Exceeding Joy: A Sermon for the Third Sunday in Advent

Jude 24-25

Jude 24–25 NKJV

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen.

We now come to the Third Sunday in Advent. The theme for this Sunday is joy. At the darkest time of the year we celebrate Christmas, in which we remember that the Lord was born in Bethlehem of Judaea to the Virgin Mary. As the days become longer, we see increasing light in which we rejoice. We remember this Jesus who grew in favor with God and men. How Jesus, the Son of God, could grow when He has always been fully God is part of the wonderful mysteries of our faith. We remember from the beginning of the Gospel of John that this Incarnate Word is light and enlightens all mankind. We celebrate this season with Christmas Carols like “Joy to the World.” We are reminded in that carol to prepare Him room.

But just whom are we preparing room for. Are we preparing room for the baby Jesus or the Lord Jesus? If one looks a little bit more at “Joy to the World”, it is not a Christmas Carol at all but properly an Advent Carol. There is a taste of joy we get when we reflect upon the first Christmas. Even that joy is glorious. We thing of the Gospel account in Luke which the the birth of the Savior is announced. Tidings of great joy are announced to the world by the heavenly hosts. How could it be otherwise as the Savior had been born. We celebrate this at Christmas. But Advent joy does not look to the past. Instead it looks to a future joy. One rejoices when a couple gets engaged. This is a prelude to the greater joy of the wedding. The church is likened to a bride. The bride is filled with joy anticipating the day her groom comes to receive her as her husband. The bride from the time of her engagement to her wedding is spent in watching and preparing which is exactly what we as the church should do while we wait for the coming (advent) of our Lord. We certainly rejoice in what God is done and is doing in our lives. But we wait for this time of preparation to end and the marriage to happen. This is what Jesus has promised. He, too, is preparing for that day, He is making room for us in His heavenly home.

We read a passage this morning from the Book of Jude. The Book of Jude is a short epistle of only a single chapter. Jude was writing to a church in which many of the members had lost their way. They were anything but perfect. To say this is an understatement as some were entirely apostate. Jude piles on metaphors to describe how awful the situation the church was. They had lost the desire to prepare for the return of the Lord, preferring worldly pleasures. They had lost their joy. Jude describes the plight of the church by saying that these erring members needed to be plucked out of the fire. The idea of having to be rescued from the fire does not depict a joyful waiting on the Lord.

However, when we get to the last two verses of the epistle which we read this morning, the tone changes markedly. It is a glorious doxology which gives praise to God for what He will finish doing in the believer. The emphasis is no longer on the failures of many in the church to prepare but instead emphasizes the work and power of God. It is not our work which is praised. It is the work of God in us. It is He who can cure our stumbling and make us perfect for the day of the wedding. the same Lord who is preparing a place for us to dwell with Him forever is the same Lord who prepares the bride. It is like the poor bride who marries the prince. The bride could never pay the expected dowry. But the prince, because He is gracious has paid the dowry for us. Interestingly enough, we see an example of this in the church by the real Saint Nicolaus who helped poor women by paying the dowry for these women so that they could marry. It is said that he put the gold in their stockings. We applaud such an act of mercy. But how much more is the bride price which Jesus, the Prince of Glory paid for us miserable sinners.

So, even in this age in which we seem to fall so far short of perfection, we take joy in that the Lord himself is perfecting us so that we can be faultless in that day. This does not mean that we should be complacent. God’s grace is not granted to us that sin might abound. Instead, it should put us back on the right track as we prepare for the Lord’s return. In other words, we are to be who we already are. I use the present tense “are” here because as far as the Lord is concerned, the work is already done. (See Philippians 1:6) We should endeavor to be more of what we already have been made. Therefore, all glory belongs to God and not to us.

Jude tells us that in that day in which we are presented before the Lord in a state of perfection, it will be a time of exceeding joy. Peter also talks about this joy when He says that this joy is unspeakable and glorious. (1 Peter 1:8). The only difference is that Peter is emphasizing the current state of the believe in the midst of earthly trials and temptations. We in a sense take a loan from the glory which is to be revealed at the Advent. As it is the Lord who repays the loan, all we need to do is to rejoice in His work.

Jude finished His epistle by addressing praise to the Lord. He begins with “to God our Savior” We usually refer to Jesus in particular as our Savior. But the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the Triune God, were involved in the salvation of the believers. This statement also claims that Jesus is God. The next statement in the doxology is “who alone is wise.” This is part of what is called a “doxology.” Doxology is the combination of two Greek words “doxa” which is “glory” and “logos” which is a word or statement. “Doxa” is closely related to the Greek “dokeo” which is “to think.” Taken together, a doxology is a statement of praise to God. But God already knows He is all-wise. He has no need to be told that. So what purpose does a doxology serve? Besides the fact that God inhabits the praises of His people, and that we are commanded to praise God, there is the need to remind ourselves who God is. Here we need to know that God alone is wise. The world thinks the preaching of the cross to be either scandalous or foolish, There are many who claim to be wise. Would any of them think that God would become incarnate in Jesus Christ and live on this earth, or that His atoning death on a cross would save people from our sins. The wise of this world are always trying to make their own utopia apart from God. We read of the Huxley’s or Orwell’s writings, among others. If only we can achieve right think we can achieve perfection. there is a statement that we will someday own nothing and be happy (joyful). This is not a utopia which interestingly means “nowhere” in Greek. The world’s wisdom leads to dystopia. Only God is wise. He knows how to accomplish the coming kingdom. We need to be reminded of this lest we try to seek salvation in the world’s schemes.

Jude finishes his epistle and doxology with “be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever, Amen” What do these words of praise tell us? What I want to zero in on are the words “both now and forever.” We believe as Christians in the return of Christ and the establishing of His kingdom. There is certainly going to be joy in that day. But it also says “now.” This is the world we live in. In Jude’s day, he was addressing a troubled church living in a hedonistic and evil age. We must be reminded that God reigns already as king. We don’t see this as we ought. We get bogged down in doctrinal disputes and power struggles within the church. We deal with apathy. The world thinks it is good that we are in a “post-Christian” age. We can see the wonderful fruits of such thinking as violence, iniquity, and evil abound. Jesus reminds us that because this iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. (Matthew 24:12) I might add that joy will wax cold as well.

If we think in worldly terms, there is little to be joyful about as we have already discussed. This is why we must remind ourselves that God is wise and in control. He is able to finish the work in us, despite our weakness. Even in persecution, God is there and working in our behalf. We remind ourselves that “all things work together for good for those who love God, who are the called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28). None of the things which might happen to us can separate us from “the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-9).

We see an example of this joy in Acts 5:41-2 where the disciples having been beaten and threatened by the Sanhedrin left rejoicing that they were considered worthy to suffer shame for Jesus Christ. The result of this was that they continued all the more to preach and teach Christ boldly. This is the true joy. The world which to some degree goes through the Christmas ritual, whether they believe or not. They realize that they are supposed to be joyful. But are they joyful? Why is there so much ill-will at Christmastime? Why is there so many depressed people? Why do acts of violence increase during the holidays? Why is there a song called “Blue Christmas,” Why did the Grinch steal Christmas? All the gift buying and forced activity of the season can bring joy or contentment.

But the Christian has joy because they see the joy at the end of the journey. It does not matter if Christmas sales are good or bad. It does not matter ultimately the difficulties of this age. No one can rob our joy — not just joy but exceeding joy. This is the joy I remind us of this season. The joy that a Savior that was born, lived, died, resurrected, and ascended to the right hand of God looks out for our welfare in this age, This is the one who shall return (advent) to receive us unto Himself. There shall be exceeding love, joy and peace.” Only the Advent theme of hope will cease because it has been realized. Let us continue to remind one another of these things.