LECTURE LXXXVIII. PRAISE AND GLORY ASCRIBED TO GOD. JUDE 24, 25. 24. Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, 25. To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. St. Jude had begun his short epistle with a prayer: a prayer that mercy, and peace, and love, might be largely granted to the brethren. He concludes it with a sentence of praise to Him, to whom alone will praise be due, if any man is "saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever.1 God does not disdain to receive this homage. We find it offered on earth by those who were best instructed in his will. "David blessed the Lord before all the congregation, and said, (1 Chron. xxix. 10,) Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel our 1 So Rom. xvi. 25. Jesus Christ for ever." "To God only wise, be glory through Also, Eph. iii. 20, 21, and 1 Tim. i. 17. "Unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever.” K K Father, for ever and ever. greatness, and the power, victory, and the majesty Thine, O Lord, is the and the glory, and the for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine: thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all." Nay, we are told concerning heaven itself, that it too is filled with praise; that those who are before the throne " worship him that liveth for ever and ever, saying,2 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and praise; for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." The apostle adds a reason why this hymn of praise should be offered with heartfelt thankfulness to the only wise God our Saviour. He is able to keep you from falling. A constant sense of this is needful to every man who is working out his salvation in the world. We are liable to fall. Scripture abounds with examples from the beginning of its history to the end, proving that no one can reckon his footing so secure as to be out of the reach of danger. "Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee." So Peter said, in perfect sincerity. "Likewise also said all the disciples." Yet within a few hours "they all forsook him and fled." While, therefore, St. Jude warns his people against the besetting evils of the time, and exhorts them to "build themselves up," and "keep themselves in the love of God," he reminds them that their security must depend upon the only wise God our Saviour. Like the mariner who 3 Matt. xxvi. 35. 2 Rev. iv. 10, 11. 4 Matt. xxvi. 56. " 66 66 hoists his sails, and sets his helm in the right direction, but commits his vessel to the wind, which alone can bring him to the haven where he would be; so the Christian keeps himself" against the assaults of the wicked one; avoids whatever may threaten injury to the soul, follows whatever may promise benefit: consults the law and the testimony, prays in in the Holy Ghost," meditates on the eternity before him. These are the means which he is instructed to employ. But still, it is not merely the saying of his lips, but the feeling of his heart, " Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." There must be a power beyond his own exercised upon him, which alone can keep him from falling. It is his comfort that he knows this. If it is, in one sense, humbling, it is in another sense encouraging. If it lowers him in his own conceit, he may rejoice that he is thus "made low:"5 for " pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." And it cheers the humble and meek, that weak as they are in themselves, they may be strong in the power of God: may be "made more than conquerors' through him who is able to perform unto the end that good work which he has begun in them.' The end is yet to come. We ascribe praise to him who is able to keep us from falling, and to present us faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. To present us faultless: i. e. without blame, and free from condemnation: secure against the charge 5 See James i. 10. 6 Prov. xvi. 18. Rom. viii. 37. Philip. i. 6. of Satan, "the accuser of the brethren,' " 8 because delivered from his power through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. "It is God that justifieth : who is he that condemneth?" In no other way will the Christian be presented faultless. He could not presume to appear before God, trusting in his own righteousness. He knows that it cannot be with him, as it was with his Saviour, when Pilate brought Jesus forth, and presented him to the people, saying, "I find no fault in him." This can be said of no man who ever brought a sinful nature into a corrupt world. "If thou, Lord, wert to mark what is done amiss, who could abide it?” In the case of the Christian, it is not that the allseeing, all-knowing eye of God perceives no fault in him, but that he imputes no fault to him. He sees no fault, which has not been blotted out by the blood of Christ, and therefore his "iniquities are forgiven, and his sins are covered;" and he is able to stand before the judgment seat of God, before the presence of his glory, with exceeding joy. This joy is not the less, because his salvation is not his own work, but has been wrought out for him. It does not diminish the joy of one who has been preserved from shipwreck, that when his strength had failed, and he was sinking beneath the waves, a stronger hand supported him, and drew him to the shore. It does not spoil the exultation with which the mariner enters the port in safety, that a breeze which was not at his own command, and without which he could have done nothing, had brought his 8 Rev. xii. 10. 1 John xviii. 38. 9 Rom. viii. 33. 2 Rom. iv. 7. voyage to its end. And such will be the Christian's feeling, increasing and not diminishing his joy, throughout time, and throughout eternity, when time shall be no more. He will join with angels, and with archangels, and with all the company of heaven, in proclaiming the same acknowledgment, "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name be all the praise." To the only wise God our Saviour be glory and majesty, dominion and power, for ever and ever. Amen. THE END. LONDON: PRINTED BY IBOTSON AND PALMER, SAVOY STREET. |