From His Heart

Jeff Schreve: So many Christians live in fear that they're going to sin themselves out of a relationship with God or their sins are going to be so great and too many transgressions of His Word that the Lord is saying, "I'm done with you. I am letting you go." How can you be sure that the Lord will never drop you, will never let you go?

Guest (Male): True salvation is eternal. No matter the trials, temptations, or failures we face, the Lord is faithful to keep us from falling. Is there a way to really be sure the Lord will never let you go? Yes, there is. This is from His heart with Pastor Jeff Schreve.

Thank you for joining us today as he shares the comforting truth that as believers, we're held securely in God's hands and that our confidence rests not in ourselves but in God who saves and sustains us forever. The lesson we're about to hear is the last one from Pastor Jeff's six-message series, Faith Under Fire: A Study of the Book of Jude.

It's our gift to you this month for your support of any amount to From His Heart. Just go to fromhisheart.org for more information. Now, open your Bible to the book of Jude as Pastor Jeff begins the lesson, "The God Who Never Lets Go."

Jeff Schreve: When Debbie and I first got married, we were combining everything, combining our accounts. She had insurance with one company, and I had insurance on our car with another company. There was a guy at church who was an insurance agent and he happened to be leading our Sunday school department.

I said, "Debbie, I'm going to talk to him about putting everything under one umbrella." I talked to Fred, and he was selling me on the insurance, especially the car insurance. He said, "Jeff, this insurance is so good. It covers this and this and this. Even if you have a chip in your windshield, you can have that covered. It's covered on the insurance." I thought that was great. I bought the insurance, felt really good, and felt secure.

About six months later, I had a chip on my windshield. Back in those days, it was fairly expensive to get that fixed. I remembered that Fred told me that was covered. I went to him and said, "Fred, I got a chip in my windshield. I want to get that covered and save that money since I have insurance."

He said, "Don't do that." I asked why not. He said, "You can't be making a lot of claims." I have the insurance; you told me I could do this. He said, "Well, you can do it, but they'll drop you." I said, "They'll drop me?" He said, "Yeah, you don't want to do that. You just want to pay for that yourself." I learned over the years that insurance is great, but don't have a claim.

When you think about insurance insuring your possessions, that's one thing, but how about the insurance of your soul? Lots of us have a little nervousness when it comes to this thing called eternal security because we have this idea that you can't have too many claims with God.

You can't go too often to your knees and confess your sins because eventually, He's going to say, "That's it. You've hit your limit. You are out. I'm dropping you." We live in fear. So many Christians live in fear that they're going to sin themselves out of a relationship with God or their sins are going to be so great and too many transgressions of His word that the Lord is saying, "I'm done with you. I am letting you go."

We're in a series on the book of Jude, and we're finishing Jude today. I've entitled this message on the last two verses of Jude, "The God Who Never Lets Go." Jude is all about fighting for the faith, contending earnestly for the faith, which was once for all handed down to the saints.

He begins the little epistle, just 25 verses, and he has his introduction. He tells you who he is. Jude is the brother of James, the half-brother of Jesus, although he doesn't say that. He just says he's the bondservant of Jesus Christ. He greets his recipients and tells them to fight for the faith.

Certain persons have crept into the church and wormed their way into the church unnoticed, ungodly persons who turn the grace of God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. He goes on to tell about these false teachers, these apostates, these false prophets as Jesus would call them, these wolves in sheep's clothing. He talks about them, describes them, and lets us know what their end is going to be. That's through verse 19.

In verse 20, as we looked last week, verses 20 to 23, he talks about the believer. What are you supposed to do? But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. We're to grow, to shine, to share, and to be the witnesses God wants us to be.

In the last two verses, all the attention goes not to the false teachers, not to the Christian, but to the Lord Himself. He says these words in this great doxology: "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, to keep you from falling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen."

Such a great way to end his epistle. The initial recipients of the book of Jude could have easily been reading that and they'd say, "This book makes me a little scared. This epistle makes me a little fearful because the apostates were those who heard the truth and then fell away from it."

He talks about angels who did not keep their proper abode. They walked away and they're under judgment. If angels can lose their place with God, maybe that could happen to me too. Remember this about angels: Angels are not saved. Angels are made innocent. They're made perfect before the Lord, but angels could sin, and they did sin.

Lucifer, the number one angel, sinned against God and he took a third of the angels with him. I love the hymn that says, "Angels never knew the joy that my salvation brings," because angels aren't saved. They are innocent, holy, and perfect, but they're not saved. There was a time where they could fall from their steadfastness.

For the believer, we can get nervous about this thing called salvation. You can live life if you're not careful with a big question mark over your eternity. Do I know for certain that if I were to die I'd go to heaven? I'm pretty sure, but I'm not 100 percent sure. We live life when it comes to eternity with a question mark.

God doesn't want us to have a question mark. He doesn't want us to be a doubting Christian. He wants us to be a shouting Christian. He wants that to be an exclamation point so that you know that you know that you know that you know that you belong to Him.

First John chapter 5, verse 12: "He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God in order that you may know that you have eternal life."

Years ago, I heard a message on eternal security by Adrian Rogers, and he addressed the congregation. He said, "Is there anything better than being saved?" He said, "There is. Being saved and knowing you're saved. Is there anything better than being saved and knowing you're saved?" He said, "There is. Being saved, knowing you're saved, and knowing that you can never lose it."

How can you be sure that the Lord will never drop you, will never let you go? You can be sure number one because He is able. "Now to Him who is able," Jude says. The word "able" means capable, strong, and powerful. We get our English word "dynamite" from that Greek word *dunamai* or *dunamis*. It's power.

Jude is saying all the praise goes to Him, the one who is able. We read that in Scripture quite often about the Lord being able. Second Corinthians chapter 9, verse 8 says, "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed."

Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 18: "For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted." Hebrews 7:25: "He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them."

How long does He save? He saves forever. He is able to save forever. Many of us know the scripture Second Timothy chapter 1 and verse 12. We know it because it was put into a song. "For I know whom I have believed and am convinced or persuaded that He is able to keep that, to guard that which I have committed, entrusted to Him against that day."

When I was 17 years old, a high school senior on a Monday night in January, all alone in my bedroom after going to a meeting where a man shared his testimony about how he came to know Jesus Christ in a real and personal way, I went home. That was floating around in my head. The Lord was speaking to my heart.

I saw that I was a sinner and I was lost and I couldn't save myself. The Lord spoke to my heart and said, "Jeff, if you died, you wouldn't go to heaven. You have no basis to go to heaven because you're a sinner." I saw my helplessness and my hopelessness and I cried out and I just said these words: "Save me. Jesus, save me."

I got down on my knees. I meant it with all my heart and the Lord saved me. I was there, but I didn't see anything happen. I didn't really see my life going to Him and His life coming to me, but that did happen. That happened invisibly. Some months later, I was baptized, and everybody could see when I was baptized.

Baptism is a visible picture of an invisible reality. The day I was baptized, everybody saw Jeff go down under the water. He died to his old way of life and come right back up. He received a brand new life in Jesus. It pictured what happened on that Monday night in January all alone in my bedroom.

I gave Him my heart and life. I entrusted that to Him. As Paul said, "I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed, that which I've entrusted to Him until that day." Have you entrusted your heart, your life, your all to Him? If so, He will keep you. He is able to do that. He has the power to do that.

Guest (Male): You're listening to From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Schreve, and he'll continue the lesson, "God Who Never Lets Go," in just a minute. As we're constantly reminded these days, we live in a world where truth is often twisted and faith is under attack. The short but powerful book of Jude delivers a bold and urgent message to believers living in these circumstances.

Today's lesson is the last in Pastor Jeff's new series, Faith Under Fire: A Study of Jude, that we've been airing this month. In it, he unpacks the often overlooked letter, exposing the dangers of false teaching, spiritual compromise, and moral decay. In it, we discover how to stand firm in the truth, contend earnestly for the faith, and live with courage in the midst of the battles we face.

It also equips us to better recognize deception, remain steadfast in Christ, and shine brightly for Jesus in a dark and hostile world. This series is our thank you gift for your support of From His Heart this month of any amount. We broadcast around the world in 180 countries each week and on over 850 radio stations across America each day thanks to the support of our listeners and viewers.

You make that possible. Pastor Jeff receives no income from this ministry. For your gift this month, we'll send you the series on a USB flash drive, CDs, DVDs, or an immediate MP3 download. Just go to fromhisheart.org or call 866-40-BIBLE. That's 866-40-BIBLE. God bless you for joining with us in this mission to reach the world for Jesus. Now, back to today's lesson, "A God Who Never Lets Go."

Jeff Schreve: I don't know anybody who claims to be a believer in Jesus and is a believer in the Scripture and is trusting in the real Christ, the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ, who would try and make the case that you're saved by your good works. If you think you're saved by your good works, you're not a Christian.

Even those who believe you can lose your salvation say you're saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. I believe that, but you are kept saved by holding onto Him. You have to do your part. If you don't do your part, then all bets are off.

Listen, I'm saved because I put my faith and trust in Jesus. For by grace you've been saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works lest anyone should boast. There's nothing that I do, as the song says, "In my hand no price I bring, but simply to your cross I cling."

There's nothing that I do to receive salvation. I don't have to work for it. "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" was the question the Philippian jailer asked. They said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved, you and your household if they will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ."

There's nothing I do to get saved and there's nothing that I do to keep myself saved because works don't have anything to do with it. Good works don't achieve salvation. Bad works don't nullify salvation. It's not as a result of works lest anyone should boast.

I'm not saved because I hold onto Jesus; I'm saved because He holds onto me. That is the difference. He is able. How can you be sure that the Lord will never let you go? Because He's able in every instance. He's able to keep that which I've committed unto Him against that day.

Secondly, because He's able to keep you from falling. It says in verse 24, "Now to Him who is able." Able to do what? To keep you from falling, from stumbling. The Lord is able to do that. That word that is in the New American Standard, "stumbling," "falling" in other instances, is only used one time in the New Testament right here. It was a word used by the Greeks to talk about the sure-footedness of horses. The horses wouldn't fall because they were kept from stumbling.

It's amazing when you see some of these animals on National Geographic and things that go up these hillsides, the mountain goats and things like that, how they can just scurry up a hillside and they're so sure-footed. They don't stumble, they don't fall, and they can scurry up things that would take us hours and hours and hours to get up. They just make their way up.

The Lord says, "I'm able to keep you from falling, to keep you from stumbling." Two areas of assurance. First of all, He's able to keep you from falling into sin. We have victory in the Lord Jesus Christ. It doesn't mean that we are always victorious. It doesn't mean we always live victoriously.

It doesn't mean we always do what's right, but that is available to every Christian because the Lord is able to keep you from falling into sin. First Corinthians chapter 10, verse 13: "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful." He's not only able; He is faithful, "who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it."

We can never say in the Christian life, "It was impossible for me not to sin." It's always possible for us not to sin because the Holy Spirit lives inside. When the temptation comes, He says He will be faithful to provide us a way of escape. There's an off-ramp on that road of temptation, and if you go too far, if you blow off the off-ramp, then you're going to fall into sin, but the Lord is able to keep us.

One of the ways that you know that you belong to Jesus, that you've really been saved, is how I knew as a young 17-year-old guy. When I prayed and asked Christ to save me and He did, I didn't really understand what that meant. I would pray that prayer, "Lord, save me," every night. Ask Jesus to save me every night.

My friend Dave Collins, who was our Young Life leader, I got to know Dave and I was sharing a little bit about my relationship with Jesus. I didn't really know how to share any of that stuff. I remember he said to me, "Jeff, why are you praying for the Lord to save you every night?" I said, "I don't know, it just sounded like a good thing to do." He said, "Well, do you not think that He saved you?" I said, "I haven't thought it through that far."

He said, "You only need to pray that once. You ask the Lord to save you once and He does because He wants to save and He'll save anybody who calls upon Him in repentance and faith. You can just thank Him for saving you." I was so green and I was just like, "Okay, that sounds good," and I was doing that.

Here's the thing that I knew was true in Jesus, that He had really saved me. My attitude towards sin changed. I couldn't do the things that I used to do. I was a jock in high school, played basketball in high school, ran with my buddies. All my buddies were lost guys and what did we do on weekends? We wanted to get drunk and chase girls and carouse and just do those things.

Then I get saved, and all of a sudden I'm trying to live that same kind of life. I can't do it. I mean, I can do it, but I'm miserable doing it. All of a sudden, there's conviction that was never in my heart before and it was as if the Lord was just poking me saying, "You can't do that anymore. You belong to Me."

When you get saved, truly saved, the Lord doesn't fix it so you can't sin anymore, but He fixes it so you can't sin and enjoy it anymore. The difference between a non-Christian and a Christian: A non-Christian leaps into sin and he loves it. A Christian lapses into sin and he hates it. He doesn't want to do that.

He doesn't want to disobey his Lord. Even though we stumble and fall, it's not what we want to do because we have been changed on the inside and we want to serve the Lord. He's able to keep you from falling into sin.

Some time ago, I told you about my friend when I was in college. He worked at the Adobe Cafeteria. We had a meal plan at Adobe Cafeteria, me and my two roommates. We tried it with just us cooking. That didn't go very well. We said, "Forget this. You can't cook, you can't cook, I can't cook. Let's get a meal plan."

So we got a meal plan. The guy that used to take our tickets at the desk there when you'd walk into the cafeteria, his name was Jomar. He was from Brazil. We liked Jomar. I got to know Jomar and I was asking him about his background and everything. Somehow it came up where he told me his full name. He said, "Well, you know Jomar is not my full name." I asked what his full name was. He said, "Well, where I come from we have lots of names." I said, "Hit me." He said, "My name is Jomar Collyn Barcelos Viraquaz Nobly Vitallesky Lastio." I said, "Well, we'll just call you Jomar."

I've never forgotten that. One night we were having a revival at the church, at Allandale Baptist Church where I went, and I invited Jomar and he went with us. Me and my buddies and he were sitting there, and this guy got up to sing. This guy used to be in bars and everything, then he got saved and he was now writing songs for Jesus.

He got up to sing and he sang a song that said, "Thanks to Calvary, I don't come here anymore." He was talking about how his life had changed because the Lord had come in and changed him. That was the refrain: "Thanks to Calvary, I don't come here anymore."

After a while, Jomar nudged me and he said, "Jeff, who is Calvary?" I said, "Calvary's not a who. Calvary's a what." I said, "Calvary is the hill on which Jesus died. Because Jesus died for this guy, he doesn't go to the bars anymore. He doesn't carouse anymore. He is on the narrow road that leads to life." The Lord is able to keep you from falling into sin and He's able to keep you from falling away from Him.

Guest (Male): What a powerful, encouraging, and comforting lesson today on From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Schreve. Part one of the lesson called "The God Who Never Lets Go." It's from the series Faith Under Fire: A Study of the Book of Jude, and that's our gift to you this month for your support of any amount.

We hope you'll go to fromhisheart.org for more information. Thank you for joining us today and we trust you'll return ready for part two of this lesson on Wednesday. That's next time, right here on From His Heart.