What Hope Does Jude Give to Christians Contending for the Faith?

The Conclusion to the Epistle of Jude

For the past few weeks, we’ve been working through a sermon series through a short section of the Bible, called Jude. Jude, remember, was the name of a close follower of Christ and a leader in the church – and he’s the one God used to write out this part of the Bible. And we’ve seen from Jude’s letter, here, that even in the earliest days of the Christian church – within just a few decades of Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection – there were already false prophets and misinformed teachers who were undermining the integrity of the true Christian faith. And so in a timeless way, Jude has been urging the Church to contend for the faith, once for all delivered to the saints. He’s been warning against the errors and bad character of false teachers. And as Pastor Josh pointed out last week, the threat of false teaching makes it important for us to stay the course – to remember the Scriptures, to reclaim those who are wandering with mercy, and to remain Christ-centered and prayerful until Jesus returns.

But this morning we’ll be coming to the last segment of Jude’s letter – the last two verses. It may seem as though the letter closes a bit abruptly here. But once we’ve worked through the text, I think you’ll soon appreciate why Jude ends his writing the way he does. So if you haven’t already, please pick up a Bible if you have one handy, and turn with me to the end of your Bibles, to the book of Jude, right before the book of Revelation. I’ll be reading verses 24 and 25 for us. But before I read our text, please pray with me:

[Pray and Read Text]

Jude Isn’t Intimated, and You Shouldn’t Be Either

Back when I was in 8^th grade, I went out for the football team. I had never played football before. I’m not even sure if I had ever watched a full football game. But I wanted to have some sort of fall sport. And after being in cross country in 7^th grade, I figured that anything must be better than distance running. So anyhow, I went out for football.

But I quickly learned that football came with it’s own set of difficulties. Because in football, I had a responsibility to dodge, block, tackle, and make catches for my team, often in less-than-ideal circumstances. But a number of those things weren’t really in my skill set. I can’t exactly say that I was a champion weightlifter at the time. I wasn’t particularly coordinated, and I didn’t have any natural instinct for how to play the game well. And I was aware of my weaknesses.

But in addition to all that, the opponents we played were often bigger and stronger than us – and they had deeper benches. My school district was one of the smallest schools in our athletic conference. And I seem to remember that we played against a couple teams where the players on the other side were consistently six to eight inches taller than we were. So even before we started the game, there was something of a discouraging realization – this game probably isn’t going to go well for us! Seeing our own weakness, and the power of our opponents, made it hard to stay motivated and to contend for a victory.

And the reason I bring this up, is because this is the same sort of discouragement that can set in when it comes to contending for the faith. The opposition we face from false teachers may seem too great. The instruction he gives to us for standing firm – it may sound too difficult. But Jude isn’t disheartened by either of those things. And he doesn’t want us to be, either.

And so Jude turns our attention back to God. He draws attention to God’s power and praiseworthiness and reminds us that this is why we can face obstacles and opposition with strength, and endurance. But notice, here, Jude doesn’t just say here that you and I should take time to appreciate God a little more. Rather, Jude himself leads the way in this. He, personally, lifts his eyes to heaven, and marvels over the greatness of the Almighty God. And his goal, here, is to encourage us to do the same. In these closing words of praise – these words of doxology to God – Jude points out three specific realities about God that should bring Christians like you and me encouragement to press on in contending for the faith.

First, Jude draws attention to God’s perfect preservation – his perfect work to preserve and uphold his people. Second, Jude mentions God’s purifying power – that makes us blameless in his sight. Third, Jude reminds us of God’s pleasurable presence – how Christians have a secure future of happiness with God. And then fourth and finally, Jude points out God’s perpetual preeminence – his eternal glory and authority that stands above all the obstacles and evils we could ever face. These will be my four main points this morning: We’ll consider God’s perfect preservation, his purifying power, his pleasurable presence, and his perpetual preeminence.

Perfect Preservation

So first, God’s perfect preservation.

In verse 24, when Jude says “Now to him who is able…” the him that he’s speaking about here is God – “the only God, our Savior,” as he later points out for us in verse 25. And Jude describes God to us in a specific way – as him who is able to keep you from stumbling.”

Of course, when Jude mentions stumbling here, he isn’t literally talking about someone catching their foot on a loose floorboard, or tripping over a root – or something like that. Instead, he’s using imagery for the Christian walk here – he’s saying that God is able to keep you and I from stumbling in our faith. He’s able to prevent you from taking a wrong step into false teaching, and dropping into a ravine of error. He’s able to keep you from getting snared by the unexpected pitfalls of sensual temptation. And he’s able to do this, even when your opposition is cunning and influential; even in spite of your weaknesses and vulnerabilities. And so, Jude says, look to him who is able to keep you from stumbling.

And it’s important to realize – based on the way Jude phrases this, he isn’t just identifying God as one among many competent figures who can prevent us from falling. But instead Jude is identifying this as an ability that uniquely belongs to God. He is the able one – the one and only able one – who can keep us from stumbling into fierce temptations or false teachings.

And this point has a good deal of practical importance to it. Kids, you need to realize, here, that your parents can’t keep you from stumbling. It’s true that God has given you parents and grandparents to read the Scriptures with you, and to pray with you, and to teach you how to live as a Christian – but your parents or grandparents don’t have the ability to keep you safe from every danger. They can’t fight your spiritual battles for you. They can’t prevent you from making bad choices, or keep you from listening to bad voices. Of course, parents, I’m not saying your work isn’t important. You have a huge, wonderful role and responsibility to raise your children well – to teach them to revere God’s sacredness, and to love his instructions. But as parents, you can’t control their hearts. You’re not the Savior and sustainer of their souls. You can’t keep them from stumbling in their faith – that’s not a burden you should try to carry, because it isn’t yours to bear. Parents aren’t able to keep us from stumbling.

And it’s equally true, that pastors are unable to keep us from stumbling. A Scottish Presbyterian pastor from the 19^th century, Robert Murray M’Cheyne, once commented on this point. And he said, “Those that lean on ministers lean on a reed shaken with the wind. When a soul has received saving good through a minister, he often thinks that he will be kept from falling by the same means. He thinks, “Oh, if I had this friend always beside me to warn me, to advise me!” [But] No; ministers are not always by, nor godly friends. Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? We may soon be taken from you, and there may come a famine of the bread.” But then M’Cheyne goes on to further point out even if you do have a solid pastor who remains nearby, it won’t guarantee that you’ll actually be willing to listen to him, especially when your passions get hot, or your temptations are intense. Pastors don’t have the power to keep us from falling.

But perhaps the thing we need to hear most this morning is that we cannot keep ourselves from falling. One of the most common mistakes in our pride and foolishness, is we overestimate how clever or strong we are. We often underestimate the deceitfulness of sin, and the deviousness of our own passions. While we’re sitting here at our church in Mt Pleasant, and we’re giving our attention to God, we might think to ourselves, “I wouldn’t lose my patience with my child, just for leaving a few books and toys around the house! Surely I would never prize money, sports, or career aspirations more than I treasure the God who made me. Surely I would never give in to peer pressure, and deny the authority God has over my life!” And yet we fail in these things, so easily. With very little prompting, we give in to countless temptations – anger, lust, arrogance, gossip, greed, idolatry. We have a way of faltering in the face of fear and anxiety, don’t we, even before anything bad has happened. When trials come, we quickly surrender to doubt, self-pity, and despondency. We’re far weaker than we realize. If our spiritual safety really depended entirely on our own resources, we wouldn’t be safe! We can’t keep ourselves from stumbling. And I think many of you probably know the truth of this very personally.

But Jude’s point here is that there’s One who can keep us strong in our faith. There’s a God in heaven, who’s actively involved in the preservation of his people. And He – He is able to keep you. He, singularly, has the power that’s necessary to guarantee your eternal safety.

Now, is Jude suggesting from this that we should be passive and unengaged in seeking spiritual steadiness? Not at all. You may remember from Josh’s sermon last week, Jude has just urged us to stay the course – to build ourselves up in the faith, to pray, to keep ourselves in the love of God. Our confidence in God’s ability to keep us isn’t intended to make us less active or less confident in our expressions of faith – but rather more active and more confident. God says, “look to me for mercy, stay close to me, call upon me as your God, let my Word be a light to your feet and a lamp to your path –“ And God says this because He’s the one who can keep your feet from stumbling. Our trust in God’s ability to keep us, is what gives us confidence to stay our course on the road God has taught us to walk in, even when we’re afraid. Even when we’re opposed. Even when we’re afflicted with doubts and depression. The one who relies on God, who walks with God, who refreshes himself in God – that person will never fall. Because our God is able to keep you and I from stumbling.

Are you resting in His strength this morning? Or are you actually relying on something else – on your own willpower, or the pushings and proddings of other people? Is your faith for your salvation fully in God, or is it resting in something else?

A number of people will buy a safe to go in their house, to store their important legal documents, or to put other valuable possessions like jewelry or old coins. And it makes sense why people would do this. It’s because they want to keep their valuables in a place that’s fireproof, waterproof, child-proof, and burglar-proof. They want their things to stay safe. But the tragic thing here is that many people give all this attention to a few legal papers and assorted niceties, but they neglect the security of their own souls. And if you’re not trusting in God’s preserving power this morning – if you’re not trusting in Christ, then when the burglar comes, when the fire comes, when the flood comes – when death comes – how will you be safe? There is only One who is able to keep you from stumbling – and from perishing. Make sure you’re looking to Him – every day, in every prayer, in every act of obedience.

Purifying Power

But Jude continues in this verse – in verse 24, not only as “him who is able to keep you from stumbling,” but also as him who is able “to present you [as] blameless before the presence of his glory.” Jude encourages us to continue contending for the faith, in light of the praiseworthiness of God’s purifying power. This is my second main point. (God’s purifying power).

Jude wants us to recognize that God is able to take blemished, ruined sinners like you and I, and he’s able to totally bleach out the stains of our disobedience. He has the power to purify us, and make us new, through the saving work of Jesus at the cross. When we’re joined to Christ by faith, God makes us clean. He brings us into a position of real blamelessness – that’s what Jude’s telling us about here – a blamelessness that’s so complete and so absolute, that it’s good enough for the very the throne room of Almighty God. He is able to present you blameless before the presence of his glory.

But the interesting thing about this word blameless that Jude uses here in verse 24, is that it’s not just a generic word for being a person of integrity – but it’s a specific word, that was used to describe something that was unblemished, or without fault. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, that was widely used in Jesus’s day – this word blameless or unblemished was used to describe the kinds of animal sacrifices God wanted his people to offer to him as an expression of their worship. So as an example, in Leviticus 1, verse 3, God gives instructions about how to offer acceptable sacrifices, and he explains, “If [someone’s] offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish” – there are dozens of other examples like this in the Old and New Testament – and that’s the word Jude is using here.

And this is why it’s significant. It’s because for people with a Jewish background – that’s probably the majority of the people Jude was writing to here – for people with a Jewish background, sacrifice was one of the primary ways that people expressed worship. And it was clear – if you wanted your sacrifice to be acceptable in God’s sight, it had to be faultless. It had to be an animal without any problems, any defects. And so with the offering of these sacrifices, there was a question. Is my sacrifice good enough? Will God approve of my worship? Will God accept me?

But of course, now, here in Jude’s letter, verse 24, we aren’t talking about burning animals on an altar anymore. No, Jude is talking about offering ourselves – offering ourselves as living sacrifices (as the apostle Paul says in Romans 12). And yet the same questions remain – will my sacrifice be good enough? Will God accept me? Because when we look at our lives – when we see what we’re offering to God, we know that we have blemishes. There are defects in our minds and hearts. We are blameworthy in how we’ve spoken and acted – not blameless.

But Jude proclaims the marvelous reality here, that we have a God who is able “to present us blameless before the presence of his glory…” We have a God who has sent His Son, to pay for our sins, to purge away our ugly past, and to purify our minds and hearts – so that on that final day, when we stand before God, we will be unblemished, clean, flawless. Everyone who trusts in Jesus has this confidence. Our God is able to make us pure, and he will.

Pleasurable Presence

And in light of this, there’s a third encouragement that Jude identifies, here – a third thing he mentions to spur us on in contending for the faith. He reminds us that those presented to God as blameless have a future in God’s pleasurable presence. (God’s pleasurable presence).

Notice, here, at the end of verse 24, Jude says that God is able to present us blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy. Since the stains of our guilt and shame have been washed away, there’ll be no embarrassment. As those who stand accepted by God, there will be no fear – no feelings of insecurity. But Jude reminds us that the future that lies ahead of us is one of profound happiness.

In fact, it’s worth pointing out here that the word Jude uses here for joy – it isn’t just the standard Greek word – (KARA). But he uses a different word – one that’s less common: ah-gah-LEE-uh-sis (αγαλλιασις). And this refers to an intense joy – not just a hidden little sense of peace or contentment in someone’s heart – but a level of enthusiasm that can’t be restrained. It’s a joy that’s expressive – a joy that makes motion and noise – that produces singing, cheering, or dancing. That’s the sort of joy Jude is talking about here.

And he’s saying that that’s the type of joy God intends to give us in his presence. His good character will bring us joy. His deep affection will bring us joy. Hearing his wisdom will bring us joy. His generosity will give us joy. And of course, when we’re brought before him, and realize that being present with him isn’t just a short-lived vacation on the Gulf of Mexico, but that this close proximity to God and his goodness will be permanent – that will exceeding joy, indeed. Not just a few droplets of joy – not a bathtub of joy – but vast oceans of joy, that our hearts can’t contain.

And Jude wants the broader church to know – remember, he’s writing to real people like you and me who are dealing with real problems. Things like confusion, physical pain, financial problems, difficult family situations – he’s writing to brothers and sisters in the Church, and he’s insisting to them that having unbroken, boundless joy isn’t just something for fairytale endings. It’s real. The pain will eventually be laid aside. The dangers and opponents of this world will be overthrown. The temptations and failures will be brought to an end. But the joy will be forever.

When we come before this God we worship, we won’t find his presence to be a place of fear. His nearness won’t leave us feeling bored or unsatisfied. The glory of God won’t leave us feeling discouraged or disappointed. Instead, when we’re brought into his pleasurable presence, the joy we find there will be exceedingly great.

Perpetual Preeminence

But as Jude turns our focus from discouragement to doxology – as he urges us to turn from worry to worship – there’s one more reality he points to, to encourage us. He draws attention to God’s perpetual preeminence – and this is my fourth and final point this morning – God’s perpetual preeminence. (Perpetual meaning everlasting, and preeminence, referring to his superiority and magnificence – God’s perpetual preeminence).

I imagine that over the years, many of you have read books or watched movies concerning the royal courts of various nobles or kings. And often the greatness of a king is highlighted by the expansiveness of his title – how many things are mentioned as being under his rule. So for example, before the current King of England, Charles the Third, ascended to the throne, he had eleven other titles. He was the Duke of Cornwall, the Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles, Prince and Great Steward of Scotland, Prince of Wales, Earl of Chester, Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth, and Baron of Greenwich. It’s an impressive list. And yet all things considered, the territory covered by all these places is quite modest compared to the things that Jude attributes to God here in our text.

Because in verse 25, Jude declares, “to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority…” – not just some glory, or some dominion, but all of it. When it comes to announcing the greatness of God – he isn’t merely the King of England, or the Prelate of planet earth – no, God’s preeminence and Sovereign Rule extends over the fullness of everything that would have any royal interest – All glory, all majesty, all dominion, all authority. He’s Master over every particle in the universe! Over the highest angel in heaven. God is the highest, and most ultimate Emperor over all places and powers in existence.

And Jude confirms to us – this isn’t just a temporary arrangement. Instead, he attributes these things to God before all time, and now, and forever. Now, to be clear, when Jude says before all time, he’s saying that God’s greatness has been firmly cemented throughout all ages of the past. Over the course of every millisecond of world history – and even before that – the infinite scope of God’s glory and authority has been unchanged. Though human kingdoms have risen and fallen – the Lord has remained on his throne. Though the devil has schemed and plotted, God hasn’t lost any of his children. None of them have stumbled out of his grace. No one has snatched them out of his hand. What we see, when we observe the past, is that God’s glory, majesty, dominion, and authority have been unmoved.

But of course, Jude also says something that a number of you may really need to hear this morning – God still has his throne now. Right now, he is King. Right now, he is the God who keeps his people from falling. Right now, he is speaking from His Word as the God who can make you clean, and give you joy. There is no one greater than God – no one who can hold him back, or prevent him from following through on his promises.

And of course, this will be true about God in the future, too. One minute from now. One hour from now. When you wake up, and it’s Monday morning. When you’re on your sickbed. When you’re on your deathbed. Any time, every time, always. To him will still be, all glory, majesty, dominion, and authority. And if God is for you, who can stand against you. If the Lord declares you righteous, who can condemn you? If the King sets you free, and gives you life, and crowns you with steadfast love and faithfulness, who can take these things away from you. No one.

Because God is preeminent, perpetually. He is in control, continuously. He is faithful forever.

And this is why we worship him. This is why we contend for his message of life and truth. This is why we offer ourselves – our whole lives – to him, as an expression of our devotion and love. Because God isn’t like anyone or anything else.

So when you’re discouraged, when there’s conflict, scandal, or false teaching in the Church, when you’re faced with strong temptations – when you just feel weak and unable to stay the course – Jude urges you here: lift up your eyes. Because even greater than your opponents – even stronger than your temptations – is the God of heaven and earth, who speaks, who saves, who strengthens, and who satisfies. Turn your attention to him. In times of weakness, turn your heart to worship. And you’ll find that he is, indeed, the one who is able to keep you from stumbling – the one who makes you pure, the one who brings joy – the one who is firm foundation forever. Let’s pray: