God Is Able

December 3, 2023 Aleshia Lowery

Opening

Every day, when the sun rises over Washington D.C., the very first rays fall on the eastern side of the city’s tallest structure in D.C.

The words inscribed on this structure are Latin words that mean “Praise Be to God”

Every day, from the rising of the sun to the setting of the same, there ought to be a resounding echo that comes from the tower of your heart and it ought to say: Praise Be to God!

Sermon Key Points

There are forces in the world, even in some pulpits, that raise more doubts and questions about the person & work of Jesus Christ than they do answer question.

There are people who slip into the heart & life of the church that are a danger to the church
Sitting on a chair in a church makes you no more Christian than sitting in a garage makes you a car. There are people who slither in and slide in yet they are not believers.

Therefore, Jude urges us to earnestly defend the faith. Who would’ve thought that our faith needs to be defended? What do we need to defend the faith from?

People who attack the faith often do so for licentiousness.
The Gospel gives us freedom from sin, but attackers of the faith will try to say that the Gospel gives us freedom to sin (a license to sin).
Every brand of heresy has at its root the desire for humanity (himself or herself) to be god; to do whatever they want to do and have it sanctioned by their own mental prowess.

To earnestly defend the faith means sometimes God’s Word is going to hurt your feelings to. That is not the time to say God is wrong (which is what attackers do); it is instead the time to say that you are wrong.
It is a two-edged sword speaking the truth of God’s Word. It hurts those who don’t like to hear it and it hurts the speaker knowing it will hurt somebody. But, the reality is we are not God; so when come to Church - it is to honor the fact that He is right and we are wrong.
Every person who turns away from the faith will do so to usurp the authority of God.
To earnestly defend the faith also means to not let people fall away (when they want to neglect the truth of God’s word); but instead redemptively & in lovingkindness reach out to them to pull them back into the fellowship.

The sad thing is that many churches around the nation quickly throw people who have fallen away. This is not what Christ calls us to do.
The grace of God is so severe that once you have tasted it, you go back and rescue somebody who has fallen out.

“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, to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.” (Jude 1:24-25)

We ought to be the kind of people who are preoccupied with praise. No matter the circumstance, we ought to end up praising Him!

Jude 1:24-25 recognizes that you have the appetite and capacity to sin, but God is so good to you that He won’t let your sin steal your faith.
God, once He saved you, is able to keep your soul intact.
There’s an attack on your faith, which means that there are things out here that make people stop believing. (war, hunger, genocide, babies being sick)

The assurance of a believer is not just that God will save you if you stop believing; the assurance of a believer is also that God will keep you believing.

I still believe God spoke to nothing and something appeared
I still believe that God spoke to the sun and it came out and started blazing
I still believe that God told the moon to shine by night
I still believe that He was born of a virgin
I still believe that He turned water into wine
I still believe that He walked on water
I still believe that He raised Lazarus from the dead
I still believe that He died on the cross and rose from the dead

God is able to make you blameless as a believer in Christ, so that you can stand in His presence.

You ought to praise Him because He is glorious, majestic, all-powerful and because He can use the power that He has.