Jude 13
"Now Unto Him"
This time we come to verses 24 and 25, which are a wonderful finale to the letter. We read: "Now to Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy - to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and for evermore! Amen. "
The letter of Jude is only short but we have found it to be full of wise counsel and teaching. It notes the failings, the faults and the falling of the apostate teachers that had crept into the church and warns against them. Jude has called on his readers to remember how the Children of Israel turned away from the Lord even after their miraculous deliverance from Egypt and Pharaoh’s pursuing army. They had sung "I will sing to the Lord for he has triumphed gloriously. The horse and its rider he has thrown into the sea. " But in a few days they were clamouring to go back into Egypt. They had seen God’s power at work and yet eventually they worshipped an idol - the golden calf. Jude has reminded us in verse 5 that the Lord "destroyed those who did not believe. "
Then we were also reminded that even some of the holy angels sinned and fell and were driven out of God’s presence. They are kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgement on the Great Day that is to come. Jude points to Sodom and Gomorrah in verse 7 as an example of the judgement of God on those who defile themselves by sexual immorality and perversion. Those cities were destroyed in a moment. All these examples, Jude has given, to show the seriousness of unbelief, of disobedience, of teaching error, of impure living, and causing people to stumble and fall.
Jude’s letter is like a great danger sign, a warning sign. We see such signs at times, don’t we? Signs such as, "Danger, falling rocks" or "Danger deep water". In Jude we see the danger of falling spiritually. But in this letter, which makes contrasts between the unbelieving apostates and the true believers, we have this wonderful final statement that Christians have a Saviour who is able to keep them from falling. Consider the dangers and pitfalls of the Christian life: the enticing world around us; the weakness of our own sinful natures; the craftiness of our enemy the devil. But consider also the fact that although once we were like sheep going astray now we have the Good Shepherd who laid down his life for us and no one can take us from his hand. He accomplished redemption for us on the cross and drew us to Himself, and made us his own. God has made us alive together with Christ and He keeps us safe in Him. So, says Jude, "He is able to keep you from falling. " This is a promise you can claim each day as you ask the Lord to keep you from those things that would stumble your walk with Him.
In this final doxology, then, we see three things that are ours as believers. We have just seen that our God able to preserve us, to keep us from falling into unbelief and sin. Now we see that we not only have PRESERVATION, but one day there will be PRESENTATION and GLORIFICATION.
One day we are going to be "presented before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy. " We know from Ephesians chapter 5 that the "Bride of Christ", that is his church made up of all true believers, will be presented to him faultless. Of course in ourselves we are not without fault, but we are not in ourselves, we are "in Christ. " We have been justified freely by God’s grace and the righteousness of the Christ is credited to us. We are clothed in his righteousness so that when God sees you and me, He sees only his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
That presentation will be with great joy. Great joy for the Saviour for, as Hebrews reminds us, it was "for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. " There will be great joy for every believer as we see the Saviour and our salvation is made complete. Some will come to that presentation through deep waters having fought great battles and been through great trials and temptations, but then their joy will be complete. The Lord Jesus Himself, in the words of Isaiah 53 verse 11, will "See the results of the suffering of his soul and be satisfied. "
This doxology is addressed to "the only God our Saviour. " Only God can save a lost sinner. Someone has said, "you can ruin yourself, but you cannot save yourself - only God can do that. Jude ascribes to this great Saviour God four characteristics: glory, majesty, power and authority. The glory of God is his manifest excellence, the radiance of his holy person. The majesty of God reminds us that He is the ruler of the universe. He is the sovereign Lord of all. He ascribes power to God, the one who upholds all things by the word of his power. He is the one whose mighty power is seen throughout all creation. He is the omnipotent Lord. And then Jude speaks of God’s authority. Our Saviour God has all authority in heaven and on the earth. It is He who determines the outcome of history and it is He whose purposes will be fulfilled.
Notice that Jude brings his praise and worship of God "through Jesus Christ our Lord. " It is only through the person of his own Son that we are able to approach this glorious, mighty God. It is only in the name of Christ, because of his death on the cross, that repentant, believing sinners can come into the presence of the one who is described as "The Holy One of Israel. "
But there is one more thing that Jude tells us about our God and it is this: He is the eternal one whose glory, majesty, power and authority are from all ages past, and are now, and will be for ever and ever. The God who is our Saviour is the one who is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is the one who says of Himself, "I am the Lord, I change not". Christian believer, this mighty God is the one who is able to keep you from falling and who one day will present you faultless in his glorious presence.
So, with this outburst of praise and worship Jude concludes his short letter. A letter full of warnings, but full of spiritual advice for us today as we seek to live faithfully for Christ in an unbelieving world that chases after all kinds of ideas and philosophies that are not the truth.