Sermon for Sunday June 27th, 2010
Jesus Presents Believers
to God by Freddy Fritz
Jude 24:24-25:25
Scripture
Today we conclude our series of sermons in the Letter of Jude. The Letter of
Jude deals with the subject of false teaching, which, as I have said many times
before, is the greatest danger to the Church of Jesus Christ today.
As we study Jude 24b-25 today, we will see that Jesus presents believers to God.
Let’s read Jude 24-25, although we will study only verse 24b-25 today:
24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you
blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 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. (Jude 24)
Introduction
In 1610, just one year after the death of James Arminius (a Dutch Seminary
professor) five articles of faith based on his teachings were drawn up by his
followers. The Arminians, as his followers came to be called, presented these
five doctrines to the State of Holland in the form of a “Remonstrance” (i.e., a
protest). The Arminian party insisted that the Belgic Confession of Faith and
the Heidelberg Catechism (the official expression of the doctrinal position of
the Churches of Holland) be changed to conform to the doctrinal views contained
in the Remonstrance. The Arminians objected to those doctrines upheld in both
the Catechism and the Confession relating to divine sovereignty, human
inability, unconditional election or predestination, particular redemption,
irresistible grace, and the perseverance of the saints. It was in connection
with these matters that they wanted the official standards of the Church of
Holland revised.
A national Synod was called to meet in the city of Dort in Holland in 1618 for
the purpose of examining the views contained in the Remonstrance in light of
Scripture. The Great Synod was convened by the States-General of Holland on
November 13, 1618. There were 84 members and 18 secular commissioners. Included
were 27 delegates from Germany, the Palatinate, Switzerland, and England. There
were 154 sessions held over a period of seven months that the Synod met to
consider these matters, the last of which was held on May 9, 1619.
The Synod compared the “five points” presented in the Remonstrance with the
teaching of Scripture. Upon close examination they were unable to reconcile the
teaching of the Remonstrance with the teaching of Scripture, and so they
unanimously rejected the “five points” of the Remonstrance. However, the Synod
did not believe that a mere rejection of the views of the Remonstrance was
sufficient. They believed that it was important to set out the true biblical
teaching that had been called into question. They did this by embodying the
biblical position in five chapters, which have ever since come to be known as
“the five points of Calvinism.” The name Calvinism was derived from the great
French reformer, John Calvin (1509-1564), who had done so much in expounding and
defending these biblical views.
The five points of Calvinism were organized into an acronym called TULIP by a
theological student who was trying to devise a way to help him remember what the
five points of Calvinism were. So, the five points of Calvinism, represented by
the acronym TULIP, are as follows:
1. Total depravity. Both because of original sin and their own acts of sin, all
mankind, excepting Christ, in their natural state are thoroughly corrupt and
completely evil, though they are restrained from living out their corruptness in
its fullness by the instrumentalities of God’s common grace. Accordingly they
are completely incapable of saving themselves.
2. Unconditional election. Before the creation of the world, out of his mere
free grace and love, God elected many undeserving sinners to complete and final
salvation without any foresight of faith or good works or any other thing in
them as conditions or causes which moved him to choose them. That is to say, the
ground of their election is not in them but in him.
3. Limited atonement. Christ died efficaciously, that is, truly savingly, only
for the elect, although the infinite sufficiency of his atonement and the divine
summons to all to repent and trust in Christ provide the warrant for the
universal proclamation of the gospel to all men. I personally prefer the terms
“definite atonement,” “particular atonement,” or “efficacious atonement” over
“limited atonement,” both because of possible misunderstanding of the word
“limited” and because every evangelical “limits” the atonement either in its
design (the Calvinist) or in its power to accomplish its purpose (the Arminian).
4. Irresistible grace. This doctrine does not mean that the non-elect will find
God’s grace irresistible; indeed, God’s saving grace is not even extended to
them. Nor does it mean that the elect will find God’s saving grace irresistible
the very first time it is extended to them, for even the elect may resist his
overtures toward them for a time. What it does mean is that the elect are
incapable of resisting forever God’s gracious overtures toward them. At his
appointed time, God draws the elect, one by one, to himself by removing their
hostility and opposition to him and his Christ, making them willing to embrace
his Son.
5. Perseverance of the saints. The elect are eternally secure in Christ, who
preserves his own and enables them to persevere in him unto the end. Those
professing Christians who have apostasized from the faith (1 Timothy 4:1), as
John states, “went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if
they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going
showed that none of them belonged to us” (1 John 2:19).
All of the doctrines of salvation are precious to the children of God. But
surely the perseverance of the saints is the sweetest of them all. We would not
be able to enjoy our salvation if we did not believe that it would last forever.
If the Scriptures taught that it was possible to lose our salvation, imagine how
we would worry about whether or not we would finally make it safely to heaven.
Giving up everything to follow Christ would hardly seem worth the cost if all
could be lost in the end. However, because of the doctrine of the preservation
of the saints, we are assured that Jesus one day will present all true believers
to God.
This is what Jude teaches in the final two verses of his letter.
But, first, let’s review what we have covered so far.
Review
Jude began to write this marvelous letter to believers to encourage them with
the wonderful truths “about our common salvation” (v. 3a). However, he “found it
necessary to write appealing to [the believers] to contend for the faith that
was once for all delivered to the saints” (v. 3b).
Why? Because word had reached Jude that false teachers had “crept in unnoticed.”
They perverted the grace of God into sensuality and denied the deity of Jesus by
their character, their conduct, and their creed (v. 4).
Jude said that God’s attitude toward false teachers was displayed in implacable
judgment. He pointed to God’s attitude in his judgment of unbelieving
individuals, rebellious angels, and sinful communities (vv. 5-7).
Jude then gave a description of false teachers. He said that false teachers were
immoral (they “defile the flesh,” v. 8a), insubordinate (they “reject
authority,” v. 8b), and irreverent (they “blaspheme the glorious ones,” vv.
8c-10).
Further, Jude said that false teachers disobeyed God (v. 11a), they influenced
others to disobey God (v. 11b), and they led a full rebellion against God (v.
11c).
He compared false teachers to five natural phenomena: hidden reefs (v. 12a),
waterless clouds (v. 12b), fruitless autumn trees (v. 12c), wild sea waves (v.
13a), and wandering stars (v. 13b).
Jude noted that false teaching existed in ancient times (vv. 14-15), it exists
in the present (v. 16), and it will exist in the future (vv. 17-19).
As Jude began to draw his letter to a close he said that believers avoid false
teaching by growing spiritually in doctrine, prayer, obedience, and hope (vv.
20-21). And believers help others avoid false teaching by reaching out to the
confused, the convinced and the committed (vv. 22-23).
Finally, Jude closed his letter with a glorious exclamation of praise. His
doxology contained two beautiful truths: first, Jesus preserves believers from
stumbling (v. 24a) and, second, Jesus presents believers to God (vv. 24b-25).
Lesson
In our lesson today, we want to see what Jude said about how Jesus presents
believers to God. This is a wonderful conclusion to a marvelous letter.
I. Jude’s Description of Believers (24b)
First, let’s look at Jude’s description of believers.
Jude said in verse 24b, “. . . and to present you blameless before the presence
of his glory with great joy.”
The Greek word translated as “to present” (histemi) means “to put, to place, to
set, to make stand, to be there.” The word may imply “a standing position, but
what is in focus is not the stance but the location.”
And what is the location? It is before the presence of his glory. In other
words, it is in the very presence of God himself.
Now, the Scriptures describe the reaction of several people who appeared in the
presence of God’s glory. What was their reaction?
• Isaiah pronounced a curse upon himself (Isaiah 6:5)
• Ezekiel fell over like a dead person (Ezekiel 1:28)
• Peter, James, and John experienced debilitating fear on the Mount of
Transfiguration (Matthew 17:5-7; Luke 9:32-34)
• The apostle John fainted as one who was dead when he saw the vision of the
risen and glorified Christ (Revelation 1:17)
Why did these men react in this way? Why did they fall to the ground? Why were
they overwhelmed? The reason is that each man was overwhelmed by his utter
unworthiness to stand in the presence of God. Each man saw the absolute glory
and purity and holiness of God, and also saw his own sin and depravity and
unholiness before God.
Why will believers not fall down overwhelmed in the presence of God? The reason
is that Jesus will present believers blameless to God. Revelation 21:27 makes it
clear that unrepentant sinners will never enter heaven: “But nothing unclean
will ever enter [heaven], nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but
only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”
The Greek word for blameless (anomos) means “without fault, faultless, perfect.”
Of course, believers are still sinful. And so in what sense are we blameless? We
are blameless in a legal sense. Our sins have been imputed to Christ, and his
righteousness has been imputed to us. And so when God looks at us, he does not
see our sin but he sees the perfect righteousness of Christ. It is in that sense
that we are able to stand blameless before the presence of his glory.
And so, believers will know nothing of the fear and trauma that characterized
Isaiah, Ezekiel, Peter, James, and John when they were in the presence of God.
Instead, we will experience great joy when we stand in the presence of God. In
fact, that joy will be with us every moment of every second of every minute of
every hour of every day for all eternity. We will know unspeakable joy because
we will be in the presence of God forever and ever. This is how the apostle John
describes our being in heaven in Revelation 22:3-5, “No longer will there be
anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his
servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their
foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun,
for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.”
II. Jude’s Description of God (25)
And second, let’s look at Jude’s description of God.
Jude said in verse 25, “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.”
The eternal state of believers is to be with the only God forever and ever. And
this is possible only through the finished work of Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus
lived a perfect life of obedience to God. And then he suffered and died on the
cross to pay the penalty for our sin. By his perfect sacrifice he has enabled
believers to stand in the presence of the glory of God.
Jude then describes God with four ascriptions of praise. First, Jude ascribes
glory to God. Glory means to speak of something as being unusually fine and
deserving honor—“to praise, to glorify, praise.” So, with respect to God, glory
summarizes all the divine attributes in their powerful radiance (cf. Exodus
33:22).
Second, Jude ascribes majesty to God. Majesty has to do with a state of
greatness or importance—“prominence, greatness, importance.” Majesty signifies
the absolute reign of the Father (cf. Hebrews 1:3; 8:1) and the Son (cf. 2 Peter
1:16).
Third, Jude ascribes dominion to God. Dominion refers to the power to rule or
control—“power, might.” Dominion refers to the extent of God’s might and active
rule over all (cf. Psalm 66:7).
And fourth, Jude ascribes authority to God. Authority refers to the right to
control or govern over—“authority to rule, right to control.” Authority denotes
Christ’s supreme right and privilege to do as he wills (cf. Acts 2:33-35;
Philippians 2:9-11).
This divine supremacy over everything in the universe encompasses all eternity
(cf. Revelation 1:8): before all time (eternity past), now (the present age),
and forever (eternity future).
Because God is all powerful, and because his glorious name is at stake, God’s
promise to preserve believers and one day to present us blameless before his
throne can be trusted without reservation. To doubt the reality of that promise
is to doubt God himself. But to embrace it is to find ceaseless joy and
never-ending comfort.
In the words of Charles Spurgeon:
When I heard it said that the Lord would keep His people right to the end, —that
Christ had said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me:
and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall
any pluck them out of My hand,” I must confess that the doctrine of the final
preservation of the saints was a bait that my soul could not resist. I thought
it was a sort of life insurance—an insurance of my character, an insurance of my
soul, an insurance of my eternal destiny. I knew that I could not keep myself,
but if Christ promised to keep me, then I should be safe for ever; and I longed
and prayed to find Christ, because I knew that, if I found Him, He would not
give me a temporary and trumpery salvation, such as some preach, but eternal
life which could never be lost, the living and incorruptible seed which liveth
and abideth for ever, for no one and nothing “shall be able to separate us from
the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Conclusion
The first question and answer in the Heidelberg Catechism begins in this way:
Question—“What is your only comfort in life and death?”
Answer—“That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to
my faithful Savior Jesus Christ. . . .”
This is a glorious truth for the believer. We belong to Jesus. And we do not
simply belong to him now. We belong to him now and for eternity.
Norman Clayton wrote a wonderful hymn that captured this truth so well. The hymn
is titled, “Now I Belong to Jesus”:
Jesus my Lord will love me forever,
from Him no pow’r of evil can sever;
He gave His life to ransom my soul—
Now I belong to Him!
Once I was lost in sin’s degradation;
Jesus came down to bring me salvation,
lifted me up from sorrow and shame—
Now I belong to Him!
Joy floods my soul, for Jesus has saved me,
freed me from sin that long had enslaved me;
His precious blood He gave to redeem—
Now I belong to Him!
Chorus:
Now I belong to Jesus; Jesus belongs to me—
Not for the years of time alone, but for eternity.
One day you and I will die. For those who don’t know Jesus savingly, it will be
a terrible moment.
But for those who do know Jesus savingly, it will be a glorious moment. For, as
Jude says, Jesus will present you blameless before the presence of his glory
with great joy, 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.