Praise Builds Us Up
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Key Verse: “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, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.” Selected Scripture: |
IN HIS EPISTLE, JUDE describes conditions that befit our day. “There should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.” (Jude 18,19) It is in the midst of such evil conditions that the Lord’s truly consecrated people live today. Jude reminds us that God’s hand is still with his people even in the midst of such evil and, therefore, we must continue the work of “building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.”—Jude 20
Three important things are pointed out in the above verse. First, we have a foundation structure of faith, centered in Jesus—the rock of our salvation. Second, we must build upon this foundation. The thought is not that we each build individually, although we each must individually make our calling and election sure; but the thought is that we together as the body of Christ build each other up. We do this through meeting and studying together, taking note of each other’s experiences and helping one another in these, and being examples one to another. Third, the verse points out the importance of prayer. ‘Praying in the Holy Spirit’ simply means that our prayers are to always be based on the desire to submit to the leading power of God’s Holy Spirit—“Thy will be done.”—Matt. 6:10
“Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” (Jude 21) Another important responsibility of the Lord’s people during this evil day is to keep ourselves in God’s love. Jesus, when prophesying of our day, stated, “Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” (Matt. 24:12) One of the ways we are to keep ourselves in the love of God is to constantly show this trait of character to others. “Of some have compassion,” Jude says. (vs. 22) Even in such an evil world we are to have compassion upon the people because they have been the victims of Satan’s evil desires and workings. We must remember that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son.”—John 3:16
Our Key Verses remind us that, because we live in such an evil time, we are subject to falling if left to our own devices. God, however, is able to keep us upright in this narrow way. In fact, we can be presented faultless before God, but only through the merit of Jesus’ blood and the covering robe of his righteousness. Yet, it is that very condition that, if continued in and embroidered upon with the fruits and graces of the Holy Spirit, will result in our being ushered into ‘the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.’
Continuing the Key Verses, Jude closes out his epistle with an acknowledgement of the ‘glory and majesty, dominion and power’ of our Heavenly Father. In this verse, God is acknowledged as our Saviour, not that he was one and the same person as Jesus, but that this great plan of man’s salvation was “of” the Father’s origin, and would come to fruition “by” the Son’s faithfulness.—I Cor. 8:6