Jude 24-25: Praise to the God Who Keeps His Own

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  • Date: Sunday, October 20, 2019
  • Speaker: Matthew Breeden
  • Series: The Letter of Jude
  • Category: Jude
  • Scripture: Jude 1:24–25

Introduction

Jude’s letter to the church is a letter of warning and exhortation. It’s a warning about the threats the church is facing and it is an exhortation for the church to contend for the faith. Jude is clear about the seriousness of the situation both for the false teachers and for those would follow after them.

While Jude’s letter is primarily focused on the responsibility of the church to be on guard and to stand firm, Jude both starts and ends his letter with the declaration of this foundational truth: God will keep those who are His from falling away. While we are often called to strive for holiness and make our call and election sure, Jude makes this so clear, God will not lose any who are His.

Doxology

A Doxology is short hymn of praise to God that is often used at the end of a letter or sermon. The word doxologyis from the Greek word doxa, which means glory. And so a doxology is a refrain or a hymn of praise that exalts the glory and majesty of God. Jude’s doxology praises God for His power and faithfulness to keep those who are His from falling from the faith.

A Call to Praise God

  • Now to Him– Jude’s main focus in the letter is on our responsibilities, for example the call to contend and also to remain in the love of God. But now he turns the attention to God – the one who saves and keeps His own.

The Reasons for Praise

We praise God because He is the one who keeps us from falling

  • Your inability to keep yourself – The Scriptures are clear and our own lives bear witness that on our own we could never keep ourselves from falling. On our own we would surely stumble and fall.
  • God’s power to keep us from falling (He is able) – Jude uses a picture of stumbling or falling away. While we are weak, God is powerful and He is fully able to keep us regardless of what we face. Those whom He has called He will glorify (Rom. 8:29-30).
  • Guarded by God – The word translated as ‘keep’ also has the connotation of being guarded. God is faithful to guard those who are His from anything that would cause us to stumble (2 Thessalonians 3:3; 1 Peter 1:3-5; John 6:37-40).

We praise God because He is the one who will make us stand

  • God enables us to stand – The word ‘present’ could also be translated as ‘make to stand.’ Not only does God keep us from falling, but He makes us able to stand.
  • God enables us to stand blameless – Because God is holy no one who has sin can stand before Him. But Jesus came as the Lamb without blemish and through His sacrifice we can stand before God as blameless (1 Peter 2:24, 3:18; Ephesians 5:25-27; Colossians 1:21-23).
  • God enables us to stand in His presence (in His glory) – This is a reality that should leave us in awe – that we would be made able to enter and to stand in the presence of the glory of God.
  • God enables us to stand with great joy – The presence of God will be a place of unending joy. Right now we live in a world of difficulty, but we can look forward to eternal joy (Psalm 16:11).

The God we Praise

  • The Only God - This is a statement of God’s preeminence. There is only one God and there is none like Him. He has no rivals (Nehemiah 9:6).
  • Our Savior –This is another reminder of how we are saved; we cannot save ourselves, we are saved by God alone (Luke 1:46-47; Titus 3:3-6). 

The Declaration of Praise

  • Through Jesus Christ our Lord – Our salvation is accomplished through Christ and it is through Him that we can give praise to God.
  • To the God of Glory - Glory is the honor rightly ascribed to God for who He is and what He has done.It is the outshining of His character and nature (Daniel Akin).
  • To the God of Majesty – Majesty is the greatness of God and reminds us of His rule as king over all – His majesty is over all.
  • To the God of Dominion and Authority – Dominion (or power) is God’s ability to rule and authority is His right to rule.
  • The God of Eternal Praise – There has never been and there will never be a time when God is not deserving of all praise.

Summary - Douglas Moo –Jude’s doxology is a fitting conclusion to his letter. He has warned the church of a serious and threatening outbreak of false teaching. He has called believers not simply to ‘batten down the hatches’ and ride out the storm, but to reach out redemptively to those who are falling away. Believers can do that because their position with the Lord is secure: He has the power to preserve them intact until the Day of Judgment.