Contend for the Faith: In the Power of God

Introduction

This is a “doxology” = “doxa” “logos” = a message of glory/praise

NT doxologies have 4 components: God is addressed, glory and honor given to God, eternal praise to God, and then ending “amen.”

One of the most famous doxologies written by Thomas Ken (1637–1711) who was an Anglican minister and professor at Winchester College at Oxford University. He wrote this doxology for his students to sing in the morning and bedtime.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow; Praise him all creatures here below; Praise him above, ye heav’nly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Who is this God and why are we praising him, specifically here in Jude?

Before we look closely at what kind of power God has that aids us in contending for the faith, we need to consider exactly who this God is.

1. Who is This God Who Has Power? (24a, 25)

Jude 24–25 (NASB95)

Now to Him who is able . . . to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

“who is able” (δύνᾰμαι) = “power”

He is Our Savior

“The only God our Savior”

Only God - the emphasis upon that there is only one God

Deuteronomy 6:4 ““Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!”

Isaiah 46:9 “Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me.”

Our Savior - God is always the Savior throughout the OT. Jesus becomes our Savior in the NT. And right so, because he is also God as to his nature and because of his sacrifice to save us from our sins.

He has Glory, Majesty, Dominion, and Authority

“Glory” = “signifies the honor, resplendence, and beauty that is ascribed to God for his saving work.” [Thomas R. Schreiner, 1, 2 Peter, Jude, vol. 37, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2003), 492.]

1 Kings 8:10–11 “It happened that when the priests came from the holy place, the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.”

Psalm 24:7–8 “Lift up your heads, O gates, And be lifted up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in! Who is the King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, The Lord mighty in battle.”

The glory of God is all His attributes added together and raised to the nth degree.

—Lewis Sperry Chafer

Lewis Sperry Chafer

“Majesty” = “greatness” “having the quality of awe and reverence”

Psalm 104:1 “Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, You are very great; You are clothed with splendor and majesty.”

Psalm 8:9 “O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth!”

“Dominion” = strength, power, might to direct and control

“Authority” = authority over a domain or sphere of influence

God has these characteristics intrinsically—it is just who he is.

He has Always Been God

Jude 25 (NASB95)

to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Revelation 1:4 “John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne.”

1 Timothy 1:17 “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Isaiah 40:28 “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable.”

Throughout the Scriptures, God is described as eternal and everlasting, even “from everlasting to everlasting.”

What This Means for Us

1 - Often, our thoughts of God are too small. We make him a mere human being.

J.B. Phillips, an Anglican Minister of the 20th century, wrote a book entitled Your God is Too Small. He discusses the all too many misconceptions of God: policeman, a judge and dictator, a grand old man, meek and mild (i.e., Pillsbury dough boy).

I would add for more contemporary times: God is a psychotherapist, best buddy, uncaring and far away (or absent father), some other image of our own making (crutch or otherwise)

2 - God is much greater than we often think

An atheist once said to me, “I don’t believe in God, some old man with gray hair and a long beard who lives in the sky.” My reply: “I don’t either.”

Anselm: God is “that which nothing greater can be conceived.”

2. God has The Power to Protect (24b)

Jude 24 NASB95

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy,

He Protects Those Who are His

Jude 24 (NASB95)

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling . . .

We see here that Jude is making a distinction between the false teachers and others. God knows who really are his and those who are just playing a game. He knows the false teachers from the ones who have genuine faith in Christ.

2 Timothy 2:19 “Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, ‘The Lord knows those who are His,’ and, ‘Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.’”

God knows who are truly, genuinely his.

“to keep you” = “protect, guard, preserve”

God has the power to do this, not us.

He Protects Us from Sinning

Jude 24 (NASB95)

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling

“stumbling, falling” = reference to falling into the error and sin of the false teachers. God has the power to protect his people from falling into believing the false teaching of corrupting the gospel with perversion.

Commentary: “God is able to keep believers from falling prey to false teachers. Although false teachers were widespread and dangerous, although it would be dangerous to attempt to rescue slipping fellow Christians, the believers should not retreat or be afraid. Instead, they should trust God and remain rooted in him.” (Life App Bible Comm.)

Psalm 56:13 “For You have delivered my soul from death, Indeed my feet from stumbling, So that I may walk before God In the light of the living.”

Romans 8:35–39 “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Illustration:

Church ad trust fall illustration

What This Means for Us

1 - We—the church—are God’s people, and he will protect us through trials, tribulations, and difficulties.

Emphasis: WE are God’s people. He has chosen us.

1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

How special is this?

Ephesians 1:4 “. . . just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.”

2 - God most importantly helps us in the time of temptation (whatever the temptation); he can keep up from sinning.

1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”

But he is the one who keeps our salvation secure as well: 1 Peter 1:3–5 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

3. God has The Power to Present (24c)

He Will Make Us Stand Before Him

Jude 24 (NASB95)

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy,

This is a reference to salvation.

“To make you stand”

The term has a causal idea with it (hence, “make/cause” you to stand)

“stand” => set in place - implication: immovable

Illustration:

In LOS ANGELES famous actors often sink their hands and feet into wet cement of Grauman's Chinese Theatre. It’s been a tradition since 1927 when silent film star Norma Talmadge accidentally stepped into wet cement outside the theater.

Once the slab of cement has been signed, it stays there forever.

“in the presence of his glory”

The “beatific vision” = “the sight that makes happy” - the beholding of Christ/God directly

Matthew 5:8 ““Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

1 John 3:2 “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.”

Revelation 22:3–4 “There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.”

David Mathis, Pastor of Cities Church, writes, “More than simply our physical seeing, the beatific vision begins in our being seen, and being transformed, even somehow becoming, while ever creatures, “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). God’s rescue of his people, “rich in mercy” and in “great love” (Ephesians 2:4), means that “in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7).

Quoting famous 18th-century preacher/teacher Jonathan Edwards, David Mathis says, “After they have had the pleasure of beholding the face of God millions of ages, it will not grow a dull story; the relish of this delight will be as exquisite as ever” (“The Pure in Heart Blessed,” Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol. 2).” [https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/we-will-see-his-face]

Illustration:

We know what it’s like to Zoom or FaceTime someone or watch church service online. It’s just not the same. To see directly is much more real, relational.

We Will Stand Blameless with Great Joy

Jude 24 (NASB95)

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy.

“Blameless” = unblemished — free from physical or moral defects

We will stand blameless, not because we are in fact blames, but because Jesus is blameless, and he will give us his righteousness.

1 Peter 1:18–19 “. . . knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”

Philippians 3:8–9 “More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.”

If we are found blameless and made blameless before God, what is our response?

“with great joy”

Amplified Bible: “. . . and to present [you] unblemished (blameless and faultless) before the presence of His glory in triumphant joy and exultation [with unspeakable, ecstatic delight].”

Illustration

From NY Daily News:

300 Illustrations for Preachers Football Player Vindicated after Being Accused of Rape

In 2002, a high school girl falsely accused a football star named Brian Banks of rape. That accusation caused the loss of several college scholarships. Instead of going to college to play football, Banks served a five-year sentence. He likely could have played professional football with a brilliant career full of honors, records, etc., but we will never know. He served five years in prison, and was still on parole in 2012 when his accuser admitted that she had made a false accusation. He tried out with a few teams, but didn’t make it in the end. In 2014 he got a job working at the National Football League offices in New York.

Brian Banks’ name was cleared

What if the opposite of this story had been the case? What if Brian Banks had committed the crime but did not go to jail? He went on to be the best NFL player ever, wining Super Bowls and setting records—someone akin to Peyton Manning and Tom Brady? Even worse: what if Brian Banks had gone to court but the judge and jury knew he committed the crime but came back with a “not guilty” verdict?

What This Means for Us

1 - For those who have genuine faith in Jesus, their salvation is in concrete.

Do you ever times of doubt? Questions? Perhaps going through a rough spot with God? Here’s the question: do you have genuine faith in Jesus? Then nothing can take away your salvation: it is imprinted in heavenly cement, and being protected by the omnipotent God of the universe.

Oswald Chambers: “It is not our trust that keep us, but the God in whom we trust who keeps us.”

2 - Second, we also ought to have great joy for such a salvation.

Psalm 34:8 “O taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!”