Jude’s Closing Benediction
Jude 24 – 25 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 Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
Introduction
My apologies for the past 2 Sundays that I was not able to post my message. This ageing body of mine is becoming weak and sickly and I have to travel overseas also for the wedding of my daughter. Things happens the way we never expect and we just have to put our trust in the Lord who makes all things work together for good and praise Him for all the good things He hast done and continue doing.
We are now on the close of this epistle. Some pastors and expositors name it Jude’s doxology including Spurgeon, the prince of Preachers. Others call it Jude’s Benediction. Doxology refers to hymns of praise and worship in general, and to one English hymn in particular which begins with “praise God, from whom all blessings flow”. Doxologies appears usually at the end of an epistle like in Rom. 16:25-27. A times in the middle like in Eph. 3:20-21
I. We praise Him because He is able to keep us from falling.
A. The Lord Jesus Christ can preserve us from:
1. Falling into temptation and sin. (1 Cor. 10:13)
2. Falling into erroneous teaching of the apostates
3. All evil both seen and unseen
B. He is our Divine Keeper
1. We cannot keep ourselves without Christ.
2. Jesus Christ is able to save us from the uttermost (Heb. 7:25).
3. He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think (Eph. 3:20)
4. As we have seen on the beginning of this epistle, we are carefully guarded by Christ.
5. No one can snatch us from His hands, so we can confidently say, “once saved, saved forever”.
Illustration: God’s Hold Is Sure
There were two brethren who differed on the question of the believer’s safety in Christ. They were discussing the question, and one said to the other: “I’ll tell you, a child of God is safe only so long as he stays in the lifeboat. He may jump out, and if he jumps out he is lost.” To this the other replied, saying: “You remind me of an incident in my own life. I took my little son out with me in a boat. I realized, as he did not, the danger of his falling or even jumping into the water. So I sat with him all the time, and all the time I held him fast, so he could neither fall out nor jump out of the boat.” “But,” said the first speaker, “he could have wriggled out of his coat and got away in spite of you.” “Oh,” said the other, “you misunderstood me if you supposed I was holding his coat; I was holding him.”
II. We praise Him because He can present us faultless
A. We have been chosen “before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love (Eph. 1:4).
B. We are washed by His precious blood. (1 Jn. 1:7, Rev. 1:5)
C. Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us through justification.
D. God the Father sees us as righteous or perfect because of the righteousness of Christ (Rom. 3:22).
E. The word here rendered faultless is the same which is rendered “unblamable” in
Col. 1:22.
F. Paul wrote in Ep 5:27 “not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing: but that it should be holy and without blemish”
G. None can deliver us from our guilt, or keep us from daily faultiness in the future, but the Saviour Himself.
Illustration: We Are Made Righteous
Righteousness is an attribute of moral purity belonging to God alone (John 17:25). It is He alone who is truly righteous. No one in the world is righteous in the eyes of the Lord, that is, except the Christian. We are counted righteous in the eyes of God when we receive Jesus by faith (Phil. 3:9). Our righteousness is based on what Jesus did on the cross. The righteousness that was Christ’s is counted to us. We, then, are seen as righteous in the eyes of God. Though we are actually worthy of damnation, we are made righteous (Is. 61:10) by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. As a result, will spend eternity in the presence of the holy, pure, loving, kind, gentle, and righteous God. Our righteousness.
III. We praise Him because we will be with Him with exceeding joy
A. Believers in Christ would soon be glorified.
B. There is joy that was set before Christ (Heb. 12:2).
C. For Christian there will be joy unspeakable (1 Pet. 1:8).
D. Joy is the foremost expression in heaven (Mat. 25:23)
Illustration:
Joy is not the same as happiness. Happiness is largely dependent upon events or circumstances. But joy is the fruit of the Spirit of God and can be experienced even in times of affliction. We look forward for the joy that we will be experiencing when we are in heaven with the Lord.
IV. The praise
A. He is the only wise God
1. The true God alone possesses perfect wisdom;
2. He is the fountain of all wisdom; He alone is true wisdom (1Tim. 1:17; Jude 25).
3. The context of 1Tim. 1:17 leaves no question that the verse describes the Lord Jesus Christ (see 1Tim. 1:15-16).
B. He is our Saviour
1. The only door (Jn. 10:9)
2. The only Saviour (Acts 4:12)
3. His grace is sufficient (Acts 15:11)
4. His blood avails (Rom. 5:9, 1 Thess. 5:9)
C. Glory to be ascribed
1. Glory is the sum total of all that God is and all that God does. Everything about Him is glorious! The glory of man fades as the mown grass, but the glory of God goes on eternally.
2. Majesty means “greatness, magnificence.” Only God is great. When we praise God, we praise the most magnificent Person in the universe. He is not simply King, He is King of kings! He is not simply Lord; He is Lord of lords!
3. Dominion has to do with God’s sovereignty and rule over all things. The Greek word means “strength, might,” but it carries the idea of complete control over all things.
4. Power means “authority,” which is the right to use power. All authority belongs to Jesus Christ (Matt 28:18), including authority over the powers of darkness e (Eph. 1:19-23). As we yield to Him, we share His authority and accomplish His will. (Bible Exposition Commentary)
V. Conclusion:
Do you praise the Lord? How often do you do it? With all the efforts of the apostates and with all our imperfections and failures, God still loves us and will keep us from all evil both seen and unseen. Christ our Saviour will see to it that we will be sharing His joy in heaven. Will you trust Him with your life and future?
