A Few days
before I got laid off I was reading again in Growing Strong in the Seasons of
Life by Charles R. Swindoll and I came across this short but powerful chapter I’d
like to share with you.
Benediction
During my years of growing up I sat through hundreds of
sermons from dozens of preachers. My
family skipped from church to church trying to find one that would meet our
needs …Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Brethren, Independent…you
name it, we attended it. As I recall
those years, one thing stands out in my mind as the best part of almost every
sermon I heard---the end! I remember so
clearly that no matter how strong or weak, how exciting or dull, how long or
short the message may have been, the most beautiful words of the day were
uttered as the man would bow his head and give a brief closing prayer. It wasn’t until I was nearly grown that I realized
he was actually quoting a passage of scripture to which he had given the name “benediction.”
There are three prominent
benedictions in the New Testament, each one equally familiar to our ears. As soon as you read them, you will be
reminded of how well-acquainted you are with them.
The grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be
with you all. (2 Corinthians 13:14
Now the God of peace,
who brought up from the dead the Great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood
of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to
do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus
Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever.
Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21)
Now
to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the
presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior,
through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority,
before all time now and forever. Amen. (Jude
24-25)
These inspired expressions of praise were once in vogue more
than they are now in our day of spontaneity and freedom. In fact, it was considered an expected part
of a dignified worship service…the minister was not through until he closed the
sermon by quoting (with a pardonable flair of eloquence) his favorite
benediction. Who can fault such a
custom? After all, he was declaring the
Word of God---and we can never get too much of that! There are occasions that arise in our church
where a “benediction” seems most appropriate, I will use one with delight to
close the service. It seems to give a
final voice in a fitting fashion, far more significant than a casual prayer
could provide.
Unfortunately, however, familiarity with our hearing these
lovely statements has resulted in our missing the depth of meaning. Let me choose Jude’s words as an
example. Look and read the third
quotation you read earlier.
What a powerful promise!
If you’d take the time to turn in your Bible to Jude’s letter, you’d
notice that just before those closing words he refers to our Savior’s coming in
mercy for his own. This “benediction”
builds upon that thought as it tells us something our Lord is doing for us now,
as well as something He will do for us then, when he comes back for us.
Now: He is “keeping
us from stumbling.”
Then: He will “present us blameless with great joy.”
Currently—during the interval between our new birth and his
sudden appearance—He is guarding us, keeping us, protecting us, securing us,
helping us not to stumble. How often He
lifts us when we are low, and supports us when we are weak! As long as we rely on him, He guards us from
stumbling. But, alas, we do not always
rely on Him….so we stumble and we continue to do so. In fact, we frequently look back over a week
that’s passed and feel that’s all we did---stumble.
Here’s where the second part fits so perfectly. When our dear Lord will one day reach down
and snatch us up---up before him blameless…faultless…flawless. He will be no peeved deity, angry because of
our failures and ready to strike us because they were many. David ratifies that fact in Psalm 103:10 and
14.
He has not
dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our
iniquities. For He himself knows our
frame; He is mindful we are but dust.
Picture yourself before God as Tennyson describes it:
…in that fierce
light which beats upon a throne, and blackens every blot.
You would think it is a natural thing for the Almighty to
frown and draw from his records a legal size clipboard with your name at the
top upon which would be the numerous times you stumbled. How depressing a thought! No---a thousand times, no! God keeps no records to be used against you.
He will accept you in that day being, fully aware you are but
dust…and He will invite you to stop at this moment and think that over. It’s not possible to imagine the scene
without smiling, seized with inexpressible joy.
Today: Kept
from stumbling
Tomorrow:
Accepted as blameless
Now there’s a benediction that’ll do more than end my
sermon. It ought to make your day.
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