One of my devoted readers asked me where I got the idea of asking the question, "Will you receive the Benediction?"
Well, I thought you would never ask. Now that you have let me tell you how I came upon it.
When I was a student at Asbury Theological Seminary, I had a Scottish Presbyterian professor, actually from Scotland who had that beautiful accent, who taught us to ask that question, "Will you receive the benediction?" prior to pronouncing the benediction at the close of a worship service. His name was Dr. James D. Robertson, Ed. M. degree, and a Ph. D. degree from Princeton Theological Seminary.
I am not sure he taught me all that I have learned since those days in graduate school. He planted the seed in my mind and heart, I have cultivated it, fertilized and watered it, and now it is as natural for me as breathing.
The truth is you as a congregant can take it or leave it. It is up to you to receive or reject the benediction. Therefore, I give you a choice. It is yours to make and yours only. No one can make it for you.
However, if the Word of God is meaningful to you and you believe it is fully inspired and with out error, I think you might want to listen up, take heed, and receive it. When a person does, then, he or she opens her or his heart to allow the Holy Spirit to minister that Word to the spirit and life of the person.
I am not talking about a subjective word, but a Word from the written Logos that is able to build you up in the faith and exhort you to receive all that God has in store for you.
Will you receive today's Benediction?
24 Now to Him Who is able to keep you from stumbling (falling),
And to present you faultless
Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
25 To the only God our Savior,
Who alone is wise,
Be glory and majesty,
Dominion and power,
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
before all ages,
Both now and forevermore.
Amen.
The writer of the Book of Jude was a half brother of Jesus just like James was. Both of these brothers of our Lord had problems with accepting the ministry of their brother until after the resurrection. It is little wonder that Jude asks the readers of his tiny book to "be merciful to those who doubt." He was writing out of his own experience.
Jude was writing to correct some errors that had crept into the early church. He is bold and courageous and shows backbone and moral courage to be a spokesman for God. He illustrates his point by dealing with three well know examples in the Old Testament and the outcome of departing from the faith. He reminds them of God's judgment and that He will not tolerate sin.
His examples are the journey from Egypt to the Promised Land and those who died because of unbelief, the fallen angels who rebelled against God, and the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah who were given over to vile affections one with another of the same sex that were classified an abomination to Almighty God.
Jude knows how to lift up people and motivate them to serve God. He speaks of Enoch, the man who walked with God until the day God took him home without dying.
He clearly shows that God is a holy and righteous judge as well as merciful.
This tiny book ends in victory. That victory is ours today. He reveals the keeping and sustaing power of Almighty God. We, too, can and will share in that victory as we continue to place our trust in the redeeming work of Calvary where Jesus won the victory over death, hell, and the grave. As Jesus lives in us, we have victory today over a life of sinning.
Through Jesus we can submit our lives to God, resist the devil and he will flee from us. Oh, yes, there is victory in Jesus Who lives within us. He is greater than all the forces outside of us, and He can conquer every lust that may be resident within us that would entrap and enslave us. There is deliverance from habitual sinning in the Name of Jesus. Do you have that deliverance and victory? You know you can.
Please write me and tell me about your victory.
My e-mail address is: hugh@hughsnews.com
Posted on
Tue, December 21, 2010
by Hugh Morgan