Dear Church Family,
God has given benedictions as a wonderful gift to His people. Just about every New Testament book from Romans to Revelation has one. A Bible-ordered worship service closes with a benediction. [By the way the word means “good words” and has nothing to do with picking up your stuff to leave.]
In the closing two verses of his epistle Jude lays out a benediction that overflows with solid theology, praise to God and hope for His people. Jude writes (as stated in v1) “To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ.” With that in mind, he reminds them that God “is able to keep you from falling.” God is not only able, but he will do what He has promised. They lived in tough times and faced the tempting teaching of false teaching. Jude encourages them that though they may feel weak, God would faithfully sustain them as they stayed true to the Word of God. Those words would keep them going in the present.
Jude next gives them words for the future as God will “present you before His glorious presence without fault and great joy.” In a world that offers little if any hope, God’s people possess a future that has been guaranteed by the blood of Jesus. Christ’s blood has washed away their sins. Jay Adams comments, “God has the power to keep them from falling into the clutches of the enemy. And He is the One Who can take you through all of this difficulty in such a way that on that final Day you will be faultless.” They are clothed with the righteousness by the One “who for the joy set before Him endured the cross” per Hebrews 12:2. Just image the joyful celebration that will take place in heaven as the saints gather to worship God.
Jude ends with a moving description of the One in Whom we trust and for Whom we live, “the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.” In the spiritual battle that we face each day, Jude points us to the hope and the tools we need to bring God the glory only He deserves.
With great hope in His grace,
Pastor Gillikin