The story of Roman concrete—Roman by the country of Rome, the lone superpower of its day—is one that is lost to technology. Roman concrete is actually quite superior to the concrete we have today, quite superior. It was built to last. Modern-day concrete lasts anywhere from 50 to 100 years. Roman concrete was designed and is still standing—the Colosseum, two millennia later. As a matter of fact, the Colosseum would have almost no flaws in it if it weren't for the fact that people came in and pillaged certain things out of it.
Last year, in May, Debbie and I were in Rome. When you ride by it or go through it, there are all kinds of imperfections, but that's normally because of what people have taken off of it. It's a beautiful thing to see. It wasn't a beautiful place, but it's a beautiful thing to see.
The Romans discovered that by mixing lime with a special type of volcanic ash found in Pozzuoli, Italy, called pozzolana, they could create a mortar that was incredibly durable, just fascinatingly durable. Modern concrete is mixed with limestone and clay, but pozzolana contains silica and alumina, and when mixed with water and lime, it literally creates a chemical reaction that creates a rock-like material. Crucially, this reaction can happen underwater, allowing the Romans to build massive harbor piers underwater that have lasted for 2,000 years, breakwaters, and others. If you travel even in the Middle East, where Rome occupied that part of the world, and you go to Caesarea, you'll see certain buildings built during the time of Christ that are still standing and even in use to this day.
Because they were so incredibly durable, their piers and breakwaters are still lasting. For centuries, scientists have wondered why Roman harbor walls didn't crumble, even with the constant battling with saltwater. They found recently, in the last 20 years, that when seawater gets into the cracks of the concrete, it reacts with rare minerals in it called tobermorite and creates a crystallized structure that actually makes the concrete more durable when it comes in contact with water.
You know this about concrete: the enemy of concrete is water. Debbie and I had a lot of concrete work done at our house last year in our backyard, and the enemy of concrete is water. The best example of the longevity of concrete is the Pantheon, which was built in 126 AD and is still standing. Literally almost 1,900 years later, we could go inside the Pantheon today and hold an assembly or a service inside it. It is the world's largest dome without any form of steel reinforcement.
You look at this building, it's a dome. Some of you walked in like, "Man, that looks like a Bundt cake pan," and some people say, "Oh, that looks like a spaceship." We agree; that's what we thought when we first came in. I've grown to love the structure of the spaceship. The guy who designed it had some bizarre theology: he thought that if you were in this building when the rapture happened, you'd get to heaven faster. No lie, he thought that. So I encourage you to be at church when the rapture happens. Don't skip, or you're going to really regret being late to the twinkling. But this building is reinforced with all kinds of steel throughout it. It was board-formed, so the steel was designed, and then this compression bay was poured on one day, then that bay, and it was built in a really amazing structure. Even this building is considered top 10 post-modern religious architecture in the world. But it's nothing compared to what the Pantheon is in its beauty and wonder.
I would say it this way, and it goes in line with what we're talking about: Roman concrete was built to last. It's still around thousands of years later, still around to this very day. It's awesome to see how God takes His word and knowledge and gave it to some people, and it's built to last.
We come to the Book of Jude. I began to think as I was studying and preparing, knowing that Debbie and I would be leaving for sabbatical soon, "Lord, what are some things I want to preach? What passage should I preach out of before we leave for sabbatical?" So for the last three services, starting last Sunday morning, and this being the final one, we've been talking about the Book of Jude.
If you remember, Jude was not a fan of Jesus before the resurrection of Christ. As a matter of fact, Jude was a denier of Christ. Jude was not one of the original apostles; he was the half-brother of Christ, the son of Mary and Joseph, and he denied Christ. He did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah. I don't mean this rudely, but he thought his brother had a screw loose for claiming to be the Messiah. It was not until after the resurrection that Jude ever believed Jesus was who He claimed to be.
The resurrection changes everything. If you're here this morning and you're not a believer, that's fine. We're pumped that you're here. Don't feel pressure to become a believer from us; listen to the Lord on that. But understand, if Jesus rose from the grave under His own power, then He is who He claimed to be, and you ought to be intellectually honest and study that out. If He is who He claimed to be, put your faith and trust in Christ alone today. The resurrection changes everything.
Jude put his faith and trust in Christ, and he is writing what is called a general epistle. You can look at the heading above the name Jude and see that it says, "The General Epistle of Jude." That means he's writing to all Christians everywhere, not to a specific person or church. He is helping them because false doctrine and bad theology had entered into the church. This doctrine called Gnosticism was entering the church, and Jude is writing to help Christians understand that Gnosticism is in error because it taught that all physical or tangible things were sinful. Jude said that not all physical things are sinful. Jesus Christ did come in the flesh; Jesus Christ was crucified for our sins.
Jude writes in verse 16 about the character of false teachers, and in verse 17 he helps us understand the importance of Scripture. In verse 18 he reminds us that people would come in and mock Scripture and the truth. In verse 20 we are commanded to build ourselves up in our most holy faith and to grow in our faith. That's why church is important: you and I are commanded to grow in our faith through private worship and diligent study. Then he says to keep yourselves in the love of God, and of some have compassion, making a difference, and others save with fear, talking about helping people who have fallen prey to false doctrine carefully.
He ends his letter, the fourth shortest book in the New Testament, with Jude's doxology. A doxology comes from two words, *doxa* and *logos*, meaning a word of praise. It gives glory, esteem, and praise to God. There are many doxologies throughout Scripture. The Book of Psalms ends each of its five sections with a doxology—Psalm 41:13, Psalm 72:18–19, Psalm 89:52, Psalm 106:48—and Psalm 150 is entirely a doxology.
Jude ends his letter with a doxology that helps us understand something very important: the sustainer and security of the saint.
"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," — Jude 1:24
This is vitally important because salvation is a work of God. Notice the phrase, "now unto him." When you get saved, it has nothing to do with your effort, goodness, or keeping the commandments. Salvation is entirely a work of God. It's costly, and I could not save myself. Apart from the conviction of the Holy Spirit, I would not save myself. I needed God to show me the truth in His Word and the Holy Spirit to convict me of sin and pull me to Himself.
If you were to ask me what the most important sub-doctrine in soteriology (the doctrine of salvation) is, I would say the doctrine of eternal security—that once you're saved, you're saved for eternity. Salvation is so incredibly costly. Jesus left heaven, came to earth, lived a perfect life for 33 and a half years, and was murdered on a cross; His blood was spilled for your sin and mine. Salvation also cost me in that I have to surrender and submit my will and self-authority to the Lord. I have to come to grips with the reality that I am incapable of saving myself. It is an absolute surrender, yielding all my trust and faith to Him.
We must be careful not to assume we do any work for salvation. Salvation is a rejection of all works and trusting 100% in the finished work of Christ on the cross of Calvary. When Jesus paid our sin debt, He paid for all of it.
Verse 24 says, "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling." Salvation is eternal, and God keeps us from falling away from Him. The day I got saved, my salvation became eternal.
The older I get, the more I love redundancies. Redundancies are there to help us stay safe; they are a beneficial thing. You don't want your airplane to only have one warning light right as you lose 20,000 feet. You want redundant warnings. Remember when cars didn't have seat belts? Then they had seat belts, but no warning chime. Now cars won't stop dinging no matter what if a seat belt isn't fastened. It's redundant, but it's there for our good.
Scripture is redundant on this doctrine of eternal security. One of my favorite passages is Jesus speaking in John 10:27–30:
"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one." — John 10:27–30
Right there, three verses, three affirmations that your salvation is eternal.
Paul writes to the church at Rome when they were questioning whether God would leave them or forsake them:
"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." — Romans 8:38–39
Paul gives an exhaustive list saying nothing can separate us from the love of God. Praise His holy name for that.
Ephesians 1:13–14 says:
"In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory." — Ephesians 1:13–14
The word sealed means guaranteed. In the New Testament day, when they sent a legal document, they would drip wax where the pages met and seal it with a ring or stamp under authority. Paul is saying that after you got saved, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. The Holy Spirit moved inside of you as the earnest of our inheritance.
If you go to buy a house today and give earnest money—say $10,000—the earnest money is a guarantee that you are going to come back and pay the full price for the house. It's a guarantee. The Holy Spirit lives inside of us until the redemption of the purchased possession.
Hebrews 13:5 says:
"I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." — Hebrews 13:5
First John 5:13 says:
"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." — 1 John 5:13
If I could lose my salvation, then it's not eternal. If I could lose my salvation, it's not everlasting. If I can work my way out of salvation, my salvation is ultimately dependent on me and not God.
My father-in-law passed away at the end of January. He had been a faithful follower of Christ for 50 years. He was faithful, and that's what God requires of stewards. He had Lewy body dementia, which is a very challenging form of dementia. One of the sides of his brain affected was his understanding of Scripture. As he waned in the last six weeks of his life, he didn't understand the reality of his security in Christ, and he battled greatly understanding that his sins had been covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. He lived in great turmoil and fear because his mind was incapable of understanding that he was saved forever. It was one of the most difficult things we've ever had to watch. We are thankful that when he died, he went to heaven. The ravages of dementia took comfort from him, but it didn't take him from Jesus. Salvation is forever.
Salvation not only secures us, but salvation leads us to sanctification. Sanctification is the ongoing supernatural work of God to rescue saved sinners from the disease of sin and conform them to the image of Christ.
"In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;" — Ephesians 1:7
Sanctification happens as we understand our own sin nature. You're a sinner, and so am I. Sometimes Christians want to joke around about their sin, but fools make a mock of sin. When Peter, James, and John stood on the Mount of Transfiguration, they were overwhelmed by their own unworthiness. Isaiah said:
"Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts." — Isaiah 6:5
When Jude says to present you faultless before the presence of His glory, it is imperative that we understand the importance of holiness in our life and the devastation of sin. God still hates sin. Gossip, bitterness, an unwillingness to forgive, or cursing ought to cause us to live in a state of repentance and dependence on the Lord. A sanctified, holy life is so powerful that an unsaved spouse can be won by a spouse living a holy life.
Notice what Jude says: "to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy."
On Wednesday, as a police chaplain, I had to take an Advanced Officer Training CPR class for certification. In past classes, it felt like six hours I'd never get back. But this class was amazing. We learned how to apply tourniquets and practiced on dummies. Then we took a test where missing more than five meant failing, and I needed to pass before going on sabbatical. When we corrected the test, I got 100%. There was a sense of joy because when judged, I passed the test.
There is going to be exceeding joy when He presents you faultless before the presence of His glory because you've walked with Him in holiness, allowed Him to transform your mind, corrected your heart, and grown in grace. When you stand before the Lord at the judgment seat, you can do so with exceeding joy because when He spoke, you listened and obeyed His Word.
Jude reminds us to stay away from false teachers, build ourselves up, keep ourselves in the love of God, and keep serving Christ. Salvation cost God, and we are going to be judged regarding what we do here on earth. Sanctification is beautiful because God guides us through His Word so we can stand before Him with joy.
Jude ends his letter with timeless praise:
"To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." — Jude 1:25
This passage helps us with our praise. We serve an amazing God. Praise is exclusive to the only wise God our Savior, the one who rescued us from our sins. Because He is the only wise God our Savior, my heart can't help but praise His name. We give Him glory, majesty, dominion, and power over all.
Christians who are built to last are a praising people. We're secure in the Lord. Christians who stay close to the Lord and praise Him are built to last. Praise is real praise when we go through the crucible of life and stay close to Jesus even when loved ones die, when children struggle, when there is conflict in marriage, or when finances are difficult. Our praise ought to be timeless because it's not dependent upon our circumstances, but on the power, authority, and majesty of our Savior.
When the water of life begins to creep into the cracks of our lives, rather than making us weaker, the difficulties actually make us stronger because the Lord's grace meets our problems. We find everything we need in that relationship the Lord gives us through His Word, His Spirit, and His Church. In our old age, when others have walked away, we remain faithful—built to last, as a testimony to the next generation of the goodness and grace of God.