fruit of the Spirit? We talked about the vine. So what does the fruit look like that gets produced in our life? Galatians 5, 22.

[15:26] The fruit of the Spirit is love and joy and peace and patience. And you can say the others. But it's emotional. And please understand, our Christian life is not entirely based on our emotion.

[15:42] But God should affect you. God should affect you. Jonathan Edwards, the great Puritan, writes in his book called Religious Affections, one of the most convicting books I have ever read outside of the Bible.

[15:57] He writes this, quote, The things of God should take hold of our souls so much that they affect our hearts. Many people hear the Word of God, but what they hear has no effect on them.

[16:12] They're not emotionally affected by what they hear. They hear of God's infinite goodness and mercy. They hear of great works of God's wisdom and power. They hear of the unspeakable love of God and the great things that Christ has done.

[16:25] They hear all these things, and yet they remain as they were before. That should never be. It should never be. So faith family, what I'm saying is we are to keep ourselves in the love of God.

[16:40] This is an emotional thing. We are to be a people of joy, of passion, of gladness towards God. But I don't know about you, but if I'm honest with you, I struggle with keeping in the love of God.

[16:58] Maybe I'm the only one. You can judge me. That's fine. But I'm very much like the old hymn, prone to wonder, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.

[17:10] And I bet you, if you're honest, you're prone to do that as well. Do you struggle with your love for God? So the question tonight is how do we abide? How do we keep ourselves in the love of God?

[17:23] And God has been so good to you. Amen? God has been so good to you that he's telling you how. He doesn't just say, keep yourselves in the love of God. Now go figure it out. He tells us how we do this.

[17:38] Look at the command. The main command is verse 21. It's an imperative. And again, it's keep yourselves in the love of God. And I do, like eventually we're going to get to the text.

[17:49] I promise. This is like the introduction that never ends, but it's okay. It's good, right? Okay, yeah. Because here's what I don't want some of you to think. Keep yourself in the love of God. Oh my gosh.

[18:00] Well, man, now I'm going to get nervous. And what if I don't do the right thing? And man, my whole eternal security is based on my ability to keep myself. And now all of a sudden you're just, this didn't help you at all. You just became a basket case thinking it's entirely upon you to keep yourself.

[18:14] And so before I even give you the command to keep yourself in the love of God, I'm going to take you back to the beginning of this letter where Jude says this. Look at Jude chapter 1 verse 1.

[18:25] I must say this before I say what's next. Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, to those who are called, beloved in God the Father, and everybody say it, kept, past tense, for Jesus Christ.

[18:42] In other words, here's one good thing to know. You are kept. If you are a Christian here this evening, you are someone who has been called, past tense, beloved, past tense, and kept, past tense.

[18:57] That is all already happened. In fact, look at what Peter says in 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to his great mercy.

[19:08] He's caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, unfading, say it, kept in heaven for you.

[19:21] So make no mistake, a Christian is kept by God. You've got to understand that, so that you don't live in fear of the command that happens in verse 21.

[19:32] You are kept by God. But listen, are you listening? Are you listening? This would be a good point if you've zoned out too. Zone back in. Just because you're kept by God doesn't remove your responsibility to pursue God.

[19:50] Just because you are kept by God in no way removes your responsibility to pursue God. In fact, look at what Paul says in Philippians 2 verse 12. Therefore, beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only is in my presence, but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

[20:12] Are you to work out your salvation? Yes. And look at the next verse. For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

[20:27] So here's the question. Are you kept? Yes. And are you to keep? Absolutely. Is God the one who does the work? Amen, amen, amen, amen.

[20:39] And get off your lazy you-know-what and run after God. You don't ever let God's sovereignty take away your responsibility. You don't ever say, I'm kept so I won't keep.

[20:51] He's gonna do the work, so I won't work. Of course not. If anything, it's his sovereign promise to keep you that should motivate you to wanna stay in his love.

[21:05] So before we unpack the text, which we will now do, and if you're timing me, turn your timer off, we'll now unpack the text, but I want you to see this command to keep yourself in God's love comes with the sovereign promise that you are kept in God.

[21:20] So how do we then keep ourselves in God's love? Here it is. It's very simple. The command, keep yourself in the love of God, and then there's three participles, ending in I and G, and all three of these participles tell us how to do the command, how to keep ourselves in the love of God.

[21:38] So tonight, I'm gonna ask you to do three things, very simply, very necessary, very important. You ready? Preach, pray, and ponder. Preach, you wanna keep yourself in the love of God?

[21:51] You better because you won't last long without a heart. You won't persevere without passion. You won't contend if you grow cold. So how are you to keep yourself in the love of God?

[22:02] Preach, pray, and ponder. I'll show all of those here in the text, and we're done, verse 20. Verse 20 says, But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith.

[22:16] So stop right there. Here's the first one, is if you wanna keep yourself in the love of God, I know this is practical, I know this is simple, but this is necessary. Preach the gospel to yourself every day.

[22:30] Preach the gospel to yourself every day. Did you know you're a preacher? You're all preachers. Listen, no one talks to you more than you. Okay?

[22:41] Your wife might be second, but no one talks to you more than you. You're always talking to you, so what are you telling yourself? Preach the gospel to yourself every day.

[22:53] Now, let me show you where I get this, because you may be wondering, well, I didn't see gospel in this at all. Where are you taking that? Notice the phrase in the text, the most holy faith. Now, listen, typically, the word faith is used as a verb, right?

[23:08] It's an action. You need to take a step of faith. You need to trust God. You need to walk by faith. That's a verb.

[23:18] You're doing something. But that's not how Jude uses this word faith. He uses the word faith as a noun. That is, it's a set of belief. It's a set of doctrines.

[23:29] It's a set of truth. And both, by the way, are necessary. In fact, notice this on the screen. A Christian is actually someone who has faith in the faith. You have faith that as you do something, you believe in the faith, the truth of God, the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[23:47] So a Christian is someone who has faith in the faith. We believe in the Christian belief. We're devoted to the gospel of Christ. So you believe, verb, in the truth, noun, of the gospel.

[24:01] And we see this throughout scripture. I won't take a ton of time here, but Acts chapter 2, verse 42. They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching. That is doctrine. Galatians 1.6.

[24:13] I'm astonished that you're so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and turning to a different gospel. Not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

[24:25] 1 Corinthians 15. I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and which you stand, and by which you are being saved if you hold fast the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.

[24:38] I delivered to you of first importance what I also received, that Christ died, this is the gospel, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scripture.

[24:50] And then finally, Ephesians 4.11. He gave us apostles and prophets and evangelists and shepherds and teachers to equip the saints, the work of the ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ until we all attain the unity of the, say it, faith.

[25:05] So all throughout scripture, we see that the faith is the gospel. It's the thing that God has revealed to us and we believe it. And you say, well, pastor, I just don't really like doctrine.

[25:18] I mean, I'm not one of those Bible nerds, right? You're not gonna find me in a study on the book of Revelation. Like, I just, I'm just not into that. Not into doctrine.

[25:29] I'm more of a, let's just have a personal, practical relationship with Jesus. Okay, that's fine. You're just not a Christian. Because a Christian is someone who believes doctrine.

[25:44] Specifically, and in terms of salvation, the doctrine of the gospel. Do you believe that Jesus died? Do you believe that Jesus was buried? Do you believe that Jesus was raised from the dead?

[25:55] You better, or you're not a Christian. And if you believe it, you believe in doctrine. You believe in truth. I'll never forget a professor, an old professor of mine, went to a conference one time and he found some Bible study materials that were advocating for a particular unbiblical lifestyle.

[26:13] And there was this lady at the table and he just asked her, he's like, how can you endorse this curriculum? And she said, he goes, because it goes against the Bible. And she said, well, that's the difference between you and me.

[26:24] The Bible is my authority and Jesus, or the Bible is your authority and Jesus is my authority. And he said, well, wait a minute. What do you know about Jesus that you don't know from the Bible?

[26:35] And she said, well, I know what every little kid growing up in church learned, that Jesus loves me. This I know. To which he said, yeah, for the Bible tells you so.

[26:48] Like, what do you know about Jesus that you do not know from the Bible? You say you believe in Jesus. Which one? The one as revealed in scripture or the one grandma made up?

[27:02] Like, your belief in Jesus is doctrine. In other words, notice this on the screen, you can't separate truth, truth, you can't separate faith, the noun, from faith, the verb.

[27:13] Amen? You have to be built up in the most holy faith. Now, listen, the ultimate point that Jude is making, gonna go fast, notice this is here, is he's saying, I not only want you to believe the gospel, but I want you to be built up in it.

[27:29] Build yourselves up in the most holy faith. In other words, he's saying this, I don't want you to stop growing in the gospel.

[27:41] And you know, this is part of our culture here, and if you've known me for very long, I say this all the time, we don't ever get over the gospel. You know, gospel's not A, B, C, it's A to Z, it's everything.

[27:52] The deep end of the pool is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Amen? Here's what I want you to have. I want every single one of you to have a PhD in the gospel.

[28:04] That you know the gospel of Jesus Christ. Why? So you can preach it to yourself every day. Milton Vinson, in his book, A Gospel Primer, writes this, quote, There is simply no other way to compete with the forebodings of my conscience, the condemnation of my heart, the lies of the world and the devil, than, listen, to overwhelm it with daily rehearsings of the gospel.

[28:38] Do any of you here have forebodings of your conscience? Your condemnation from your heart, lies from the world and the devil. How do you fight these things that would want to steal your passion from God?

[28:54] You fight it with the gospel. You build yourself up in the most holy faith. That's why we kind of have an agreement here. You show up every week, you're going to get the gospel. In one version or another, you're going to get the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[29:08] Why? Because it keeps you in the love of God. Let me just make one quick connection and I'll move on. I'll move on. I know you do because the sermon series we do here are so profound, they never leave your mind.

[29:22] Thanks for the encouragement there. But you remember back in the fall, we were in a series called For the One. And you remember there was a story we looked at where the prostitute snuck into Simon the Pharisee's home and she comes up to Jesus' feet and she worships him.

[29:40] She wipes his feet with her hair. You remember that. And do you remember what Jesus said of her? I want to go back to that quickly and we're done with this point because this really drives the point home.

[29:51] This is what Jesus said. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven. For she, say it, loved much.

[30:03] But he, but he who is forgiven little, loves little. And do you remember when I told you that Jesus is not saying there's some people that need a little bit of forgiveness and there's some people that need a lot.

[30:17] No, no, no. He's not saying that at all. He's saying this. Are you listening? Lean in. There is a direct relationship between how much you know of God's forgiveness in your life and how much you love him.

[30:32] Pharisees, Pharisees think, well, I mean, I've been forgiven a little bit and they don't love much. But prostitutes, aware of their sin, realize what Jesus has done for them and love much.

[30:52] So do you know how you keep yourself in the love of God? You preach the gospel to yourself. You remind yourself, you know, part of the reason why we do communion weekly is it's reminding you what a mess you are and how much God loves you to stir those affections for God.

[31:13] Preach the gospel to yourself every day. Here's the next one. Verse 20b, second part of verse 20 says, not only building yourselves up in the most holy faith, but praying in the Holy Spirit.

[31:25] Praying in the Holy Spirit. So preach is the first, pray is the second. This is very simple, this is familiar, but it is necessary. Here it is, here it is, on the screen.

[31:36] You won't keep yourself in the love of God if you never talk to God. I mean, you don't even need to go to seminary for that. You're not gonna keep yourself in the love of God. You're not gonna keep that heart, that passion, those affections for God stirred if you don't ever talk to Him.

[31:52] Right? I mean, you know it's very hard to have a deep friendship with someone you don't speak to. And by the way, if you're struggling with, but I don't understand how to relate to an invisible God, go back to Summer in the Psalms, and I did an entire sermon on how do you relate to a God you can't see.

[32:10] And whether it's creation, God's Word, the Gospel, we looked at several things of how you can worship and have communion with the invisible God.

[32:21] But this is, listen, this is why prayer and praise and journaling journaling is an important part of keeping yourself in God's love. Talk to Him.

[32:32] When you're driving, eyes open, talk to Him. In the morning, at night, talk to Him. You're not gonna keep yourself in His love if you don't talk to Him. And you say, well, what do we talk about?

[32:45] Well, most people just talk about themselves. But that's why Jude adds this phrase in the Holy Spirit. You say, what in the world does it mean to pray in the Holy Spirit? Oh, I get, anybody like me that just gets really frustrated when people take things out of context?

[33:00] And people do this with the Bible all the time. I've had people say, this is about speaking in tongues, this is about a prophetic word, this is some other different type of prayer to pray in the Holy Spirit, to which I say, that is absolute, total nonsense.

[33:15] And here's why it's nonsense, because it doesn't have anything to do with the passage, and it doesn't have anything to do with the book. Nowhere, at any point, is Jude talking about some prophetic word or speaking in tongues?

[33:28] Here's what he is talking about, you might want to lean in for this, he's talking about people that live according to the flesh, verse 3. That is, listen, he's talking about people that seek the things they want.

[33:41] He's talking about people that do whatever they want to do, and so Jude, in the context of this book, says, I don't want you to be the type of person that lives according to the flesh, I want you to be the type of person that prays in the Holy Spirit.

[33:57] In other words, in other words, you're not focusing life all about you, your life is in pursuit of God. And so the conversation that you have with God is in the Holy Spirit, that is, it is focused on God, His will, His desire, His ways, and so you talk about God.

[34:17] And the more you know about Him, the more you learn about Him, the more you can declare things about Him. You are faithful, you are wise, you are holy, and you just get caught up and just mind obsessed with who God is.

[34:39] That's praying in the Holy Spirit. Don't give me this speaking in tongue. We'll deal with that in different passages. That ain't what He's talking about here. He's contrasting those who do their own thing with those who are praying focused on God.

[34:53] So, preach the gospel to yourself. Pray in the Holy Spirit. Notice this on the screen. You won't keep yourself in the love of God without the active pursuit of God.

[35:06] And that's what prayer is. Here's the final one, verse 21. Verse 21. Keep yourselves in the love of God, but then notice the third participle, waiting, for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.

[35:21] So, the last one is ponder your glorious future. Ponder your glorious future. I tell you, just even in doing this and preparing for this message, I found like, this is going to shock you.

[35:33] It works. It shouldn't surprise you. It's Bible, right? Let me explain it, right? The phrase, to wait on the mercy of Jesus, is in reference to future grace.

[35:46] In other words, Jude's just doing something here that Peter does, Paul does, all throughout the New Testament. Jesus does this, and that is, he's asking you to set your mind on a future day.

[35:58] A day when you are going to be just overflowing with eternal grace from God. That day of restoration, that day of resurrection.

[36:11] And so, he's saying, I want you, in order to stir your affections, to not lose sight of your glorious future that is yours in Jesus Christ. And I don't mean obsessed by end time events.

[36:23] I'm talking about obsessed with the day of resurrection. Here's how the Apostle Paul says it in 2 Corinthians 4. Look at how he starts this out. So, we do not lose, you're kidding me, I can't make this up.

[36:35] Don't lose your heart. Don't lose your heart. How do we not lose our heart? Though the outer self is wasting away, the inner self's being renewed day by day. For this light, momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory that is beyond all comparison.

[36:50] So, what do we do? We look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

[37:03] In other words, you gotta wait and ponder what's coming. Here's the problem. Nobody likes to wait. All of us want instant gratification, right?

[37:14] We live in a culture that constantly wants it now. Watch people at McDonald's. They decide what they want when they get to the front of the line. That makes me crazy. What were you doing in line?

[37:24] Your tax returns? I knew what I wanted before I parked the car. People stare at a McDonald's menu. It's McDonald's. It's McDonald's. It's McDonald's.

[37:36] It's the same stuff since you were six years old. Ask me anything. Left to right. Right to left. What do you want to know? Get out of the line! Get out of the line!

[37:53] Get out of the line! People are reading the menu. They have pictures of the food. Just point. Mmm! Get out of the line!

[38:04] Starbucks is another one. I like Starbucks. They have a good product. They're polite. They're too slow. I have to have coffee in the morning or I can't talk. My first cup can't be Starbucks. I'd be dead by the time I got to the front of that line.

[38:16] You got coffee back there? Yeah, well, you should drink some of that so you're moving. I have to stop at Dunkin' Donuts and get coffee to stand in line for coffee.

[38:31] And people are staring like I should have done that. KFC, I don't do well in KFC lines because people stare at that menu. It's KFC.

[38:43] They have chicken. You know what else they got? They got chicken. You want chicken or chicken?

[38:57] Get out of the line! Honestly, how many of us, we laugh at that because it's so true. None of us like to wait. You don't like waiting in line. It drives us crazy.

[39:08] When we call customer service, we want to talk with someone now. As Tom Petty said, waiting is the hardest part. But here's what I've discovered. Here's what I've discovered.

[39:19] I think this is true and we'll wrap it up with this. Because Jude's talking about you got to wait. You got to be patient while you ponder what's coming. There's a glorious future coming for you and so patiently ponder that glory, the wait that's going to be beyond all comparison.

[39:39] And you just say, but I don't like waiting. Yes, but I've learned there's a difference between our waiting when, based on what we know is coming.

[39:50] So here's the example. Imagine you're at the DMV. It's painful, isn't it? I mean, this may be the closest thing to purgatory on earth. I mean, people get angry.

[40:01] People go crazy. They get frustrated. They lose their minds. Why? Because they're not waiting for anything that's all that exciting. But imagine you're a groom waiting to see his bride.

[40:20] Or in our case, imagine you're the bride that one day will see your groom. See, what you're waiting for is future glory.

[40:37] What you're waiting for is beyond all comparison. You are waiting to behold your king. Listen, can I just tell you some good news?

[40:49] You're not waiting for judgment. You're not waiting for condemnation or rejection or punishment. You're waiting, Christian, for glory and fullness and restoration and shalom and grace.

[41:06] And doesn't just the thought of that, even in this very moment, stir your love for God? Don't you see?

[41:17] Jude's telling you, I want you to contend. I want you to do something. But I'm telling you, you're not going to persevere if you lose your passion. You can't go far if you lose your heart.

[41:31] And so keep yourself in the love of God. How? By preaching the gospel to yourself. Reminding yourself like that prostitute at Jesus' feet how much you have been forgiven, how much you are loved.

[41:45] and pray in the Holy Spirit focused on God and who He is and let your mind be caught up in Him and patiently ponder what's coming.

[41:58] Oh, because what's coming, you can't even imagine. And that will stir your affection and your heart for God.

[42:08] I close with this. A story is told about a busy dad that worked long hours. He came home one night to his seven-year-old son and his son asked him, Dad, how much you make an hour?

[42:20] He thought it was a very, very odd question and he resisted at first but finally he said, I make $150 an hour. Way to go, Dad. The boy ran out of the room, came back, said, Dad, can I borrow $20?

[42:35] And the dad was frustrated. He's like, did you ask me what I make so you could just bum some money off of me? And he said, no, Dad. I've saved up over the last few months $130.

[42:48] I was wondering if you could give me $20 so that I could pay for an hour of your time. Are you present?

[43:05] Are you abiding? Please listen. Are you so focused on doing for God that you've stopped abiding with God?

[43:18] Because as busy as you are, as busy as I am, there is actually someone who had a far greater work to accomplish than you do.

[43:30] There is someone who had far more to achieve than you ever will. And do you know what was the constant and consistent practice in Jesus' life?

[43:44] Luke 6, 12. In these days, Jesus went out to the mountain to pray. And all night, he continued in prayer to God.

[43:58] In fact, I want you to think about this as we close. Listen, listen. the greatest achievement that has ever happened in all of human history, that is the forgiveness of your sins, just before that achievement, this happened.

[44:15] And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and he knelt down and prayed. Faith family, there's a lot to gain in this world.

[44:33] But it is rubbish compared to knowing Christ. And I pray this year that this series has challenged you that you need to daily preach, pray, and ponder.

[44:48] because while there are many things in this life to contend for, you won't last long without a heart. And God's people said, Amen.

[45:01] Let's pray. Lord, thank you for this great word from this small book in Jude. Such a powerful, powerful truth for us to be remote.

[45:12] We're oftentimes, what can I do? What action can I take? I want to contend, contend, contend. And you want us to do that. But doing comes after being.

[45:26] And we learn that from our Savior's life. Before the greatest accomplishment ever, Jesus was abiding with his Father. There's a lot for us to model in our Savior's life and our own life.

[45:44] Help us to abide and be less concerned about bearing fruit. But forgetting what's behind. Let us press on to know you more because you have taken hold of us.

[46:02] As we take this time now as we enter into a moment of communion and remembrance, I do pray that this will be a time to preach the gospel to ourself. To pray in the Holy Spirit.

[46:14] as well as think about what it will be like on that day when Jesus shares this cup again in the kingdom. And may our heart be full.

[46:26] In Jesus' name. Amen. Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nabal Nab